First Step Successfully Taken...

Roughly a month ago, I quit my job as an Admin Assistant at an MNC, to pursue my dream of becoming a writer. I knew it was a risk I was taking - giving up a steady income for something that I had no experience in. However, I felt like it was the right thing to do. So I trusted my instincts and decided to go full fledge into writing. 

I had a very vague idea about how to be a successful writer, but I needed more information if I were to make it my career. So I spent my first two weeks researching about how to be a successful freelance writer. I gained a bit more knowledge, and one of the things I got to know was that I could sign up as a content contributor with Yahoo!.  I jumped head first into it. Signed up immediately, created my profile and read all their guidelines. I joined the newbies forum and read what others had to say.  I read various other contributors' articles.... and kept reading for about a week, hesitating to start writing because I simply could not think of a topic.

Then it hit me - I could make a topic out of anything and everything in my life. I could write about whatever I wanted, and no one would say I was wrong to have chosen that topic. It was my wish. So one day I decided to give it a shot and I wrote a short article about why personalized gifts are better than any other kind of gifts. I submitted it for the Yahoo! editors' review.

And then the wait started.

I waited for a couple of days, maybe 3. Then I received a reply... My article was rejected. Obviously I felt let down, but thankfully, they gave me a review about why it was rejected and how I could make it a better one. They were looking for something unique. There was the option to resubmit it after editing but I did not do so immediately. Instead, I mulled things over, and started reading other articles, afraid to give it another shot.

I went back to square one and started wondering about what I could possibly write that would be unique to myself - something that only I could write; something with my unique writing style. When I read the articles by other contributors, I wondered about what it is that they had that I didn't. I talked to a few friends and my family. They encouraged me to try again.

So I did. It took me a few days, but I managed to write about a very niche topic. It was a short article as well. I submitted it.

And waited.

Today, I received news that my article was successfully published. My very first article with Yahoo!. I was excited and I shared it with my friends and family - the very people who gave me the moral support to try again.

Now I'm sharing it on my blog as well: Ramayana Month - The Month of Scarcity

This is my 1st step, successfully taken. *Smiles*