The One Where I Get Paid for Writing

Once upon a time, I got a job as a writer.

I was eight months out of college, and I’d spent a season working retail at a place that sold educational materials for children.

The stocking of shelves!

A gripey assistant manager!

A customer-cheating boss!

SHRINK-WRAPPING!!! 
 

My mind felt like sludge at the bottom of a duck pond.

Waking Up to the Nightmare

I needed to write.

I also needed a job.

Ergo, getting a job as a rep in a mortgage company’s correspondence department seemed like a dream come true.

But in the reality of this once-upon-a-time fairy tale, I wasn’t writing anything I wanted to be writing. My job consisted of answering written inquiries from mortgagors.

Late charge disputes.

Payment histories.

Amortization schedules.

Grammatically incorrect form letters.

: (

Usually, I could answer the letters in writing. But sometimes, when the call center couldn’t handle the volume of incoming calls, I had to talk to (irate) mortgagors on the phone. My supervisors called this “jumping into the queue.”

For me, it was jumping into spider-infested quicksand.

That was my first experience getting paid to write.

Living the Dream

Yesterday, I had my second experience getting paid to write.

This experience was much more pleasant than the first.

You see, my dear inklings, yesterday I received my first royalties check for my novel, Colors of Deception.

Please, allow me to repeat that.

Yesterday I received my first royalties check.

Yesterday I received my first royalties check.

Yesterday I received my first royalties check.

That just sounds so darn pretty.

I’ll Show You Mine…

I’m plotting a video post for this coming Thursday, in which I shall talk about:

• the thrill of finding that check in my mailbox
• the terror of can-I-do-it-again?
• and the transparency and vulnerability of one indie author (that’s me).

I’d show you a picture of the check, but my camera seems to be non-functional at present. So come back on Thursday and see it on video! I’ll even Show & Tell how much it’s for!

Until then:

Have you gotten paid for writing?

What kind of writing? Creative? Technical? Journalistic?

If you’re an income-generating blogger, what was your first-time-paid experience?

Come talk to us, people. Share the joy, and share the writing love!