Now we had two reinventions in progress, a folie à deux (our own madness shared by two), with neither of us generating income. Do we pack it up and hightail it back to New York and start begging for jobs? No, we focus on what we have right here, right now, and we create a new vision.
Since writing my first More.com article, I Ditched my Plum Job to Write a Novel, I took readers’ advice and actively began finding new avenues to generate income from my writing. My first goal was to build a portfolio of published articles, so that when I did apply for writing jobs, I would have something to show. I reached out to the U.K. travel site, The Travel Editor, and asked it they might need a correspondent on the ground in Costa Rica. They asked to see a recent writing sample. Fortunately, I had my More.com link. They invited me to join their team. The Travel Editor is a user-generated content site of published travel writers where writers are paid based on number of Internet reader hits. It is obviously more lucrative for writers who already have a lot of stories ready to publish. But my goal was to get a portfolio together, and this I succeeded in. Any money I generate will be an added plus. You can see my travel articles on the Nosara area at: http://www.thetraveleditor.com/toplists/general/Costa_Rica/374/. And thanks to your suggestions, they can also be found on the social networking and bookmarking sites: StumbleUpon, Buzz, Digg, Delicious, Reddit, Mixx and Twitter. I even have a small fan club of people I have never met!
Also, as I speak Italian and had worked as a translator twenty years ago, I began applying for translation jobs that I could do from home using my computer. I joined a website that lets you bid on translation projects. But after six months, I still had not received a project. I assumed it was because I didn’t have work samples. Finally, someone gave me a chance, and I translated a DVD of a plainclothes nun walking around Rome talking about Holy sites. It was fun! But even better, my first paycheck in almost a year is now on its way. I’m confident new business will follow.
