WHY "MASTER DAYTON?"

"Master Dayton" might be humorous, (I mean if Ph.Ds are called "Doctors," shouldn't MFAs be called "Masters?") but in all seriousness I have made a living freelance writing and after several years I have tons of information I want to share to help out my fellow writers, regardless of age, experience, goals, situation, or background. This blog isn't pretty-but it will help if real freelance writing information is what you want.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Writing Allegory: The Beetle and the Acorn

This is a real short post that is (despite initial appearances) still related to freelance writing before going back to more website reviews and ways to maximize your earnings early on, in the lean months, when it can be hardest to get you going with some decent paying jobs.

The other day I was enjoying one of the advantages of being a full time writer: which is being able to shift my schedule around any way I want. Since the really oppressive heat of the Texas summer (complete with drought this year) was finally gone, at noon I decided to go for a four hour hike on one of the great trails here in Austin. I would do all my freelance writing work when I got back.

While taking a break, I saw a beetle moving to try and push an acorn up what, for him, was a very steep rock face. It failed several times, but tried again with renewed vigor and a new tactic every time. Watching him wasn't only a great way for me to practice living in the moment (a practice I strongly reccomend), but his struggles with getting the acorn to the top was an extremely apt parable for all of the following: freelance writing, Internet marketing, & making money online.

You can view the page where I wrote about the specifics here:
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Stubborn-Beetle-and-the-Acorn

It's worth a read to get the point of what to expect from a career in freelance writing, and the dedication and ability to adapt that you'll need to really succeed. I hope this little story helps, and the next post will be a long list of places you can write to make money online with very brief reviews, and then I'll start going into some really in depth and comparative reviews shortly after that.

Keep writing, and I'm pulling for you.

2 comments:

  1. I like this account, and I'm digging the blog as a whole. This beetle story made me think of the Greek myth of Sisyphus. It's often struck me that his struggle is one of the great metaphors of how life works. Have you ever read Camus's "Myth of Sisyphus"? It's interesting stuff.

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  2. Hey Justus, good to hear from ya'! Hope PA is treating you well - I'm kind of jealous with winter coming and no snow down here and all. I've always been a big fan of Sisyphus, and I think you're dead on in thinking that metaphor seems apt for life in general. I think it's why most "successful" people I know seem to recognize and accept that life is hard and there's always another challenge, while the ones who don't accept this are the people who keep waiting for life to clear up or a lucky break to take place.

    Thanks for the compliments, bro, and I'll be getting into the really specific website reviews soon, so hope you find more useful here. Keep in touch.

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