January 2018 Writing Life: My new year has kind of hit a snag [#yearofwriting]

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It’s the start of the year and it felt like a really exciting time when I wrote down all of my writing goals for 2018 recently. One of the things I didn’t consider at the time, though, is that I’d still like to continue doing these #yearofwriting posts because they have been a really good for me. I really enjoy keeping myself accountable with all of my work and still putting all of my clips on here. It’s very encouraging, and I hope to keep encouraging myself. So without further ado…

What was published: 

• Here’s What Happened When I Went From Couch Potato to Exercising for 30 Days Straight [Brit+Co]
• Why you’ll be obsessed with tiger nails in 2018 [MamásLatinas]
• Have some ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ fun with these 12 toys [MamásLatinas]

HipLatina, specifically: 

• Trump Administration Pulls Protected Status for Salvadoran Immigrants
• This Is Why Lin-Manuel Miranda Thinks it’s So Important for Latinos to Be Politically Active
• Latina Fitness Pro Massy Arias Reveals How She Used Fitness to Battle Her Depression
• Amara La Negra Reveals How Her Mom Helped Her Embrace Her Blackness
• Bella Thorne Angers Internet With Careless Mudslide Tweet
• Selena Gomez’s Mom Reveals True Feelings About Jelena Romance and It’s Relatable AF
• 12 Lin-Manuel Accomplishments That Helped Put Latinos on the Map
• What the Response to This Father Being Deported Reveals About the U.S.
• 10 Reasons Why Orlando Is a Great Spot for Couple’s Getaway
• 12 Must-Read Latina Authors, According to Lin-Manuel Miranda
• 12 Tips For Eating A More Plant-Based Diet (Even If You’re Not 100% Committed Yet)
• 8 Ways to Socialize Without Drinking (If You’re In Recovery)
• Gina Rodriguez Calls Out Hollywood for Lack of Latinx Representation
• Oscar Nominations 2018: Guillermo del Toro Sweeps But Latinos Still Underrepresented in Hollywood
• I’m an American Citizen But I Still Fear Being Deported
• Catherine Zeta-Jones Responds to Whitewashing in Cocaine Godmother and It’s Total BS
• What We Can Learn From ‘Jane The Virgin’s Career Ups And Downs
• 11 Things You Need to Know About the Planned Elopement
• 8 Things I Learned About Alcoholism Since Going Into Recovery
• 12 Packing Tips From a Packing Pro
• The Best Places to Vacation in Florida That Aren’t Miami
• The ‘Despacito’ Snub Proves the Grammys Aren’t Changing With the Times
• The Situation in Puerto Rico Is About to Get So Much Worse After FEMA Cuts Aid
• What You Need to Know About “Chain Migration” & What It Actually Means

Look at all of that! Definitely a great way to start the year, I think. However, there IS a big change from the way I tracked #yearofwriting last year to the way I want to track it this year… Last year, I tracked the number of pitches (and assignments) that I received and I also tracked my word count. It turned out that I was able to write 277,889 words and sent out 92 pitches (with 16 acceptances). Although it was great to track all of that, it also took a LOT of work and that’s just not my focus this year.

Instead, I am focusing more on growing my business as a freelance writer and editor, and I want to primarily track my income. This month was really good for me because I spent 70% of my time (and had my earnings come from) my Freelance Editor gig at Brit+Co (more on that later) and the rest came from my steady freelance writing gigs (HipLatina and MamásLatinas), which is great.

How much I made: $5650

So all of that is great… EXCEPT that this is my last month as a Freelance Editor at Brit+Co. Unfortunately, I heard about a week ago that my position was being eliminated due to some budgeting issues. That’s a huge bummer and, honestly, I am kind of freaking out… But I am also still kind of processing and will likely have more to say about this in a bit. In the meantime, I’m still writing and… Trying to look forward to starting February on a less-than-stellar-but-hopefully-still-nice note.

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