I’ve been writing articles for media outlets since I was 19 years old. Back then we actually clipped our works from papers and magazines and pasted them in a binder (this is why we journos call our writing samples “clips”). Yes, I’m old AF. But no matter your age, you can start a freelance writing career of your own in just 7 simple steps.

Even though I loved being a high school English teacher, for years I daydreamed about quitting my job to write full time. But I thought it would always be exactly that — a dream.

To be clear, I’d been a full-time writer in the past. Before I started my career in education, I was a staff reporter for a weekly paper in Louisville, Kentucky. But my tenure there just showed me that I wanted to write on my own terms. I wanted to be a full-time freelance writer. But I thought there was no way I could do this unless I was willing to eat PB&J for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day. I was convinced living a comfortable lifestyle as a full-time freelancer was impossible.

Then one day I decided I was going to give it a shot anyway!