Amelia's 2023 Freelance Writing Wrapped

Celebrating the small triumphs of 2023 in prep for the hard work of 2024.

It’s been four months freelancing and nine months momming. What a year! I’m all about loving and trusting the process, but it’s also gratifying to see results. Now, at the end of the year, we are all celebrating the dusk of old efforts and the dawn of new endeavors. There were “downs” as well as “ups” in my freelancing year (let me acknowledge that), but in this holiday season, I want to focus on the “ups.” What do I have to celebrate?

I Published 10 pieces

2 political commentary

• op-ed on left-wing ideology and Hamas (November 3)

• report on the Free Press L.A. feminism debate (October 3)

2 women’s lifestyle

• article on thrifting (November 1)

• article on Korean “girl dinner” (September 12)

2 science

• Medicinal Media | “Doomscrolling? Set Your Phone to Grayscale” (forthcoming)

• Medicinal Media | “Can Gaming Avatars Make Us Better People?” (forthcoming)

1 inspirational

• “Do Something That Scares You” (November 10)

1 relationship

• Business Insider | “I struck up an unlikely multigenerational friendship…” (forthcoming)

1 literary nonfiction

• Ekstasis Magazine | “The Scars of the Crocodile Spirit” (forthcoming)

1 Newspaper

• Veteran’s Day Local Events (November 8)

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I Explored Different Topics

You might have noticed the variance in subject matter in the above list. So, what kind of content do I want to specialize in?

I really enjoyed writing the science articles because it offered up a twofold challenge—(1) digesting the scientific research through reading and expert interviews (2) expressing findings in a way that excites the interest of a layperson.

Newspaper writing is cool because I get to learn more about the local community.

The politics stuff helps me to articulate beliefs I feel strongly about.

The women’s lifestyle articles are fun, but they don’t sit quite right with me. I always feel like I’m wearing a glittery pink costume and channeling a weird, girly alter ego when I write them—like I’m doing drag… even though I’m a woman, so I shouldn’t have to. Maybe it’s a “me” problem, and I need to dwell on the deeper meaning of femininity some more.

The inspirational stuff makes me uncomfy—who am I to prescribe to people what they should do? Buuuuut…

I do enjoy telling stories from personal experience and drawing out their universal truth. I got to do that in the Business Insider piece and Ekstasis Magazine, both of which are probably the most prestigious publications I’ve written for.

Maybe that’s my route—being a witness and testifying to what I have seen.

But in 2024, I’m going to continue to seize every opportunity I find.

Thank you, Father God, for 2023, and for blessing my toil with a harvest.

I can’t wait to see what 2024 will bring.

Let me know in the comments—what growth did you see in 2023? What do you have to celebrate?