Skip to main content

A writer reborn

I earned $124 for not sleeping for two nights. Not bad, right?

But I miss sleeping.

I haven't slept for two consecutive nights. I finished two ordered papers. Yeah, I call them ordered papers. I'm writing part-time for an online freelance writing company. I started last March and successfully delivered the first ordered paper on March 14.

Actually, I already forgot that I signed up for a freelance writing company online. I wasn't serious about it. I just wanted to see what was going to happen. I didn't expect to receive a confirmation that I was accepted as one of their freelance writers.

Anyway, I think I am enjoying this kind of part-time job.

First, I get paid per page -- in US dollars. The compensation per page depends on the immediacy and complexity of the paper. I had orders which were $ 12 per page. Some offered only $7 per page. There are orders offering only $3 but I don't get them. I think that's too cheap considering that the amount of time I spend on writing the paper is not dependent on the compensation. I mean, whether the order costs $12 or $5 or less, I exert the same effort so if I have other choices, I don't pick any order which costs lower than $5 per page. I love orders amounting to more than $10 per page, then the order requires multiple pages. It's worth all the sleep deprivation I experience.

Second, I get a chance to choose which order to take. Of course, I choose only those topics which I know very well so I wouldn't have to spend so much time reading and researching. Yeah, most papers require reading and thorough research. It consumes a lot of time. It's not as easy as sitting in front of the computer and letting my fingers click on the letters. It's not that easy. Without research, it's impossible to scribble on the paper. In taking orders, I also consider the number of pages and the complexity of the reading materials. Some orders ask only for one page for $5 then when I look at the materials necessary in writing the paper, I have to read at least 5 files uploaded on the system. I don't take that order. It's too much reading and thinking for a one-page paper.

My advantage is that I have thorough knowledge on plagiarism, citation, referencing and writing strategies. All the papers require referencing. Some prefer APA, some MLA, and some prefer the Harvard format. I wasn't familiar with the Harvard format but I learned it through writing for this company. I realize that the Harvard format is much less complicated than APA and MLA formats.

Third, I get various materials which help me expand my knowledge on the given topics. Honestly, one reason I enjoy doing this is that I learn a lot from the clients' reading materials. So far, I've written papers about communication & leadership, highly attractive models being obsolete in the field of advertising, expectancy violations theory, communication/advertising strategy, creative brief, etc. I enjoy learning from the reading materials uploaded in the system.

Fourth, I am able to get access to different university libraries and various databases. NOw, I started to appreciate the databases available in different colleges/universities in the US, Australia and perhaps other countries. By the way, the customers are from those countries.

Finally, I enjoy getting instant feedback from the customers. I'm glad whenever customers fill out a survey form to tell me and the company that they were very satisfied with my writings. My first customer was very much happy with the paper I wrote for her so she gave me a VERY SATISFIED evaluation on the survey. That remark made me earn bonus points equivalent to $1 per page. Not bad. She requested for 5 pages so I got $5 for free! Most of my customers were satisfied with the papers I wrote for them. I got bonus points several times. The latest was the paper I finished this morning. My deadline was at 6 am and I submitted the paper at 3 a.m. I was surprised when I checked my account in the company because the customer posted a comment saying EXCELLENT WORK! I'm ready to order another paper! In that order, aside from my compensation, I also got bonus points for 7 pages. so $7. Plus, the customer asked me to write another paper for her.

Anyway, I think I'm not getting any order for a couple of days. I want to make up for my lack of sleep. I need a complete rest after squeezing my brain overnight. It's not easy to think and deprive myself of sleep. Imagine, I wrote papers overnight and before I knew it, it was already 7 a.m. which means it's time to work full-time here in school. That was like 24-hour work with no sleep, just coffee and music combined with readings, keyboard and ideas.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Levels Earned, Lessons Learned in SHAIYA

The holy week was not really holy for me. This was time of the year when I played hard. Really played hard, as in trying to make the toon level every time I logged in . And to help my toon level up, even my husband and my daughter would play with her. This year, my toon is DanieGanda. Danie, for the record, is my daughter's nick name. But I thought of adding the word "Ganda," which is a tagalog term for Beauty. DanieGanda is a human priest in the normal mode. As the rule in Shaiya, a player won't be able to create a character in the hard mode [here, toons are stronger] without first reaching level 40 in the normal mode, which is a level lower than HM. When DanieGanda started, she was power leveled by king-kruller, whom DanieGanda met while my daughter was playing the toon. King_kruller was als o Danie's first friend in Shaiya. At the moment, he's already level 58, UM. The experience was good for Danie was able to meet players from different walks o

Management Lessons from GUNG HO

'I must recognize that man achieves the highest degree of efficiency when he plays. If someone says he works out of loyalty to the company, he is a damned liar.' ----Soichiro Honda Founder-millionaire Honda Motor Co., Ltd. When a company fails, who should take the blame? When the workers complain, who should do some reflections, the management or the workers themselves? Hunt Stevenson, in the movie GUNG HO (means to WORK TOGETHER) , needed to do some reflections before it was too late. His failure to do some actions would result in closure of Assan Motors, thereby leaving hundreds of American laborers unemployed. According to Robert Heller, the author of the article EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT: TAKING RESPONSIBILITY, "How the boss behaves has a profound effect on how other managers perform - and thus on the performance of the entire outfit. That's a self-evident truth, acknowledged by most people. But few bosses acknowledge the corollary: that inferior performance is partl

An Open Letter to my Daughter as She Goes Off to College

Dear Stef, I know you’re excited to go to college, meet new friends, and embrace a more fast-paced life in Manila. I’m also excited for you! I know that the physical distance between us will only make you become stronger and more prepared to face the real world once you’ve finished college. I want you to be fully equipped and well-prepared when that time comes. I’m confident you won’t have problems being on your own. As you know, I’ve been there – was then studying in Manila, away from my parent, since I was in high school, kaya pagdating ng college sa Baguio, halos end of semester na lang ako umuuwi. At least ngayon, meron nang FB, Twitter, Skype and ‘unli text and call’, so keeping in touch is no longer an issue. Pero siyempre, iba pa rin kapag we don’t see you every day para kumustahin ang araw mo. . . Well, malapit lang naman ang Manila from Angeles, and madali ka lang puntahan, or madali ka lang makauwi, but it’s still very different from what I’ve been used to. Ngayon, without y