There are those who talk of the loneliness of the writer.  They speak of hours spent sitting alone with a computer or typewriter and the solitary frustration of battles with the blank page.

That hasn't been my experience.

I get to have really cool experiences as a writer that I wouldn't otherwise have.  Here's a for instance.  Today, I had a past life regression hypnotherapy session.  This is the second session I've had. Both were for the purpose of writing articles.  In a few weeks, I am going to undergo a past life regression session live for a podcast. 

Here's another one. Last weekend, I got to tag along and ask annoying questions while a paranormal group investigated a haunted mansion.  And not the Disney kind.  Later this month I get to go with the same paranormal group and investigate a reportedly haunted hotel. How cool is that?

I love to write, and I really love all of the stuff that comes with writing under the guise of research.  I've talked with interesting and entertaining people.  I've talked with famous people.  I've had the chance to have unusual experiences.  And perhaps best of all, I have the chance to ask as many questions as I can come up with whenever I meet and talk with someone.

For a curious cat like me, I just can't imagine any better line of work. 

I used to have an ego.  Then I became a writer.  That was the end of that.

As a writer for Corporate America, I quickly learned that if I led with my ego, it was going to be crushed.  Not because I couldn't write, but because when you are writing for someone else, they have very specific ideas about what they want.  Or, perhaps more accurately, they have very specific ideas about what they don't want.  And usually they don't know they don't want it until you've written it. 

Writing for others is a collaborative process.  And I quickly discovered that how I view that process  is key to my success.  There were two ways I can go about it.  I can lead with my ego and spend a lot of time being frustrated, or I can open myself up to the collaboration and do my best to give my co-collaborator what they want.

Guess which one I chose? No.  Not the ego.  That went away a long time ago, and I am a happier and more peaceful writer as a result. 

I'm an extremely curious person.  I want to know stuff.  I crave new knowledge.  This makes freelance writing the perfect profession for me.  Writing gives me the opportunity to research topics, develop article ideas, and to cram my brain chock full of information.  It also makes me insanely difficult to beat at Trivial Pursuit.

When I hear about something new, I'm not satisfied with just a news blurb or a quick sound bite.  Instead, I want to dig into the topic in depth.  And then, once I know what I now know, I want to write about it so that others can be filled with the same wonder of discovery that I have.

I am blessed to be living in the information age.  With the Internet, I have access to tremendous amounts of knowledge, which feeds my addiction to new information.  I am also an insatiable reader.  I love seeing how other people put what they know, see, think and feel into words.  As a child, I spent hours in the library.  Now they see me coming at Amazon.com and Borders, and they start to rub their hands in glee.

Words and knowledge go hand-in-hand.  Writing and curiosity are a match made in heaven.  And I am thoroughly blessed to have not only the insatiable desire to learn, but also the gift to communicate what I know.  The way I see it, that makes me one of the lucky ones.

The life of a freelance writer is never dull.  At any given moment, I could have several projects going - such as writing a book on job hunting, editing a World of Warcraft Manual, writing a hypnotherapy website, interviewing a world-renowned UFOlogist, creating sports psychology workbooks and writing an article on spirit photography.  All at once.

I like it that way.  It keeps my mind active and involved.  I have the opportunity to discover updated information on topics that interest me.  Sometimes, I get to learn about new topics.  I become an instant expert.

Even better - there is something inside of me that thrives on the challenge of keeping all of the balls in the air.  And the subtle pressure of putting out a quality product within a deadline.  I love it.  I thrive on it.  It is a big part of who I am.  I can't imagine it any other way.



  

Writing is in my blood.  It is as essential to me as breathing.  Since I was a young child, I have written.  My early memories involve snuggling up with my notebook and writing stories and poems.  When we were given a writing assignment in school, I could feel the excitement bubbling up while the other kids groaned.

I am not a first generation writer.  My grandfather was a sports editor and writer for a local newspaper.  My favorite picture of him shows him sitting in front of his old-fashioned typewriter with a cigar in his mouth and a glint in his eye.  My mother still has the typewriter.

The tools of the trade have changed a little since my grandfather wrote his articles on that typewriter, but some things remain the same.  Such as the joy that comes from breathing life into words on a page.  Taking the passion that others have for what they do and translating it into the written word.  Or,  slipping into a zone where hours pass in minutes. 

Maybe someday my grandchildren will have a favorite picture of me.  There will be no cigar, and there will be no typewriter.  Instead, it will be me with my computer.  And a glint in my eye.