Words in the World

There have been many moments over the past two years when I've wondered "How did I get here?"

It has felt like a series of happy accidents. A longtime connection got me a job as a contributing editor at a magazine. A hiring manager who saw past my lack of formal experience offered me a job at a content agency. I was paired with some blue-chip clients and built a good writing portfolio.

And many times I've felt like I didn't really belong. I was surrounded by people with far more experience.

I've been writing in my Substack for nearly 18 months and on Medium for much longer. Gains have been small. And I keep writing, even when at times it felt like no one was reading.

Then a few weeks ago, I wrote an article about the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and it blew up. It  hit over 35k views. I gained 1,000 new followers on Medium and many followed me over to Substack.

And then someone I know was looking for freelance help and asked a community I'm in if anyone was interested and, if so, to send writing clips. I expressed my interest and said I'd send him some samples. He wrote back that he is already a big fan of my work.

Is this... what it feels like to be a writer? That people are familiar with my work? That people actually want to read it and follow along when I publish something new?

Feels pretty good. Like I've found what I'm meant to be doing.