I’m a journalist

[image error]It’s the first Wednesday of the month again, time for a post for the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.

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For the first time ever since I joined the IWSG blog hop, I forgot the posting day. My excuse: I had a doctor’s appointment this morning. I hope it is not too late to post now, even though I live in Vancouver, on the West Coast of Canada. It’s only 12pm here, but most of the other people in the blog hop have already passed their midday, and maybe entered the night.

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OCTOBER QUESTION: When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

MY ANSWER: I’m a freelance writer, a journalist. I suppose, it qualifies me as a working writer, although part-time only.

I recently saw this quote about freelance writers and can’t refrain from sharing it.

The freelance writer is a man who is paid per piece or per word or perhaps.

~ Robert Benchley

Benchley’s definition fits, even though he only mentions men. But then he died in 1945, so perhaps equality in journalism was an unfamiliar concept to him. I won’t hold it against the guy.

I write for a small local newspaper, have been writing for them since 2007. They pay me per piece (Yay, Benchley!) And despite the COVID and my personal struggles with breast cancer this summer, I’m still writing for them. I just finished an article about an art show in our Jewish Community Centre. That is my beat: art and artists in Vancouver. I know the topic and I love the artists.

I also write fiction, but that doesn’t pay nearly as well as my journalistic endeavors. Sometimes not at all. Alas. I would prefer the opposite ratio, but as a realist, I take what I can get.