Money-Making Writing

You know, there are tons, and I mean, TONS, of blogs and articles on how to make money online and through blogging. Let me shatter your bubble here, I've written it before (Cleaning Up & Making Money) and I'm going to write it again; making money through online writing is really, really hard. No, it's not impossible, it's definitely do-able, but it's no piece of cake. And pgrundy has written one of the best blog article about this subject at 'How to Make Money Writing Online'.

There are alot of writers online and offline, all of them wanting that one break to penetrate the writing market and making oodles of money, just like their favourite author. I'm shameful, yet proud, to admit that I am one of them. No career is ever easy in this world, well, unless you count flipping burgers and sweeping the streets. But even those have their own ups and downs, such as servicing grumpy customers, working long hours, facing inconsiderate litterers and drivers, stuff like that.

pgrundy mentioned in her blog that one way to get your writing career started is to self-publish your work. She even has a list of big-time authors who started by self-publishing their writings. I have a college friend, who's very talented in writing, and he too had published his science fiction story in the US. He showed it to me but I never got a chance to read it. If you think it's vain to self-publish, well, honey, let me tell you that it's a dog-eat-dog world out there. If you're not going to toot your horn amidst all those other horn-tooters, then you're never going to get noticed. Have some confidence in yourself.

Neither A Borrower Nor Lender Be

Take the above quote from Shakespeare’s Hamlet to heart. Please. Even if you don’t read anything I’ve written so far, please just take this one advice from me.

Allow me to tell you a story.

Once upon a time, a young man named Fairus Saidon saw a girl in his new workplace at one of Malaysia’s telecommunication companies. He decided to get to know the girl and later made her his girlfriend. It all started well, the new couple seemed happy together. Then…he started asking her for money.

A few amount at a time, he asked for money to help with a business idea he had concocted, or so he claimed. He himself had no money as he was unemployed, having left the telecommunication company later on in the relationship, so the person he turned to continuously was his girlfriend. The girl loved him and so of course, she loaned him whatever amount he needed. After all, which girl wouldn’t want to help out her future husband, who had proposed to her in the first few months of the relationship?

And so hundreds of Ringgit turned into thousands and the amount would have kept increasing if Fairus Saidon hadn’t decided to leave the relationship when his girlfriend was having personal problems, leaving her high and dry while making a play for another girl.

One year plus has come and gone since then and he has yet to pay the amount he owed even though he had promised time and time again, only to deflect them all with excuses after excuses. “I have no money” and “I don’t have a job” are the most frequently used excuses and when those doesn’t work, he always turned to his anger and harsh words to scare off his ex-girlfriend from asking for, what is rightfully, her money.

The morale of the story? Never lend money and never borrow money unless you sincerely believe you will see the money again and unless you can pay off your loan. I have heard many stories of men and women alike who borrow or ask for money and were never seen again. These people are called parasites, they feed off your kindness and generosity but are never around when you are in trouble.

It’s a problem when you lend people money when you yourself are actually in need of that money. Never use your friendship or your trust in people as a collateral in money-lending, it costs nothing and often brings nothing in return.

It is true that money can break relationships. I myself have lost a friend because of money. I have heard of brothers and sisters fighting over their mother’s inheritance as she lay dying on her bed. I have read of partnerships crumbling to dust in a debate over company shares. I have seen perfectly logical and mature adults refusing to talk to each other for years all because of a sale of a piece of land.

So please, just take this quote to heart even if you don’t listen or read anything else. It will help you gain some peace of mind in this tumultuous world of life.