You fight with your wife, OR you learn new secrets from the kids?

I chose the latter.

It is better to learn new things from the kids and stay relevant.

While I haven’t hung my boots, I have started to untie the strings.

I haven’t gotten bored with my 30+ years in market research, but there is little that excites me anymore. Technology offers little except for using AI in Excel and PowerPoint. We’ve been using SPSS anyway for analysis.

What next?

The only thing I could think of was ‘writing.’

I started writing (seriously) in 2016 as a creative writer. If I had to pursue a passion, writing was the only option. I published a novella (2019), a novel (2021), and three short stories in different anthologies (2022).

I have been extremely inconsistent with my writing, preoccupied by the prolonged illness of my wife (2023-24). Overcoming it is another story I park it for a later date.

I was astounded to learn from the kids about the many faces of writing in vogue, e.g., freelance writing, ghostwriting, content writing, copywriting, etc.  

This is when I felt the need to embrace freelance writing remotely. I knew nothing about it and thought of researching it. I stumbled upon scores of young YouTubers educating me about freelance writing. Somehow, I found them bitty and not comprehensive. I floundered around for most of 2024.

Meanwhile, my wife started progressing faster, and I could devote more time to writing.

I needed someone to guide me to understand the dynamics of becoming a freelance writer. The many YouTube channels I watched resulted in me registering on ‘Medium’ in September 2024.  I have written 19 articles so far and have earned less than a dollar.

I know I have not been consistent, and I can’t blame anyone but myself.

I was convinced that I had not understood the game. I remembered a phrase, ‘If you have not found a solution for a problem, you haven’t understood the problem.’

By the end of November 2024, I heard about Ankur Warikoo and his course on ‘Make Writing a Career’ and joined it. I knew I didn’t belong to the TG, but I did. I made no mistake. I was overwhelmed to find predominantly youngsters opting for writing as a career, unlike in ‘our time.’

I found him in complete command of the subject and was amazed to find the ease at which he shared his knowledge and experience.

For once, he made me sit up and ask me if I was a writer. The premise on which we erect the foundation of our life, i.e., to ask WHY?

Why am I doing it? He wanted us to ask and find a definite answer. My answer was ‘to spread information’ for people to make informed decisions. It matched with what I have been doing for 40+ years, i.e., research and disseminating information.

My journey as a freelance writer perhaps had kickstarted.

Bottomline:

Always seek guidance from an expert, you may just get a hang of it from the ‘run-of-the-mill’ YouTubers.

#freelancewriting #secondinnings #contentcreation