A beginning

[vaneramos]

It's a little embarrassing that my quota for this week is to earn $20 a day writing web content. Generally I earn $0.015 per word, so the average 500 word story is worth $7.50. That requires research, writing and proofreading. When I started, a job like that would take several hours. Consider that in the past I have never earned more than $25 in a week this way.

Tuesday I slept in, didn't get started until 11:00, had to take a break to run errands, and finally reached my quota by 7:30. It was a long, mentally exhausting day and a long way from paying the bills, but a big step forward.

Yesterday I started at 10:30 and reached my quota by 3:30. I had the rest of the day to dig in the garden, weave, make dinner, play Candamir with Danny, then work on interactive fiction for several hours before bed.

This morning I was out of bed before 7:30. I felt a moment of annoyance about the hard work ahead, then thought, "Wait a minute! I can choose how to spend the day, and this is my choice." I'm happy to be working in my own office. Through the open window 10 metres away, a cardinal is singing in the top of the honey locust. This is the most beautiful March weather in memory and I'm not stuck following anyone else's agenda. I can see the routine becomimg comfortable and invigorating, not so tiring. With a daily block of content writing in place, I can begin to dream about other freelance writing projects. Next week I will set new goals and a more rigorous schedule.