No byline? No Problem

When I knuckled down to learn and practice the craft of writing, I dreamed of seeing my name in print. The wonderful By Vic Womersley seemed like the Holy Grail and the reason to keep pitching and prospecting. That was nearly a decade ago. Nowadays at least 50% of what I write doesn’t carry my name. It either doesn’t have a byline at all, or someone else is attributed with my work. And that’s OK, actually, it’s more than OK, and here’s why.

Reasons to write

I love what I do. Writing for a living is one of the biggest achievements of my life. I worked a bunch of different jobs before I took the leap into freelance writing; none have I loved as much or stayed with as long. Writing gives me the chance to learn about new things, explore new ideas, and retain what I have learned because I write about it.

I love playing with words and changing my voice to suit the needs of my client. Sometimes this can be for someone who will credit me as the author of the article they publish, other times it will be for work that doesn’t need to mention an author or a ghostwriting project that lists someone else as the author. The challenge each new writing project presents is just as delicious.

Each writing project allows me to learn a little more about my craft. It helps me flex my writing muscle, play with language, and become a little bit better. More than that, it lets me do what I love for money. That’s gotta be a plus.