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A Freelance Writer

What does a film festival, a Twitter follow, and book review have to do with becoming a freelance writer? It runs along the lines of an Agent Dale Cooper quote, “When two separate events occur simultaneously pertaining to the same object of inquiry, we must pay strict attention.” Things happen for a reason and timing is everything. You need to see the signs that are laid out before you.

I’d been thinking about delving into the world of nonfiction writing after getting an essay accepted for publication, since for me, it is so much easier than writing fiction. But where to start?

I was writing my very first book review for a book that I really enjoyed, by an unknown author, whom I knew could use some help promoting his book, and I needed someplace to publish it.

I also had been followed on Twitter by a freelance writer, and read an article he wrote about breaking into freelance writing. He suggested getting started by writing articles for the Yahoo! Contributor Network.

I wrote my first movie review after watching Inside LLewyn Davis, a Coen Brothers film, about which I had strong negative feelings. I wanted to write a practice review to see if I could do it. I literally had to Google “How to write a movie review,” since I had no idea how to approach it.

I submitted it to Yahoo! Voices and it was published, and I even made a few bucks. I was surprised, because it wasn’t a favorable review, nor was it well written, but I was encouraged, nonetheless.

The Seattle International Film festival was underway at that time. When I saw my first film on opening weekend, I had no inkling of writing or submitting movie reviews, but by the second film, I had a notebook, and took notes during the directors Q & A session. I’ve watched thousands of movies and I love film, so why not discuss them afterward?

I wrote reviews for four films throughout the festival, two of which have been published, along with the book review. The other two are pending at this time. I also took an assignment to write an article about 4th of July facts, and I have submitted an article suggesting great North Puget Sound summer day trips.

I love researching and writing articles and I want to keep learning and improving. I'd love to eventually write for newspapers and magazines. And of course, I need to find the time to write on my blog, which always seems to take a back seat to the millions of other things I need to do.

Sometimes, if you want something…if you want to be something, you just need to do it. Do it, practice it, work at it, own it, and you will be it.

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