"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy)
07/27/2020 at 12:12 • Filed to: Joblopnik, Writing, Musings
0
3|
"Wheelerguy" (wheelerguy)
07/27/2020 at 12:12 • Filed to: Joblopnik, Writing, Musings | 0
| 3 |
After my first month in DT Creators, I’ve started to mull over my options moving forward. After all, I can’t write in just one blog and certainly have to expand my topic set to include slightly wider niches (like motor racing). My problem is where.
Confident as I am of my skill, I also like to think that there’s such tight competition in the automotive blogging space. So far, all I can think of is a contributor role for now, with some special long reports, die-cast features and maybe the occasional racing roundup. Where could I do that, though?
I mean, if I’m only gunning for a contributor role, I reckon I can just ping Rory or Torch a line and say “hey, I have this story, can you run it?” but it does seem like I have to finish school first. Other blogs may seem less stringent but may not be “the place” for me to keep writing. Then there’s the pay.
How does it work? I’ve seen the monetisation on DT, w hich is...blah, but I reckon it is a bit steady so long as I push out content weekly or daily. If I was to do per-pub contribution or write for Jalopnik, at least, how would my setup work?
Jeez. I’m 22 ( pushing 23) and just about to start my second year at uni. Part of me likes this sort of “work” as a way to earn enough cash for myself, but part of me still dreams higher. I don’t want to be an automotive writer full-stop, but I can’t be stuck waiting to land a screenwriting gig while missing out on a potentially steadier source of income. Guide me here: what options do I have?
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Wheelerguy
07/27/2020 at 13:14 |
|
As a former academic and father of a child who is leaving for college in a few weeks, I’m going to tell you to focus on school. A full-time load (12+ hours of coursework) at the university level is considered a full-time job. To be successful, you should be spending 3 hours in class or studying for every hour of coursework you take on. Fifteen hours is a 45 hour work week. That’s what you’re paying for. You are paying to be there so you can focus on your education.
In my own experience, working and schooling at the same time leads to poor grades. That’s speaking both as a former student and as a teacher. My GPA as an undergrad was underwhelming. I finished my doctorate Magna Cum Laud. The difference was the amount of work I was putting in outside of my studies. As an undergrad, I worked at least 20 hours a week, often over 40. As a grad student, all of my work was part of my education.
Some people will say that grades don’t matter. That’s BS. Given two equal resumes, recruiters will interview the one with the higher grades first.
If the writing doesn’t complement your degree, then it should be a hobby, not a job. If you really want to write, if there are plenty of jobs that will pay the bills as a writer, and if your degree is in writing, then the side gig will help you find work when you graduate . If one of those ingredients is missing, focusing on what will get you the best paying job might be the best course of action.
|
Wheelerguy
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/27/2020 at 13:54 |
|
...and if your degree is in writing
It is. And while Creative Writing is a stone’s throw away from journalism, it’s not like my verticals on LaLD are doing any news reporting.
A full-time load (12+ hours of coursework) at the university level is considered a full-time job. To be successful, you should be spending 3 hours in class or studying for every hour of coursework you take on.
Which checks out in my case...and means that your point goes from valid to perfect advice. As someone with congenital heart disease (at this age, my VSD can be a liability), I can’t do strenuous physical work, so after starting college in 2018 (coming in cold after four years as a NEET) I’ve pretty much decided to focus on “ mind”-work, which in uni terms means writing and speaking — two things I’m quite good at .
But as I discovered when the rest of my second semester moved online, even online coursework can be taxing to my body. And that’s with me doing my script/fan fic and/or LaLD features whenever I feel like it or when there’s time.
So you’re right. School is enough of a job for me as it is that scrunching even a once-a-week blog on some newly-revealed car may be a bit too much for me to handle. And given that I’m in a writing course anyway, it’s not like I’m short on opportunity. My brother even sugg ested I try doing copy-editing or translation (after all, I’ve been editing a whole bunch of theses and translate reports from friends and family for money, frie s and toys ) if my main int erests don’t work out. In the end, I have to choose my battles well, lest I lose the war.
Thank you so much for this comment you posted. You’ve added some more value to the sort of advice my brother and upperclassmen have given to me.
Unrelated: how’s the racing?
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Wheelerguy
07/27/2020 at 14:14 |
|
I’m glad to be of assistance. It sounds like you’ve been given solid advice by those who know you better than we do. Now it’s time to listen!
I’m not really racing these days, so it’s going great! :D