It turns out there is no shortage of work to be had when it comes to writing, but the kind of work you are likely to get will fluctuate with your visibility, reputation, and skillset. I remember seeing this photograph of the famed Ansel Adams when I was a teenager that perfectly distills my feelings on the freelance writing industry.

The photo (which I can’t seem to locate) depicts Adams taking a photo of a high school graduating class, and he can be seen in the foreground peeking out from under the camera shroud, wearing a sly look on his distinguished face. His face seemed to say “Hey, you gotta make a living.” Now, I’m not down-talking honest work here, nor am I saying that this sort of thing was beneath Adams and that’s why it is ironic. But it is fascinating, isn’t it? The maintenance of one’s art and passion is often quite a separate endeavor from keeping the lights on, and a great many of my peers who are more successful than I am, presently, achieved an understanding of this fact much earlier than I did. Moreover, they found peace with it, too.

I think everyone is familiar with the legendary stamina of Adams (apocryphal or not) and the stories of him making notes on a landscape which he wanted to photograph, returning every few days to check on the conditions, and sometimes not be able to capture the shot for years. It’s like I often say about the beleaguered and trite superhero movie genre we are all inundated with at this time in cinematic history; You should make a good movie first¸ then find a way to make it about superheroes.

Find a way to do what you have to in order to keep the candle burning, and cultivate your passion unabashedly, the rest will fall in line.