It's my birthday week. 🥳 Here's what becoming a full-time writer has done for me this year.

What writing means to me, what I hope my next year of life will bring, and why I think hard workers deserve a shot at the writing life.

Please enjoy this video from my 17th birthday party, during which my hair caught on fire. 🔥 What a fantastic year!

Did I mention it’s my birthday week? 🥳 Having a birthday close to Christmas means I’m very often asked whether family members combine my birthday and Christmas gifts into one.

I always grin when I hear this question. I have a response at the ready.

“Yeah, sometimes they do… But that’s actually not a bad thing!”

Why?

Well, while I might just get one gift from a relative, it’s often a bigger, more expensive gift than two smaller presents.

This is what the writing life has done for me this year. I took the gift of writing, a hobby I’ve always enjoyed, and combined it with the gift of choosing my own career path. This year, I took a big risk and gave myself the best early birthday gift: I embarked on a new journey where I synthesized my passion and career into one.

Naturally, there have been ups and downs and curves in the road. Overall, though, the journey has been fantastic. I’ve learned more than I ever thought possible in one year, and my writing has improved drastically.

The truth is, writing means the world to me. In my life, writing has helped me escape when I don’t have anyone to turn to. Writing has taken me on trips to unknown places. Writing has given me a way to sort out my thoughts and understand my experiences. Writing has provided me with something valuable to pursue, an art to get better at, a place to go when I didn’t know where else to go.

Now, as an adult, I’m tickled pink to say that writing is my job! I get to bring home the bacon whilst smiling during the work day. Never before have I found so much joy in my work as I have this past year as a full-time writer.

---

To celebrate the holidays as well as my birthday month, I’m offering a 40% discount on annual paid subscriptions until the end of December. Please consider buying me a birthday gift (🥳) while gaining access to all of my paid subscriber benefits by clicking the pretty purple button below!

---

I love my job, which is why I’ve curated my newsletter to teach others about the worlds of freelancing and ghostwriting. I want other people to love their jobs, too! A person’s career is a huge part of their life, and I can’t stand idly by as many writers suffer through day jobs they despise because they don’t know how to build a freelancing career. I want to be the agent of change, the catalyst for career freedom and fulfillment. I want other writers to see how they can have the work-life balance, remote structure, and interest-driven work they’ve been searching for.

In this next year of life, my primary aspirations are to deepen the authenticity of my Substack community, provide actionable tips and solid resources to those wanting to make writing their career, finish my debut fiction novel, and inspire through the life I’m able to build as a ghostwriter.

Writing for a living has renewed my confidence, my passion for work, and my smiles. 😊 I am so grateful that I get to help world-changers share their incredible stories. Honestly, I thought writing for a living meant I’d end up dirt poor, but with some savings and frugality along the way, I’m now making more than I was in my day job! Writing has freed me in more ways than one, and it can free you, too.

I research and write for The Ghost Post because I know that if I can succeed as a writer, so can you.