On October 8, 2017, it will be exactly five years since I started my first WordPress blog artsandyouthlove. Although I didn’t know it at, the blog would become the foundation for the freelance writing career that I have now.

Back then, I was a community college student who wanted to get my feet wet as an aspiring journalist. A family member suggested that I start a blog and I decided to take their advice. After more than a few awkward random posts, artsandyouthlove became a way for me to discuss the entertainment and pop culture media I was consuming.

The main thing that my first blog needed in order to get attention was focus. At first, I just made personal blog posts that made me seem like an angsty, angry teenager. Once I started to follow other WordPress blogs and saw how they discussed music, books, and films, I decided to try and do the same.

Soon, I was getting a modest following and getting in touch with people who wanted me to review their books. The most notable aspect of this is when I discovered independent Black SFF authors via their blog Chronicles of Harriet. After buying and reviewing one of their books for artsandyouthlove, they started to pay attention as I reviewed more of them.

In the summer of 2014, I used a couple of my blog posts as writing samples as I applied for an internship at the Black women’s lifestyle blog For Harriet. Not only did I get the internship, but I was exposed to similar entertainment and pop culture sites aimed at an African American audience.

After writing free pieces for sites like For Harriet, Black Girl Nerds, and Afropunk, I got my first paid writing gig at the Black news site Atlanta Blackstar. While it was brief, I would channel that experience into other paid writing gigs I would get as I established myself as a freelance writer.

Since blogging at artsandyouthlove, I’ve become a freelance writer who gets paid to write about the things I once wrote for a small online audience and my personal amusement. I’ve written for sites like The Mary Sue, Black Sci-fi, and more recently Wear Your Voice magazine. I’ve also gained a slightly bigger platform via Twitter, where I interact with various communities and news outlets.

Artsandyouthlove was a fun, wonderful way for me to find my voice as a writer. It taught me to focus my topics, interact with my audience, and become proactive as a writer. Although it didn’t make me an overnight success, it did pave the way for the career I have right now. I went from being unpaid blogger to a paid freelance writer, and I will always cherish the experience.