Writing for Money Hasn't Made Me Wealthy Yet, but It Has Transformed My Life

And I am most grateful

The first time it happened was about two years ago.

There had been some shady business in the public school system in the Mexican border town where I live. As a result, they stopped paying teachers for several weeks. Most of us lived paycheck to paycheck and found ourselves with very depleted bank accounts.

We kept being told that we would get paid "soon enough." However, the day finally arrived when I found myself with zero pesos to my name.

My bills were all overdue. I needed to buy food for my family. I needed some cash for my bus fare — putting gasoline into my car was out of the question.

What was I going to do now?

Writing For Money.

At this point in my life, I was already a writer in the Medium Partner Program. In those early days, I was making around five bucks a month. I was still wet behind the ears, getting to know the ins and outs of the platform, so I was happy to recover my investment at least.

Still, as luck would have it, on that particular month, I "jumped" to $10. Even better…the money hit my bank account at the precise moment I found myself almost in the red.

I know for most this is very little money. However, at that moment, it truly felt like a million bucks. Once the conversion was done, I had almost two hundred pesos to buy a few basics for my pantry and ride the bus. I realized this money, well spent, would get me through at least another couple of days…which is precisely what it did.

Even better, once those two days went by, we finally got paid. I don't know what I would have done without those $10.

That made me very grateful.

From then on, I decided that, as long as I made at least $5.01, I would be grateful. And, as time went by, writing online turned into a very nice way to supplement my income as a teacher and start working my way out of debt.

It appears some writers on this platform rose to the top very fast, but that's not the case with me. Instead, I'm making slow but steady progress, and I'm happy with that. I mean, a super-viral post wouldn't hurt but, in the meantime, I feel I'm building a pretty strong back catalog.

I love being here, and I really appreciate the feedback and the money I get.

However, a few months ago, there was an event that had cataclysmic consequences for me. You know, the sort that makes you think of your life in terms of before and after.

And, most important of all, writing for money helped me get back on my feet once again…

It had to be done.

I had been in a committed relationship with a man for several years. We lived together, we had a child, and we truly believed we would be together forever.

Still, and those who follow my writing are probably already aware of this, the relationship turned toxic, and I found myself being psychologically and verbally abused. I tried to turn the tide, to see if I could make things "better," but soon, I learned something lots of people have figured out before me:

You cannot love someone into stopping the abuse.

A few months ago, things got to a point where I felt extremely unsafe — I didn't want to go home anymore…so I decided not to.

I left.

From that moment on, everything happened quite fast. I had to get things done as quickly as possible to ensure my son and I would be safe.

I had to make split-second decisions on what I would take and what I would leave behind. It is a surreal experience to have lived in the same house for almost two decades and suddenly have to let go of so much.

But it had to be done. I should have done it long ago, but here we are.

Congrats, that's you!

Spoiler alert: changing one's life is very expensive!

In other words, I was 40 years old and found myself starting from scratch. It was an interesting feeling…and also kind of exciting.

However, what wasn't so exciting was the investment I knew I would have to do to get things going. At the time, I was staying in my old bedroom at my parents' house but, since our relationship hadn't been very close in a long time, this was having a severe effect on my mental health.

Don't get me wrong: I was — I am — very thankful for the help I received from them, but I needed my own space to be able to move on with my life. Unfortunately, that was going to require some money.

I was overwhelmed with all of this when I got a little email from Medium saying this:

To recognize the writers who made the most impact on members this past month, we’re rewarding 1,000 writers with a $500 bonus. Congrats, that’s you!

I won't lie…I actually teared up a bit.

Here I was, on one of the most vulnerable moments in my life, and the platform to which I have contributed so many words suddenly decided to give several of us a token of gratitude for a job well done.

This extra money helped me a lot to get back on track. To start rebuilding my life. To find my footing. Add to that, a couple of amazing readers who follow my writing chose this moment to support me with coffee money, which gave me the final push to be able to move into an apartment. And yes, they found my work thanks to this platform.

Writing here goes beyond "creating content."

I don't know what the Medium overlords were thinking when they decided to give those bonuses. I'm sure they knew people would be happy, but perhaps they are unaware of the extent to which this platform has changed people's lives.

If you don't believe me, just take a look around.

Some are fixing their health. Others are paying for their cars and houses faster or have launched new businesses.

And, yes, of course, there are some of us who, thanks to this platform, were able to feed our family for a couple of days…or got a little sign from the universe telling us that, even if things felt a bit uncertain, we would be okay in the long run.

Some people argue it is wrong to write for money, or that it is impossible to make enough cash to support yourself in the long term. All I know is that my main motivation for writing is because I love to do it. However, yes, another reason is that I aspire to make a living out of everything I create. Not an easy task, I know, but it certainly is not a shameful one, and I’m willing to invest my time and love in it.

After all, and as I have explained, even though it hasn't made me wealthy yet, it has undoubtedly helped me transform my life in all the right ways. Plus, the fantastic additional bonus is the people I have met, the lessons I have learned, and the empowerment I have received.

And for that, I am most grateful.