Things are tough all over

I’ve begun this odyssey that has been both frustrating and enlightening at the same time: I’ve been trying to break into the world of freelance writing, but with no experience and no resume, I’m pretty much a nobody, a fact that some people I know will attest to. I am, however, learning a lot, and after a great deal of research on the Web (it amazes me that we used to function as a society without the internet?), I have convinced myself, or should I say deluded myself, that I can do this. The question is, where do I begin, with the chicken or the egg? So far it’s been the same old song and dance - you can’t get a job writing without some concrete, legitimate experience, and you can’t get that experience without having a job. How’s that for a Catch-22?

My problem is that I’m looking to make some extra income by working part-time from home. My reason for wanting this is because I’m a stay-at-home dad (SAHD) who also happens to home school his two children. As you may have guessed, there aren’t too many of us out there, but that doesn’t in any way deter us in our resolve to be there for our children. Our decision to live this way will be elaborated on throughout this blog, but for now, suffice it to say that it ain’t easy.

This may surprise many of you outside of Upper Valley, the area in Vermont and New Hampshire near Dartmouth College, but it isn’t cheap living here. Having lived in uber-expensive cities like LA and New York, we naively thought we’d live like royalty up here. While the quality of life can’t be beat, and we wouldn’t trade our lives up here for anything, it goes without saying that it’s expensive.

And nobody is paying us to home school. I’m not complaining, at least I don’t think I’m complaining, but being a stay-at-home dad (SAHD) means no income, and no income means things are tough all over.

So, in order to maintain our current lifestyle and to continue being there for our children, I’ve gone searching for a way to make some extra income, and the most plausible way is through freelance writing.

At least, that’s what I thought. I’m learning that it’s not so straightforward as it seemed. I mean, with all the content being read out there, I figured I’d walk right in and start writing for any number of websites out there. After all, there are literally thousands of sites out there wanting content, and I was their man.

Then again, I failed to take into account that, while there may be thousands of sites, there are billions of people in the world, and all of them are potential content producers. As a consequence, the competition is fierce.

But I’m determined to make this work, even if it means starting at the bottom and scraping my way up. Actually, considering my circumstances, that’s pretty much how it’s going to have to be, but I’m ready.

Part of my optimism stems from the fact that I’m not looking to make the big bucks. Just some extra income to help pay the bills and support our incredibly luxurious lifestyle… not!

It’s an adventure, to say the least. And I’m all for adventure. Stay tuned for more.