Writing for Pleasure? Or Profit?

I was once a paid writer (actually I wrote two articles, but they only paid me for one before the company folded...). My sis-in-law worked for an entertainment-type magazine, and got me the gig. I did a review of cheap/free entertainment for kids in this area (with photos), and then one on a very old cinema near here.

She's been bugging me ever since then to get into writing for cash again. Approach a few magazines and newspapers etc. But there's somethign holding me back - other than the pressure to "perform", deadlines and having to go "sell myself".

I'm a near-perfectionist when it comes to grammar, spelling and such (no, don't go look there - I may have gotten it wrong now and then. I did say NEAR-perfectionist. :) ). I won an award for a poem, and consistently scored really well for essays, short stories and other English stuff in high school.

I love writing, and this blog has been a great outlet for my thoughts. Perhaps that's the problem. It's free - free to write and free to read. All my stuff ends up here instead of in a paid-for place. Blogging isn't high-pressure, I can say what I want when I want, and if no-one reads what I write, it's no skin off anyone's business nose.

Maybe one day I'll try it again for cash. I've been told I should write a book on single parenting (but mine's been real easy compared to other's). I've wondered if I should put my short stories in a book. I'd love to travel Africa and do a series of articles/photos on my adventures. Perhaps sometime I will.

But for now, the blog's where it's at. Read it free while you still can! :)

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