Alannah Hill Challenge: Update #7

Yes, I'm still on my quest to accumulate a decent writing portfolio. When I'm satisfied with it, I've promised myself a lovely Alannah Hill shopping trip for a frilly cardigan. (See previous updates on this challenge.)

Well, we're at the halfway point of my 12 months of freelancing. I can return to my government job at the end of this year if writing doesn't work out and it's great to have this safety net. I'm thinking I may be mooning my old boss on my way out the door permanently in December, but I still have to prove to myself that writing can earn me full-time money. At the moment, I'm using office temping as a financial crutch, which is working out well, but eventually the plan is to be earning 100% of my income from writing. It ain't as easy as it sounds. : )

I've been doing the office temping for two months now, and I gotta say, it's surprisingly fun. I think of myself as a guerrilla office girl, a kind of mercenary secretary-for-hire, waging war on the crappy 9-5 drudgery. If my short-term gigs are pleasurable, then great, if not, then what-the-hey, I'll only be there for a few days before I move on. It's the perfect set-up for career commitment-phobes like me.

As far as the writing portfolio goes, I can almost feel that new, deliciously overdone AH cardigan wrapped around me! It now displays five magazines (admittedly there's two issues of eBay Life, but hey, that still counts!). A couple more will do it -- preferably with at least one more newly-cracked publication. Happily, I've got another article in the works for Women's Health & Fitness coming to contribute to the cause.

Oh, and did you happen to catch that not only did I write for The Essential Guide to Twitter, I scored the role of assistant editor? Hells yeah, I was rather chuffed with that effort. The actual act of editing other writers' work? Not so much (there were grammar mistakes, repetition, scary turns-of-phrase -- the works!). It's certainly a boost to my writing cred though. Bonza!

Hopefully the next Alannah Hill Challenge post will be my last and I'll need your help to pick my brand-new, brand-name cardie once I've reached my portfolio goal. Good times!