Everyone starts off as a newbie at everything; no one is born perfect in anything. Well, I don’t know about you, but when I was born I was quite proficient in the art of crying. I didn’t need to learn that. I didn’t need to learn how to breathe either, these are default skills that just came with the whole package of being born. But then, I think that is where it ends because I had to learn everything else. Even how to eat. A baby learns how to eat properly, and as it grows older, it becomes better at it. At first, it lies down and lays limp while the mother uses the spoon to gently part the lips and pour in the food, or while the nipple is gently guided to its mouth. But as time goes on, it gets to the point where they automatically open their mouth once they see the spoon coming in their direction, or they quickly go for the breasts the moment they are carried. That is learning. Was I ever a newbie at anything? Of course! I have been a newbie at a lot of things, but over time I was able to get better at many of them. For some, I was just never able to progress and I either abandoned them or I kept on being the newbie. And now, when I think of the one thing I used to be a newbie at but eventually got so good at, one thing comes to my mind. Because it’s kind of like a success story for me. And as you guessed, it has to do with writing. But not just any writing. Today, I will be telling you about my ghostwriting journey. As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been writing stories since I was in secondary school, and I’ve written multiple novels since then. Although unpublished for now. And then, when I joined the Hive blockchain and discovered The Inkwell Community, I started writing flash fiction on a regular basis. Little did I know I was setting myself up for a profitable career path in the nearest future. It was hunger and bills in school that pushed me into seeking out ghostwriting gigs. At first, I thought I will just be paid to write a story for them, but when I realized that it was way more than that, I did more research and then started searching for clients on Upwork. At this time, I didn’t have a laptop, just my phone. I had never done ghostwriting before, but it was writing a story aii? What could be hard about something I was good at? I learned it when I got my first client. I was a newbie then, and I was starting with a fee of N1 per word, the first job I was given was to write a story of ten thousand words. It had about six chapters, and they gave me the outline, how they wanted every chapter to be, the emotions they wanted me to portray, and the like… all that was not my problem. I could easily deliver all that. My problem was the word count. Prior to this, I had never really been interested in word counts because I didn’t see the reason. I just told my stories and ended them. And now, I had to learn how to write up to a certain amount of words. And how to do this without using fillers (words that add nothing to the story but boost the count), making the story drag, and still managing to give a captivating story that will enchant the reader. I was doing this on my phone. I had to write each chapter down in my jotter first, and then type it into my phone using the WPS app. Imagine having to type ten thousand words on a phone, yeah… it sucks! All this time I had always used my phone to do everything, even blogging. I thought ghostwriting will be easy as well but I was very wrong. Copying the words from the notes was strenuous, I was always bending my neck at an angle that made it hurt, and I did it late into the night. I used my phone’s flashlight, but the white pages reflected the light into my eyes and it hurt. Those days were really tough and hard. By the time I was done with the six chapters, I saw that I had only written seven thousand words. Where was I going to get three thousand words from? I had to go through the story again, looking at each scene to see how I would improve on them by adding extra words. By the time I was done, I was only able to add another thousand, leaving two thousand unaccounted for. I got fed up, and I told the client I was tapped out and I couldn’t write further. A very silly thing for me, considering how broke and hungry I was at that time. I just didn’t know what else to do concerning the story. I told him I couldn’t take the story beyond eight thousand chapters, and this meant instead of the initial N10000 I would have been paid, I would be getting N8000 instead. But that was not the deal, I was breaking the deal. The man was actually a kind man, when I told him my plight, he told me to hold on. The next day, he came up with an extra chapter and told me to write an extra two thousand words on it. I was able to do that. I submitted it and eventually got my very first pay as a ghostwriter. Ten thousand naira! The man liked my work, and he became a repeat customer. And that was the only time I delivered less than the required word count, after that I always took my time when writing and I met the count. And one thing I didn’t play with was the deadline, I always delivered on time. And if I suspected I would not make the time, I would inform him ahead of time and request a postponement. And after him, I began to get other clients. Meanwhile, I am still being active on Hive. So I was juggling the two, writing so much on my phone it was a wonder the screen didn’t crack from the typing. I ghostwrote both novels,flash fiction, and short stories back then. And soon, I began to increase my rates as well. I was able to get a laptop, and that made my work even easier. Now, as I am working, I can easily keep my eyes on the word count and know how to adjust my writing. It’s been two years now since the first ghostwriting job I ever took, and I have come a long way indeed. I am no longer that guy that can’t hit the word count. Word count is not even an issue for me anymore, because no matter how much or how little you want it, I can give it to you with the same punch and creativity. I know there is still a long way for me to go, and I am looking forward to it. But one thing I know for sure is that if there is one thing I used to be an amateur in, it was ghostwriting. And now, I am a professional! I am a king, and I am leading the pack! Are there other things I’m a newbie at? Yeah. I’m still a newbie in crypto trading, no matter how much I’ve tried to learn. Although I’ve never really given it the effort I am supposed to give, maybe one of these days I would give it a try. But for now, we shall see what the future has in store for us.
Daniel Reche
Ahmed Aqtai
Andrew Neel
Nathan Cowley
Andrea Piacquadio
Andrea Piacquadio
