How to Become a Writer

How do you become a writer? Write. Every day. Build the habit of writing. Soon, you’ll make millions. These are my thoughts on how I can earn more than a living writing.

How do you become a writer? Simple. Keep writing. Write every day.

Whatever topic; whatever style; just keep writing.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. It doesn’t even have to be optimized. The purpose is to get in the habit of writing. Writers write. First and foremost.

Of course, in our modern day, writers do more than write. They research. They learn. They optimize. They analyze data.

A writer’s role has expanded. That is if you want to own and run your own business – and earn millions along the way.

How to Become a Profitable Writer

So I guess the question really is, how do I become a profitable writer?

Want to change your life? Change your connections.

Are you stuck with a bad life? Do you want to change your life? Change your connections. Hang out with a better crowd. Your connections determine your story.

Do you believe that the people you surround yourself with will determine the course of your life? Look around. You will see people grouped together by status, interests, activities, and many other criteria. As a civilization, we congregate towards people who share our own beliefs, aspirations, desires, and wants.

Your Connections Determine Who We Are

I’m not talking about the family or community you’re born with. That’s out of your control. You can be born rich or poor. It’s not your fault.

BUT where you go from there is entirely up to you.

From the moment we can be free of our parents, we are the ones making our choices about the people we surround ourselves with. Do we associate with the good crowd or the bad one? Do we surround ourselves with inspiring & positive influence or the opposite?

We are the ones who shape our own character. We can be born into a bad community, but it’s still our choice to get out of it and form new connections that will change our story.

Your Connections Determine Your Story

How our lives will unfold is highly dependent on the crowd we belong to.

Be associated with ambitious and goal-driven people. Pretty soon, you’ll start realizing your own dreams. Surround yourself with lazy and mediocre individuals; and soon, you’ll lose your passion and be content with whatever life throws at you.

Let’s check ourselves. Are we connecting with the people who will bring us a better life?

Change Your Connections. Change Your Life.

If you think the people around you are pulling you down, then go ahead and change them. You don’t have to be stuck with the set of people you have now. We live in a globally interconnected world.

Want to be a programmer? Connect with them on social media. Want to be entrepreneurial? Connect with business-minded people.

You don’t have to be stuck in a bad life just because your surroundings are bad. You can change that.

Walk with the wise and become wise. Associate with fools and get in trouble.
Proverbs 13:2-

change your life change your connections proverbs 13:20 — Image by the Author | Made with Canva

Writing for Money

I’ve always loved reading and writing – even as a kid. Yet I never pursued writing as a career because I thought, writers don’t make a lot of money. But the pandemic has forced people to work from home, and many have turned to online resources to make a living. Writing for money seems a gig I can pursue.

I’ve written various blog articles in the past – mostly for content mills. They pay you per word or per article. Rates are measly (often starting at 2c to 3c per word). I did this route before I joined the corporate world and while I enjoyed writing, my body protested.

The hours were long. The pay small. And there were no security or benefits connected to the job.

Fast forward to today. I recently explored freelancing once again. This time armed with experience and wisdom. I’ve learned what it takes – and how to become – a premium freelancer. More so, I’ve discovered writers can earn 6-7 figures (USD) for their work without sacrificing too much of their time.

I decided to investigate further by joining the The Freelance Movement Tribe.

PREMIUM FREELANCING

It’s a different brand of freelancing. You don’t waste time searching and applying for jobs in freelancing boards where they pay measly rates at $5/hr. Instead, you treat freelancing as a business and approach it like any wise businessman would – networking.

Yep, forming real-world connections via networking. It can be through warm connections or cold pitches. The point is to go out there, hustle and forge those human connections with potential clients.

Since it’s a business, you need to know your (1) MARKET and (2) OFFER. Just like any traditional market.

So I went in. Armed with my knowledge of marketing and business, I started building my dream freelancing business.

It’s not easy. It’s a path not for the faint hearted. Most freelancers view themselves as remote workers. They deliver a job and get paid for it. It’s a job – a contract – at the end of the day.

As a freelance business owner, I need to think wider. What does my market needs? What skill sets do I have – or can develop – to address those needs? How do I make my business sustainable and scalable?

It’s tempting to fall back into the employee mindset. Just go out there, apply for a job and deliver the output. The end.

But this is not what I want to do. So forge ahead I must.

WRITING for MONEY

As I said in my intro, I didn’t think writing would be lucrative. And when I say writing I mean blog writing. I know businesses pay a lot for copywriters – including email copywriters. The founder of the Freelance Movement Tribe is a famous email copywriter earning 7-figures USD.

There’s money in writing. But the kind of writing I like (blog content) I’m not so sure of.

That’s why I ventured to SEO as a service. I know content writing and SEO goes hand in hand. Websites need to rank in search engines. To do that they need optimized blog content. Viola! I enter the picture.

But to offer SEO content, I need to learn SEO. And as someone who LOVES learning, I adored and absorbed the new knowledge I gained. I loved all aspects of SEO.

Pretty soon, I could explain it like a pro. Without experience, I knew the ins and outs. But it’s nicer said than done.

After gaining 2 clients to test out my SEO skills and immersing in the niche market I’ve chosen, I’ve decided I needed to go for more clarity and define WHERE I really want to head with my freelancing business.

Offering SEO was great but I learn too quickly that it’s something I can’t sustainably do on my own. SEO Service Providers evolve to build agencies. They hire people to do various aspects like keyword research, content gap analysis, backlinking, content strategy and content creation. Not to mention there’s the technical aspect of SEO to consider.

I promise my clients that I can make their websites rank. I can. In theory. In reality, I need to put in long hours on my own to make it happen since I’d need to handle all SEO aspects just to get their sites ranking.

And for someone starting out, I’ve placed such a high bar and charged too little. I overextended myself. It’s a position you don’t want to be in. Believe me.

GAINING CLARITY

So you must be saying, I should have pursued clarity when I started, right? Well, if you spend too much time gaining clarity for your business, you lose precious time to fail and learn fast. I believe FAILURE is the best teacher.

We need to fail more so that we learn faster. When I began (or reignited) my freelancing journey, I simply did what the coach said and picked a market and choose a skill.

It didn’t matter that I had close to zero knowledge on the skill. Or that I had no affinity for the market. The point was I needed to learn. I can’t spend too much time figuring out what I wanted to do or who I wanted to serve.

After two months, I believe I’ve gained clarity. I was not successful with the 1st market. Neither did I like the 1st skill I chose. BUT I learned a lot.

I learned that my primary passion is WRITING. And I don’t need to compromise offering too many complimentary skills just to say that my WRITING is valuable. On its own, my written articles are worth every dollar a client pays. I’m glad I’ve stumbled upon the Freelance to Fortune blog which provides proof that writers can earn 6-figures USD too.

I learned about SEO – a lot. And how it actually shapes my writing. Even defining my tone, the words I use and how I come up with a content strategy. My SEO knowledge is solid. I’m proud of that. I’ve learned the basics and the foundation as well as some great techniques. I can use all of these with my writing.

I learned about the SaaS market – and how wide and in need of content writers they are. I like learning about how tech fits our day-to-day lives. And I love telling people about it. I love to share the knowledge I’ve gained in ways that readers would actually understand and be compelled to act on.

Combining my PASSION FOR WRITING and my LOVE FOR EDUCATING, I believe I am cut out to be a B2B SaaS Writer. For what exact niche, I am not yet sure. There’s a lot to choose from.

But as I dive deeper into this market, I love what I’m seeing. And I’m excited. I’m excited to start exploring the new opportunities in store for me.

SO, WHERE DOES THIS BLOG FIT IN?

I’ve written about a lot of different topics in this blog. I’ve strived to be consistent but in reality haven’t been. I’ve divulged personal rants, political views, romantic hang ups, spiritual beliefs along with reviews, scientific explanations and what nots in this blog.

This blog is a hodgepodge of content.

And I love it for that. After all, the title accurately captures what it’s all about.

BUT I am about to end there. From the time I’ve started blogging in 2009, I’ve matured a lot as a person. The desire to keep sharing my personal life to the world has waned. I’ve become a more private person (or simply have too much in my plate to keep ranting).

So I am keeping the name but archiving the content. They’d be available just as they were but be buried deeper in the site to favor the new content I would like to write about.

What new content? I’ve decided I would write about my freelancing journey, the boom in the online / digital business industry, SEO best practices the way I understand them and anything about business, personal finances & productivity.

I’m excited to go in this journey, and I hope, dear reader, you stay with me through the ride.

Movie Review: Words on Bathroom Walls

Review of the movie Words on Bathroom Walls. Is there hope for how we treat mentally ill patients in the future?

Word on Bathroom Walls is an unassuming film that’s a must-watch. I was not wrong to add it to My List for future watching when I saw it.

The film is *surprise* based on a popular book of the same title.

If you want to watch the movie, you can catch Words On Bathroom Walls at Amazon Prime.

Ready to read my review? Dive in.

WARNING:

*Spoilers – and I mean spoilers – ahead*. I talked about pretty much the entire movie. Read at your own risk.

Synopsis

*SPOILERS ALERT*

The film is about a high school kid – Adam Petrazelli – who dreams of going to culinary school after graduation and becoming a chef of his own restaurant. He’s a pretty talented cook also. Yet he has an illness.

Adam was diagnosed with schizophrenia after an episode at school that put his friend in danger. This led to him being bullied and eventually transferring school middle of Senior Year.

He was accepted to Catholic school on the condition that he continues with his treatments, maintains good grades and doesn’t pose a threat to the student body. In exchange, the school kept silent about his condition.

Adam eventually adapted to his school and met a lovely smart girl – Maya Arnez – who tutored him to get his grades up. Eventually they fell for each other but without Maya knowing the real deal with Adam.

Adam was getting better from his medications, however, it had side effects. He was losing his ability to cook due to muscle spasms and loss of taste. This made him skip his medications causing his hallucinations to return. Eventually, he had an episode at school causing the school to suspend – and eventually – expel him.

My Thoughts on Seaspiracy – and Sustainable Eating

There’s a new controversial documentary in Netflix – Seaspiracy. I am familiar with our planet’s dwindling resources thanks to human’s own faults but it was a one-sided familiarity with only land’s woes. I was at a lost at sea.

Watching Seaspiracy opened my eyes to new knowledge such as bycatch, trawl fishing and wild fish farming.

Bycatch happens when untargeted species such as turtles, dolphins, sharks and whales are caught up in fishing nets and then discarded back to the sea – often dead. This is largely due to trawl fishing which is simply putting down a big net to the ocean that it can swallow even a whole cathedral. The net is dragged for many miles across the ocean floor gulping up everything in its path and leaving a flattened ocean. You can imagine the marine habitat destroyed – corals washed out – and the number of fishes big and small engulfed.

Fish farming may have been a solution – where instead of catching wild fish, they are harvested instead. But these farmed fish are fed wild fish feed (hence the need to catch more wild fish) and live in very bad farm conditions leading to lice infestations and many other fish problems.

The film went even further to tackle the problems of forced labor in Thailand and the conspiracy of sustainable labels where enforcers and reviewers can be bribed at sea – or shot dead.

Commercial fishing was a multi-billion dollar industry and it’s so interconnected – no one can stop it.

I was appalled at how destructive commercial fishing is and how some cultures are blatantly ignoring the real ecological impacts of their ignorant traditions.

After watching the film, I resonated strongly with the filmmakers conclusion – stop eating fish.

But as I slept it over and had more time to think it through – would this conclusion be the solution?

John 10:14-18

I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.

John 10:14-15

“I am your shepherd. Few people in your society know what that really means; you aren’t familiar with the life of a shepherd. But I want you to know that I sleep where you sleep. I lead you – even drive you – where you need to go. Unless you willfully reject Me, I make sure you don’t stray too far from the path, though I let you wander freely within My pastures. When you get stuck in a ditch, I pull you out. When you fall into a ravine, I rescue you and heal your wounds. Without Me, you would wander aimlessly, scrounging for food wherever you happened upon it, and be vulnerable to predators all around you. You wouldn’t survive. I spend My days and nights with you because it is My responsibility to care for you. You can’t take care of yourself. You need Me.

I like that arrangement. I enjoy shepherding. I develop a relationship with My sheep and teach you to recognize My voice above all others. You don’t know the significance of all the placed I take you or even why I take you there, but you can trust Me to guide you well. I may correct your course but I don’t punish you harshly. You’re sheep, after all. If you understood – if you saw the landscape as I do – you would never stray. But you don’t, and you can’t – not from your perspective. I know your weaknesses and am patient with you, much more patient than you are with yourself.

You need to understand that sheep don’t worry about the future, obsess about their mistakes, or strategize their lives. And if you knew the heart of this Shepherd, you wouldn’t either. Sheep follow. That’s all I’m asking you to do.”

Jesus I know I can trust my Shepherd. You’ve proven that You will go to extremes to care for me. Help me to follow you well.

-Source: One Year Experiencing God Devotional by Chris Teagreen

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Psalm 34:18

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted. He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

Psalm 34:18

Sometimes when we look at God through the lends of our circumstances, He doesn’t look very good. That’s because our circumstances lie to us. They portray a careless God or an indifferent God or even a brutally painful God. If He is sovereign, we tell ourselves, He could have prevented the crisis or chaos we’re going through. And yet He hasn’t. Therefore… and we fill out the rest of the sentence with an indictment against His good intentions.

Never in Scripture does God define Himself by the hardships of His people. In fact, the hardships often set up a demonstration of His goodness. It takes a sickness to reveal a Healer, a captivity to reveal a Deliverer, or a war to reveal a Warrior. Our need creates an occasion for Him to show who He is. So when we are hurting, it isn’t a sign of His disfavor. It may actually be a sign of His desire to meet us at a point of need.

Whatever is going on in your heart or in your life right now, it isn’t a sign of God’s displeasure or unconcern. It isn’t hidden from Him, and it doesn’t drive Him away. In fact, He is drawn to you in your times of need. Brokenheartedness and desperation are magnets for His attention. The key is lifting heartbreak and desperation up to Him as an offering, a gift of opportunity for Him to use. His love and compassion cannot refuse a heart that needs Him and knows it.

Tell God that you need His comfort. Acknowledge your discouragement and despair. Invite Him into your painful places. Know that He wants to you meet you there.

Source: The One Year Experiencing God’s Presence Devotional by Chris Tiegreen

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Psalm 34:10

Even the strong lions sometimes go hungry, but those who trust in the Lord will lack no good thing.

Psalm 34:10

Our God is a God of abundance. He experiences no shortages. There are instances in Scripture when He lacked something for a time, like in Isaiah when He looked for someone to intercede and saw no one, or when Jesus did only a few miracles in Nazareth because He found little faith among the people. But even when human responses are lacking, He still finds a way to accomplish His purposes. He can multiply bread to feed thousands, turn water into wine when normal supplies run out, and raise up laborers to go into the harvest. His only limits are the boundaries of His own character. Within His nature, all things are possible.

Why, then, do His people experience lack? If He is the God of abundance, why do we sometimes have trouble paying the bills? One reason may be that we can know Him as Provider only if we have needs that require His provision. We have to experience lack and depend on Him in order to see Him come through for us. Even so, there are delays in His provisions that we sometimes don’t understand and limits on what we can do because our supplies are short. Most of us don’t have unlimited income; our resources are a factor in determining our options. We see lack everyday.

But that’s from our perspective, where we measure lack in terms of all our biggest desires. Whatever dream isn’t being fulfilled at the moment causes us to feel like we’re lacking in that moment. But God is always satisfying our needs and more. At any given moment, He is either providing or planning a provision. He may allow uncomfortable seasons, but He envisions no crisis of need in the lives of those who trust Him. We are promised His provision always.

“Father I am trusting You for all I need, and I know You often provide much more. Please let me experience Your abundance in every area of my life.”

Source: The One Year Experiencing God Devotional by Chris Teagreen

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Happy Mother’s Day

This is a Mother’s Day post. A post that I made to honor my mom for all she has done for me.

As I am nearing motherhood – I hope – I am all the more struck at how awesome my own mother is. We have a long history – mom and I – and we have our highs and lows. Sometimes our lows are so low that I cannot begin to imagine why she is my mom. But yet, despite how low we could get, I know, deep in my heart I will never ever want another mom like her.

I’m not sure if I have blogged about how much I appreciate her sacrifices for us – her kids – but if I haven’t let me reminisce them once more. My mom had us when she could have been in the prime of her youth – young, beautiful and definitely skilled and going places. Yet she chose to instead, bear kids and start a family, foregoing a chance at a career and instead raising a family.

In the past, as I was growing up and being filled with so much ambition, I didn’t understand the sacrifices she made. I wanted to be a career woman. I wanted to rise to the top of the corporate ladder. I emulated strong women in business and leadership roles looking at them as the epitome of success. My mom – while I appreciate her hard work – I only saw what she gave up, and not what she gained.

Growing older – and wiser – I now crave for the life she had. The chance to be with your kids every growing up moment, looking and guiding them as they discover the world around them.

My mom has been like our best friend – the always ready companion who will laugh with us, cry with us, scold us, discipline us, quarrel with us, argue with us but in the end still remain true to us. Mommy has guided us the best she can even when the world was always changing – often times too fast for any of us to keep up. I bet how her mother raised her was very different from how she raised us. The same values were there but the circumstances are far, far different.

And with the rapidly changing world we live in, I can only assume that when I have kids of my own, I will be faced with radically different circumstances and different challenges of raising kids. But since my mom raised me on solid core values – I am assured I can depend on those core values to raise my kids.

Most mothers when you argue with them the way I do with my Mom will most probably scar your relationship – maybe beyond repair. My mom and I have our fights. Sometimes I cringe to even remember how much I hurt her and cause her pain. I can only regret the words left spoken and unable to get back. But the wonderful thing about my mom and I is that, despite all the hurts we had to find and navigate ourselves in, we always reconcile and go back to loving each other. We find time to heal and forgive – that love we have always stronger than any hurtful words we may hurl at each other. We may disagree on a lot of things but in the end we both knew that when the going gets tough we have each other.

I cannot ask for a better mother than that. A mother that allows me to have my own mind and allows me to express it – sometimes to her pain – yet still accepts me open arms and with no condemnation when I run to her arms – sometimes crying but hopefully not. I cannot remember feeling this secure love that I can push on and find my own voice, my own self and still be secure enough that there is someone back at home, loving me for who I am – who I become. And I can always go back to that no matter what.

I have read of many kids who stray from their homes because their parents can’t simply understand them. Kids who’d rather stay away because they feel they will never be welcome back. But I am thankful that such is the opposite for me.

I’ve always said that I am blessed that I was raised in such a way that I can have my wings and fly — and crash and burn. But still manage to find my way back home.

My life has been a constant flight into the unknown. I simply love adventure. I like going to places and pursuing things I feel strongly for regardless if they are seemingly wise or not. And most of the times, I feel like I crashed and burned it. But the security of the home that my parents – especially my mom – has created, is something that allows this free spirit in me to roam free to explore.

With the COVID-19 lockdown situation, I am away from my family. I have always been away spending less than 3 months total a year at home. I have already began considering other places as my home and will soon begin placing roots elsewhere.

But the lockdown situation has brought my heart closer to home than ever before. I keep seeing how, the person I am now, is largely influenced by my mother. I find joy in solitude because I like to read – something I took from her. I feel giddy whenever I sing to musical numbers and amazed at how much I remember the lyrics all because growing up, she has exposed us to theatrical musicals. My soul soars whenever I am able to bake a pleasant pastry that melts in my mouth all thanks to her influence in baking. I am mentally fit due to the faith in God she has instilled in me since I was a young girl.

I realize, as I prepare to become a mother, that my mom has been the single most influential person to my life. My love and passion for everything I have now is largely in part due to her. And for that I am grateful.

And for that, she is the best woman out there who can be my mother. I love you Mommy!

Ang Huling El Bimbo: A Musical featuring Eraserheads Music

Review of Ang Huling El Bimbo: The Musical. It’s a theatrical production featuring the music of the popular Pinoy OPM band – Eraserheads.

One of the privileges I am thankful for during this quarantine period is that I get to watch theatrical musicals that won’t ever have been aired if not for these unusual circumstances.

I have watched several weeks ago a full run of the 25th Anniversary show of The Phantom of the Opera and today I watched the full run of the 115th show of Ang Huling El Bimbo: The Musical. It’s a theatrical production featuring the music of the popular Pinoy OPM band – Eraserheads.

You can buy the Eraserheads Music Anthology at Amazon.

If I haven’t told you yet, I am an avid music fan. I don’t get to watch theatricals because I am not that privileged to afford them but whenever I have the chance to watch a musical production – be it on the big screen or now on YouTube – I grab the chance.

And today was that day. The musical airs only for 2 days and it’s a fund drive for ABS’s Pantawid Pamilya Program. I am so glad I caught it.

The production was a success because it was a testament to the ability of Original Pinoy Music to be converted and used for a theatrical production rivaling Western Shows such as in Broadway and West End. Most of the time, Philippine theaters would showcase West End or Broadway shows, and rarely do we see any original productions featuring OPMs. But And Huling El Bimbo was the first and being successful, paved the way for others.

I loved how I could relate to the songs as I am an Eraserheads fan. Their music was popular when I was growing up and the very first CD that I actually bought and own was their Anthology of Best Hits.

Further, I related to the setting which is my Alma Matter – UPD – or maybe I just assumed it was because the band was from there.

But beyond the setting and the music to which I could relate, I was struck hard by the storyline and how, far from the Western musicals, is how true and realistic the musical is to the Philippine setting.

I am touched by the struggles of the main character – Joy – and how she met a sad fate in the end. We may want a happy ending but sadly, for many like Joy, life is just that – cruel. I am angered by the people who have the gall to deceive others pretending they are protectors when in reality they are predators. And how sadly, in the musical, this kind of people are not brought to justice – another allusion to the reality of justice in this country.

I am saddened by the reactions of Joy’s so-called friends – how they evaded her for years when all she wanted was to bond with them and tell them they can let go of their guilty consciences. This shows to me that in friendship, no matter how deep the friendship may go, when guilty consciences thrive – not only does the friendship die but the lives of those involved decay slowly from the inside out. This goes to show how, if we truly value our friendships and we value our relationships with those around us, we must never let guilt fester. Honesty, no matter how brutal and hard it can be, is always – ALWAYS – preferred over hiding under a comfortable lie.

In friendship, no matter how deep the friendship may go, when guilty consciences thrive – not only does the friendship die but the lives of those involved decay slowly from the inside out.
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I hope they will stage another run. I know it is hard for the theater to keep staging musicals and even non-musical plays. Ang Huling El Bimbo was in production for 2 years but was conceptualized as early as 5 years ahead of the very first show. Which goes to show how much work goes into creating a musical production.

But I applaud the people behind it for their creativity and dedication to the show. I applaud after watching the YouTube premier even when I know they can’t hear me. I would have clapped loudly and hooted along with the live crowd if I can. It was indeed a great production.

I wish I could let you, reader, watch it. Sadly, they end the broadcast once the time is up and I don’t think they will indefinitely keep it up. I hope they could but that makes it prone to piracy and that is something we never want to happen to them. For all the hard work that goes into production – from the actors who have to sing, dance and act live to the band who have to play musical scores for hours on end and to the backstage production staff who have to do the same things again and again for nights – we owe it to them not to pirate their hard work and let them earn a decent wage.

But I wish theater could be more accessible. After all, it is a wonderful form of entertainment – both entertaining and enlightening at the same time.

And if given the chance, I would really, really, really want to watch more of it – live.

I wish theater could be more accessible. After all, it is a wonderful form of entertainment – both entertaining and enlightening at the same time.
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