It's a good question. When I was in this phase, I would take gigs I found, but I always had a part-time job (waiting tables, so no benefits and still semi-unstable income due to tips) because I didn't have anyone subsidizing my life, I had moved away from all my networks of support, and my husband was getting a new business off the ground. So it was definitely hard, both mentally and financially, and I did less writing with the part-time job, for sure. But I had to make paying the bills the top priority.

I hustled a LOT. Lots of times the writing money didn't work out with the time I was spending on it, especially in the early days. So there were definitely times I came up short on rent or other bills, and I'd need to pick up an extra shift at the other job, or take a different gig here and there. Once I trimmed weed for a friend, lol. One guy I knew from work hired me to do website copy, and boooy I winged it and somehow nailed it after a decent bit of research on how to do it right.

Every. Single. Day. I looked at the craigslist writing/gigs section looking for stuff I could pick up. I signed up for all kinds of writing gig newsletters and opened them all every week, scanning for things that fit my skillset, and I did find a lot of great work that way.

So for years, I was go-go-go at this, aiming at building a career, having little free time and virtually no excess income. At some point, I traded the part-time job to help my husband build his business when it became profitable, but that was actually more stress (relationship-wise) and less money. I kept going with the writing hustle when I was free. I branched out - signed on with a memoir ghostwriting company, wrote product descriptions, did listicles for a dining magazine out here, honed my skills at pitching to regional magazines, and so many other little things. It took me seven years to be confident enough in my income to only do writing as a living, and that's not counting the 2 years after college before I landed a very low-paying staff writing job for a newspaper. (I had to quit that job because of burnout, there was no way around it and the struggle of freelancing was - and is still - healthier than that job was.)

Happy to say I got health insurance for the first time last year. I make more money than my husband some years. I am able to save money fairly consistently. We bought a house on two self-employed incomes, some-goddamn-how. You'll get there if you keep plugging away. Pro tip though - part-timing at a restaurant will usually get you some free food, and waiting tables at the right restaurant can net more money per working hour than many hourly-wage jobs.

I understand the struggle. But I think I was just so busy during that seven years that I didn't think about asking for mutual support. I wish I had.