Shifting from the full-time corporate world to one of freelance affords me the opportunity to refocus on my passion, writing. Having more time to write, as well as an incentive to continue developing my writing skills forced me to look at my own writing process and really discover I can produce my best work. After having gotten so much advice over the years about writing, the most important bit I can pass along is to practice. Ignore whatever else people tell you to do to be a good writer....

When I graduated from college with my B.S. in Journalism in hand I was certain of one thing, I didn’t want to be a reporter. I wanted a job where I could use the writing skills I’d spent four years diligently developing, but the grueling hours for low pay that a reporter suffers did not appeal to a college grad with student loans and rent to pay each month.

The opportunity to apply for a marketing assistant job came my way about eight months after I graduated. By then I had already managed...

I was a writer when I began college, studying journalism so that I could turn writing into a career. The requirements for a major included classes one would expect - news writing and reporting, media law and ethics, etc, but one requirement seemed out of place to me until I actually took the course - Design. I obviously knew everything written for a publication has to have photos and graphics added and has to be designed onto a page, but I had assumed that was something unrelated to the role...

I think it started early on, before spelling words correctly was something I was concerned about. I caught the writing bug. We had this assignment in school where we had to write and illustrate a book. I wrote about my cat running away (we found her a few days later.) I still have the book because it had a profound effect on me. I’m still writing to this day.

Personal narratives are the best place to start

Being a writer requires so much practice, so before you sit down to write the next...

You might not think it glancing around my office at the piles that have amassed recently, but I’m a highly organized person. In fact, I thrive in an environment filled with to-do lists, digital calendars, and reminders. Being detail-oriented has been one of my most useful skills throughout my career because it works for me regardless of what I’m doing. Even personally, with so much to manage, being cognizant of all the details of everyone in my family’s lives, makes things way more...