Writing has always been a part of my life, no matter how hesitant I am to admit it. Becoming a writer — and even learning to call myself one — is a dream that seemed rather unlikely to happen, but one that is quickly becoming my reality.
Freelance writing has always seemed particularly unreachable to me. So you sit and write from home? That’s nice, but what fun is that? To me, freelance writers have proven that they’ve made it in the industry and have earned the right to work at their own convenience.
When my former editor at The Poughkeepsie Journal asked me to be a freelance writer, I was shocked and also very excited.
I have always grown up with The Poughkeepsie Journal. Every morning I’d wake up and find the paper sitting on our dining room table.
I perused it as I ate breakfast. At first, it was just the comics. But when I entered middle school, I started scanning the sports highlights, and by high school, was reading the whole paper.
In college, I began writing for the TeenVerge column. When I graduated, I figured I’d move on to something bigger and better at a different company. But I was wrong; I’m back writing for the Journal.
I’m officially a freelance writer, and I’m a columnist again, too. Now I’ll be contributing to the “Our Turn” column, and this past weekend my first freelance story was published!
My first story features a local couple that met at a roller rink, and who frequently skate there. They decided to get married, and of course the ceremony happened at the rink! It was fun to hear their love story and writing the piece was great.
Check out the full story here:
Freelancing for the Journal will get me one step closer to reaching my dream of being a writer; I can only hope that this gig will provide an opportunity to meet more interesting people and experiment with different styles of writing — and all while working at home.
First Time Fridays 