Why Wizzley Why?

This is my 30th article.  Not my 50th or 100th or even 650th, so none of the usual Wizzley anniversaries.  Something came to me that made me want to write this now, partly from reading the forum, partly from something that NightOwl very kindly did for me.  It’s not intended to be sycophantic (if you knew me face-to-face, so to speak, you would know that is so unlike me, it would be like finding a lion living wild in the North of India) and I hope it doesn’t come across that way.  This is part of my ongoing story.

CAUTION!  WRITER AT WORK!

I’d considered writing for other what I will call, for the purpose of this exercise, similar websites.  I don’t think that’s a wholly accurate description, but it will have to do.  I wrote for Helium for a while, but found it quite constraining, for those of you that don’t know, writers had to choose from a pre-set subject area.  That didn’t really suit me, so I stopped writing there. 

I have an ezine account, and even started writing an article once.  I’m not actually sure why I’ve never gone any further with that.  I applied to, passed the test and was accepted to write for another site, I honestly can’t remember which one now, but they expected at least 5 articles a week, if memory serves me correctly.  That just wasn’t possible for me; I work full time and have other commitments, both writing and otherwise.  I like to sleep sometimes too.  I’ve never tried Hubpages or Squidoo and now I’m here, I think it’s better to concentrate my efforts in one area, at the moment anyway. 

I don’t remember now how I found Wizzley.  I do remember that I looked at it and walked away at first.  I’m not sure, but I think there was some fear there.  I came back to it a couple of months later.  I’d seen Jo Harrington’s book on Amazon, and another book about Wizzley on there but I didn’t buy either of them straight away, although have done since, but my ability to skim read is both a curse and a blessing, and I need to re-read both of those books, as well as other advice on the site. 

I do remember Jo’s advice, “Write often, write well,” and have tried to adhere to that.  It’s good advice for any kind of writing.  Actually, the write often (as often as I can) has overshadowed some of the other advice Jo gave about Wizzley, but I figure I can sort other things out later.  Making time to write is not always easy, especially when there are a number of projects on the go.

Frank Beswick is one of my favourite writers here, and I think I can learn from him.  I love his writing style, he’s so descriptive.  There are some other amazing writers on this site, I haven’t read all of them yet, but I’ve made myself a promise that I will read at least one article from someone new (to me) every week.  I have no idea how long it will take me to read everyone, I may need to set up a spreadsheet to monitor this...  I do love a spreadsheet. 

I’ve learned a lot since being here on Wizzley, which is always a good thing.  Some of the things I’ve learned are general knowledge and interesting to know, others have direct relevance to me - Paul’s article about Duolingo has been a Godsend to me, as I started learning Italian last year.  I’m also learning about things to improve my writing craft, something I’m always trying to do.  I buy a couple of books a month to help me to write better. 

I still feel like the new girl here and I know I still have a great deal to learn.  I’m not sure I’ve found my Wizzley voice yet.  I find it hard getting photographs to go with my articles.  I’m not a great photographer (yet, I’m trying to get better) but do take some of my own pictures, but they are not always relevant to what I’m writing about.  I’m not sure that my adverts are always very good.  I don’t really understand how the writer’s scoring works and why it varies.  I haven’t mastered the art of putting the columns (if that’s the correct terminology) in my articles – I’m not sure whether I need to, but would like to be able to do it.  As NightOwl has recently learned, I am not the best at what I call “techy things.      

I don’t have a clue about Zazzle, but having read Jo Harrington’s article on the 50 Wizzley Challenge, I think I should, and have just set up an account.  I spent most of my life thinking I didn’t have a creative bone in my body, but maybe that’s incorrect?  I am not good on with online fora.  I’m not really sure that I understand them.  When I read something, if other people have answered the question, what’s the point of my input? 

Do I need to make money here?  Oh yeah, and I knew it would be a gamble right from the start.  But you have to take a punt sometimes, right?  Of course, making money is not the only reason I write, but it helps if you can make money from things you like doing.  In fact, if you don’t like doing it, all the money in the world doesn’t really help, and I’ve had that kind of job before.  I haven’t made any money on Wizzley yet, but I’m ever hopeful.  When I get to 50 articles, I will take some of Jo Harrington’s other advice, about adverts etc, and maybe that will help.    

To be honest, there was a lot of chance involved.  I was at the point in my writing career where I had to “up my game.”  I didn’t want any additional financial outlay.  I had a “gut feeling” about the site, and joined, and here I am.  I like Wizzley.  People say it’s a very friendly site, and it does seem that way.  Certainly, when I’ve asked for help, it’s been forthcoming very quickly, and I am grateful for that.  I like the feedback I get from other writers too. 

To the Future

I set myself a target of having published 50 articles at six months, but that isn’t going to happen now, for a whole host of reasons.  I am not going to manage 20 articles in a month, unless I break a leg walking up the stairs and am confined to barracks and computer, but I hope to do it by the end of this calendar year.  In fact, that sounds like a goal to me.  I’m very goal focussed.  And when I hit 50, I’ll be working on getting to 100.  In amongst writing my other articles and my books.  And I’ll keep learning from and about Wizzley.