Guest Blog: I Work Hard—So Why Ain't I Rich?

I Work Hard—So Why Ain't I Rich?
By Michael Levy

Quite often, disillusioned writers and poets ask me, I work hard—so why ain't I rich?

In the beginning, nature provided humans with the fruits of the forest.
After long arduous tasks, adventurous hunters located delicious delicacies and brought them home for their tribes to enjoy.

In to-days world, we only have to go to the shopping mall or supermarket to find a great array of choices. However, to be able to afford all the goodies, we need a commodity called money.

Therefore, we require access to, the delicious fruits, in the forest of our mind, to be able to afford the luxuries of life. The neuron receptors of our brain are the trees of knowledge that can spark our prosperity, once we understand how to access the wisdom that nourishes them.

If we sit in our hut and find work a hard slog and say, I want the world, given to me on a plate, we will sit there for a long time. Eventually, we will die from malnutrition of authentic wisdom, whilst we moan and groan how unfair the world has treated us ... However, if we pursue our hearts desires with universal wisdom, we will find the fruits of our labor very rewarding.

All truly successful writers understand, creative, original works are fed to them from a universal intelligent energy. To be able to access the fountains of delights the writer’s personality and ego needs to take a back seat and become happy passengers. The brain then becomes a vehicle fueled by Live Alchemy ... The divine transmitted chemistry connecting heaven and earth.


That said, all the treasures of natural beauty, joy and love, is freely available on a daily basis, but it seems to be taken for granted by too many people... Thus, it does not give the awareness of any true, lasting value to them.

So, simply put, to answer the question, "Why can't I become rich?"
The answer is; "You are rich right now, just become aware of who you are."

Michael Levy is the author of seven books. His inspirational poetry and essays appear on many assorted web sites, as well as in journals and magazines throughout the world. He’s an expert columnist for Positive Health magazine, the leading complimentary health publication in the UK, and has been published by The Royal Collage of Psychiatry many times over the past three years.

Dear Mike: How did you stay disciplined as a freelance writer?

Reader Question: How did you make yourself show up for work when you were a freelancer, when you’re the only one who knows you should be working? Did you put on a suit, rent an office?

Mike: It wasn’t easy sometimes. I admit it. I can easily be a beach bum during the summer and a lazy hermit during the winter. But I also liked to eat and pay my rent and go to a movie occasionally. So I forced myself to be disciplined. I didn’t put on a suit or rent an office, but I did take my laptop into the wee hours of the New York City night, parking it at some 24-hour diner or deli or cafe, and working almost non-stop from around midnight until around six in the morning. I did this, because when I’m about town like that, I couldn’t do anything BUT write. I couldn’t slack off watching TV, couldn’t call anyone (everyone I know is fast asleep), couldn’t take a nap (I guess I could, but I’d probably be thrown out of the place), and I couldn’t chat away the hours on the internet (I don’t have a wireless connection). I was a captive writer. It worked for me. You need to find what works for you.

Dear Mike: How did you make it as a freelance writer?

Member Question: How did make it as a freelance writer? Isn’t it a tough way to make a living?

Mike: Tough is an understatement. It’s nearly impossible to survive without doing something else that’s not writing related. I did it by cheating a little. I’ll explain. For most of the 14 years I freelanced solely, I wasn’t a “real” freelancer” in the strict sense. I was never a writer hustling from story to story, publication to publication, fee to fee. I was a “contract freelancer.” Or what you see in mastheads as Contributing Writer or Contributing Editor. Big difference. I was contractually guaranteed a chunk of money and several stories every year. Of course, I earned this privilege. It’s not easy to nail one of these deals. You have to build a reputation and deliver copy so unique that no one else can replace you. That gives you what I call “the hammer.” Without this hammer, you’re always begging for work with pitches and query letters. And that’s an exhausting and, I believe, losing proposition. During my best times, I was signed to as many as three contracts simultaneously. So while I might’ve technically been a freelancer, I never worried about where my next story, or meal ticket, would come from.

Scott Adkins: Freelance Writing Not a Route to Wealth

What a Freelance Writer Is

What a Freelance Writer Is
By Michael P. Geffner

A freelance writer is...

part thinker.

part idea catcher.

part hustler.

part email/letter sender.

part sit-around-and-wait-er

part negotiator.

part whore.

part researcher.

part paranoid.

part genius.

part fact checker.

part sell-promoter.

part worrier.

part interviewer.

part muller.

part bill collector.

And, if we're very, very lucky, part serious writer.