How I Evolved as a Freelance Writer?

Everyone has a story behind their success and failure. The story that I have is a story of my success but not one that made me a millionaire. Rather I became more experienced in my work which in turn helped me become confident and helped in boosting my self-esteem. The reason why I am sharing this story is so that people can be inspired to work hard and know that success is not just defined by the end goal but rather it is every single milestone that we achieve while we work towards our passion. 

My story goes back to 2010 in Pakistan when I had just got done with my IGCSEs. It was the same year when my dad got retired after serving for 35 years to a reputable organisation. Being the last born in the family always means that you will be seeing your parents get old, tired and weak at a very young age and that was what I was seeing which made me want to do something. 

At that time with not much experience and with no money to invest, I just knew one thing that I want to be a published writer and maybe if I can get a job as a writer I will be able to make my mark in the literary world someday. Hence I began with my internet search for writing jobs and that was when I learnt about freelancing. For the next few weeks of my summer vacations, I kept searching for various local freelance writing jobs and I applied to many of them in the hope of getting a positive response. By the time my summer vacations were over I had received no response from any of the jobs that I had applied to but that wasn’t the end of my dream because I kept applying to any writing job that I’d see online.

A year passed and my first year of A-levels got completed. I was again having my summer vacations during which I continued to write and applied to more writing job openings. I used to get disheartened once in a while but I was determined to keep improving and kept applying for more writing jobs. Towards the end of my summer vacations, I finally got a call from a start-up company offering me the position of a re-writer. The pay was quite low but my instincts told me to take up the job so I can have enough experience to apply for a better paying one. 

Months later I got another job which was paying double the amount then my first job but it was still low. At that time I was in my second year of A-levels. With the passing of the months, I worked hard researching on the topics I had to write about. There were moments when I used to get exhausted because studies and a writing job from home surely seemed somewhat a bit monotonous. But the pay at the end of the month kept me going. 

During my first year of university I had the opportunity to study from a teacher who is also a published writer and when I discussed my aspiration to become a published writer someday she suggested that I make a blog so I could have an audience of my own. That was when I also became a blogger. 

My writing job routine remained same till the first two years of university. I had to switch to several writing jobs from time to time but the pay remained the same. During the third year of my university, I got to learn about online websites where foreign freelance jobs were being posted. I applied to write for a Canadian website with little hope because it was quite an advanced platform for me. Within a few weeks, I received a reply from them asking me to send a sample article which I did. 

I waited for a reply every day until after 15 days I finally saw my article being published on their website along with my name. I was no more a ghostwriter. It was one of the happiest moments of my life. I can still remember the sense of achievement I felt that day to be able to write for such an advanced platform and some of my articles also reached 1 million hits, plus the pay was triple the amount I was earning so far. During that same year, my short story got published in a local magazine and my motivation to write was further increased.

It has been 5 years since I am in the field of freelance writing. I am currently a feature writer for Muslimah Bloggers, my articles are being published on various websites related to different niches and  I have got two blogs of my own which have a good number of visitors and my readers are very supportive. I have also received books to review from publishing companies and authors. In addition to that, I was recently interviewed by a fellow blogger and received the title of ‘An Inspirational Pakistani Freelance Writer.’ To add more, I am currently working on a self-help book and even though it is yet to be completed, I can still feel a sense of achievement.

When I look back to those two years of no response from any writing job, I feel glad for not losing hope. I feel happy that I kept trying with the hope that one day I will get an opportunity. Today when I get a response from any website or magazine telling me that my article has been rejected, I look back to the days when I hadn’t even started. If my hard work and determination got me here, than with this same attitude I for sure can achieve my bigger goals. 

What I’d like to say to the readers here is that you don’t need to show the world your success because the world only measures success through fame and money. Instead, you should go with the flow to fulfill your passion, keep working hard and don’t consider any opportunity as small. As long as you find bliss in what you do, it is the perfect sign of you being successful.