My Plan for Hubpages: A Short Introduction

Like many others, I've joined Hubpages to improve my writing skills as well as to earn some extra money. I've been reading various hubs/forums threads for a while and thought I was ready to get my feet wet - that is, until I actually sat down to write. Unfortunately (depending on how you look at it) I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I have about 5 hubs that are in various stages of completion. I figured that if I waited till they were up to my standards I'd never publish anything, so this is me jumping in and finally getting started!

I'm 25, and I guess you could call me a non-traditional college student in that I took a long (5 years? ish?) break from school and am just starting up again. Last year I moved from Oregon to North Carolina both for school and to be with my boyfriend. Long distance relationships can work out great and all, but can be very lonely and we were both sick of it. I more or less left everything behind and arrived here with a couple suitcases and a duffel bag that contained around 90% of my belongings. It wasn't exactly 'nothing but the clothes on my back' but my family and friends tend to see it that way! Unfortunately, I overestimated my hireability and underestimated the current economic situation - oops! I was lucky enough to only be out of work for a few months, but between that, not getting more than 20 hours at work, and paying my own out-of-state tuition, I'm pretty broke. Don't get me wrong, even though I don't have money I wouldn't trade the last year for anything. In many ways I've been very lucky. Still, the bills are starting to get overwheliming and my financial situation will become desperate very soon. Next semester I'll be working two jobs as well as going to school full time so hopefully my financial situation will stabilize. In the meantime, the need to make some extra money was what initially led me to start writing online.

I know it's not a get quick rich scheme, and I know that I won't see results immediately. I plan to build an online portfolio of writing that will eventually generate enough revenue to sustain me through future hard times. I don't necessarily expect to make a living, but I can't ignore the benefits that a residual income, however small, would provide. Making the adsense payout every month would make a huge difference in my life right now and should provide a bit of a buffer next year too.

In a sense, writing here will also act as a trial run for my future career in (hopefully!) Japanese to English translation. I was an exchange student in Japan from 2002-2003 and the experience has changed my life in so many ways that I can hardly reconcile who I am now with the pre-exchange me. Going to Japan solidified my goals but I'm still not sure if doing freelance work is right for me. It requires discipline, dedication, and the ability to set your own deadlines and work schedule even if it is not imposed by an outside party. I'm a procrastinator so this will be excellent practice for me. I also have to learn to discard my perfectionist tendencies when necessary and just get started. I can always edit my hubs after I publish them!

I'll mostly be writing about things I like or know a lot about such as moving, study abroad, and MMORPGs. I'm looking forward to writing more and reading everyone else's work!