Adjunct professor here. If I’m being honest, I still have lots of resentment for how all of the art world is mostly made up of upper middle class and above people. Their stories are boring to me and I struggle to understand how they keep getting made and celebrated. But I also struggle with knowing my own worth (a common working class issue), and it may be that my pain clouds my judgement. I dunno. This is important stuff to consider though. Glad you found a way that works! Still figuring that out on my end. 💜
I have the same resentment, so I understand completely. That's what inspired me to write this post, because I was frustrated that I have to spend so much time and energy making a paycheck when other people can be "full time artists" because they come from rich families. And I wondered: does my boring job make me less of a creative person? Or is there a way in which it makes me a better artist, a better creative, a better human? So it was really just to make myself feel better. And this job is just what works for now, to keep a roof over my head. I still have 100k in student loan debt I had to take on to get to this point, which is the irony of it! But if I lost my job I would lose all said security. I am still always on that cusp of losing it all. I hope you find a way to make it work, you deserve it, we all do. Thank you for reading and engaging, I know it's a tricky and emotional topic!
I'm writing a chapter for a book right now on student loan debt and the recent news (wage garnishment to begin this summer) has me spiraling. Stay strong. Sending much love and solidarity.
Michelle, this is exactly the type of post I needed to read right now. While I never wrote fake reviews, I did many, many weird writing gigs in the early days of my career and did them solely because I had to. I had to do so in order to survive.
The piece I'm working on right now touches on this theme, so you may be interested in reading it when it goes live in May.
The general idea is this: I used to feel that being born a writer in a community that had never so much as known a professional writer was a curse. The cross I had to bear, so to speak.
Many times I've lost sleep wondering if I'm striving for some impossible dream, something too good for me; I struggle every year when I'm told to raise my rates because I don't feel worthy of doing so. I fear I'll scare my clients aware.
You have no idea how encouraging it is to read such a similar story to my own, one that gets into the gritty details of the types of content-mill slush we had to write in order to rise out of poverty. This is the type of content I subscribed to you for and I'm not disappointed.
Carly! This was so so nice to read and I’m so glad you can relate, you are not alone on this journey! And as I wrote in my post I’m CERTAIN that those slush mill jobs made you a better writer, a better person, better at understanding people and the world. I don’t believe that hard things happen for a reason, necessarily, but I do know there is a lot of strength we glean from hard times that give life more meaning. Thanks for being here🩷🩷
I absolutely loved reading this! I often curse out loud at how hard it can be to work for myself and run my own company. But in the end, I wouldn't have it any other way. Every day, I find new ways to be creative, not just in writing and photography but also in how I run my business. Unused creativity is dangerous. Life is art. I love Andy Warhol's quote, "Making money is art, working is art, and good business is the best art." Thanks for sharing your story!
I deeply related to this entire piece and especially " the work I do for a paycheck makes my creative writing better." As a full-time content marketer and a full-time creative writer, I feel this in my bones. Do I always love my "day job"? No. Is it a part of my life and a piece of the greater puzzle that ultimately fuels my creativity? Hell yes. It's all part of the behind-the-scenes machinery that make this imperfect thing chug along.
I’m so glad you could relate! This was kind of a hard piece to share but I’m so glad I did because I hoped it would connect me to people like you who understand the same experience. And I truly believe that working a day job is part of the puzzle that fuels our creativity, I love how you framed that!
As a Level 8 Local Guide that has been to every place I have reviewed, how was I preserved from the knowledge that people do this?! I haven’t been paid for any of my reviews, and I’ve reviewed enough places to end up on their YouTube channel! 😂😂😂😂
Hahaha well it was very shady and about a decade ago, I don’t think it’s a legitimate gig that anyone can have now 😂 But I bet you are great at writing reviews!!!!
Oh, no way! So this was when they first started out. They only just celebrated 10 years. I’m one of the 5 local guides they picked to be featured for their anniversary:
Sorry. That was wildly unclear! It was Spark Notes for novels (I think I did a couple of Austen and maybe Gatsby? I can't remember!) but edited even further so people could download them to their phones. Which did not go over very well given the tech in the early 2000s! But it was a gig...
Adjunct professor here. If I’m being honest, I still have lots of resentment for how all of the art world is mostly made up of upper middle class and above people. Their stories are boring to me and I struggle to understand how they keep getting made and celebrated. But I also struggle with knowing my own worth (a common working class issue), and it may be that my pain clouds my judgement. I dunno. This is important stuff to consider though. Glad you found a way that works! Still figuring that out on my end. 💜
I have the same resentment, so I understand completely. That's what inspired me to write this post, because I was frustrated that I have to spend so much time and energy making a paycheck when other people can be "full time artists" because they come from rich families. And I wondered: does my boring job make me less of a creative person? Or is there a way in which it makes me a better artist, a better creative, a better human? So it was really just to make myself feel better. And this job is just what works for now, to keep a roof over my head. I still have 100k in student loan debt I had to take on to get to this point, which is the irony of it! But if I lost my job I would lose all said security. I am still always on that cusp of losing it all. I hope you find a way to make it work, you deserve it, we all do. Thank you for reading and engaging, I know it's a tricky and emotional topic!
I'm writing a chapter for a book right now on student loan debt and the recent news (wage garnishment to begin this summer) has me spiraling. Stay strong. Sending much love and solidarity.
Michelle, this is exactly the type of post I needed to read right now. While I never wrote fake reviews, I did many, many weird writing gigs in the early days of my career and did them solely because I had to. I had to do so in order to survive.
The piece I'm working on right now touches on this theme, so you may be interested in reading it when it goes live in May.
The general idea is this: I used to feel that being born a writer in a community that had never so much as known a professional writer was a curse. The cross I had to bear, so to speak.
Many times I've lost sleep wondering if I'm striving for some impossible dream, something too good for me; I struggle every year when I'm told to raise my rates because I don't feel worthy of doing so. I fear I'll scare my clients aware.
You have no idea how encouraging it is to read such a similar story to my own, one that gets into the gritty details of the types of content-mill slush we had to write in order to rise out of poverty. This is the type of content I subscribed to you for and I'm not disappointed.
Carly! This was so so nice to read and I’m so glad you can relate, you are not alone on this journey! And as I wrote in my post I’m CERTAIN that those slush mill jobs made you a better writer, a better person, better at understanding people and the world. I don’t believe that hard things happen for a reason, necessarily, but I do know there is a lot of strength we glean from hard times that give life more meaning. Thanks for being here🩷🩷
I absolutely loved reading this! I often curse out loud at how hard it can be to work for myself and run my own company. But in the end, I wouldn't have it any other way. Every day, I find new ways to be creative, not just in writing and photography but also in how I run my business. Unused creativity is dangerous. Life is art. I love Andy Warhol's quote, "Making money is art, working is art, and good business is the best art." Thanks for sharing your story!
Thank you for reading!! I’m glad you could relate.
I deeply related to this entire piece and especially " the work I do for a paycheck makes my creative writing better." As a full-time content marketer and a full-time creative writer, I feel this in my bones. Do I always love my "day job"? No. Is it a part of my life and a piece of the greater puzzle that ultimately fuels my creativity? Hell yes. It's all part of the behind-the-scenes machinery that make this imperfect thing chug along.
I’m so glad you could relate! This was kind of a hard piece to share but I’m so glad I did because I hoped it would connect me to people like you who understand the same experience. And I truly believe that working a day job is part of the puzzle that fuels our creativity, I love how you framed that!
As a Level 8 Local Guide that has been to every place I have reviewed, how was I preserved from the knowledge that people do this?! I haven’t been paid for any of my reviews, and I’ve reviewed enough places to end up on their YouTube channel! 😂😂😂😂
Hahaha well it was very shady and about a decade ago, I don’t think it’s a legitimate gig that anyone can have now 😂 But I bet you are great at writing reviews!!!!
Oh, no way! So this was when they first started out. They only just celebrated 10 years. I’m one of the 5 local guides they picked to be featured for their anniversary:
https://youtu.be/CF5VY880VxU?si=nvbczED0MC0QneL_
I edited Spark Notes for cell phones in the early 2000s. One of the weirdest jobs I’ve ever done.
Like teaching people how to use cell phones? lol that would be wild to read them now!!
Sorry. That was wildly unclear! It was Spark Notes for novels (I think I did a couple of Austen and maybe Gatsby? I can't remember!) but edited even further so people could download them to their phones. Which did not go over very well given the tech in the early 2000s! But it was a gig...
OH that's kind of cool! I would read something about that!
So relatable! Thank you!
Till AI takes over all marketing