What are Your Words Worth as a Writer?

I will unravel the myths behind being a full-time author

Do you hanker after sitting behind a desk in your favourite room at home and conjuring up wild images that you can eventually portray on paper for people around the world to read? That was my dream. I had it as a small child and it never left me. The idea was always there that one day, I would go into a bookshop and see my book sitting on the shelf. That dream is about to come true and as publication day, (1st May), fast approaches, what I am about to share with you is quite shocking.

What are your words worth?

In 2020, the world was a scary place with the onslaught of the pandemic sweeping the globe and everybody, including myself, being scared witless. Not knowing if or when the killer virus would strike, what effect it would have on us as individuals and all the other unknowns that came with dealing with the Covid-19 virus. But once we had come to terms with the fact that if we mixed with other people, we would spread this deadly virus, we hunkered down and locked ourselves away in the name of safety. Not only for ourselves, but for our loved ones and fellow citizens too.

During that period, I focused on what I had always wanted to do, but never quite found the time to do it justice. Time was something that I now had heaps of in great bucket loads. The hours stretched ahead of me daily while locked away at home. Fortunately, my job as a Legal Assistant meant that I was able to work from home. Still, evenings and weekends of not being able to go outside, other than for a brisk walk. No socializing or visiting family or friends. No shopping. No golf or tennis and the hours could easily have dragged by. That was when I focused one hundred percent on my writing and shut myself away in my office.

A family member introduced me to Medium and I was away. My first few tentative steps were spent teetering around exploring the platform, interacting with other writers, joining the Medium Partner Program, and even becoming a member at a monthly cost of just over $4. Worth every cent? Not quite. It was a very useful place to practice my art as a writer. I connected with some great folks, some of whom I am still in touch with today. But I never hit the big time. That’s an understatement. I only made a few dollars, not thousands, as so many of the writers on the platform had led me to believe was possible.

High Expectations

I would get excited as I read the myriad of articles about how writers on the platform were earning tens of thousands of dollars. It was mind-boggling. I tried so hard. My earnings ranged from a few cents to the dizzying amount of $101.20 one month, which included a $50 bonus. I wrote regularly for over two years, publishing 149 stories in total. I published a string of interesting articles, poems, and, my favourite, short stories. I had work accepted by some big publications. Climate Conscious, The Startup, P.S. I Love You, and many more. I also self-published a huge amount.

I received a heart-rending message from a reader who had read one of my short stories. She told me that after reading the story, it brought back so many memories for her.

She told me that she had a man-shaped hole in her heart.

Sadly, what I learned was that people wanted to read about how much they could earn. I even got caught up in it myself and wrote several articles on how you could earn money on the platform. Do you want to know what I earned, in total?