A Day in the Life of a Comma Writer (Rebekah's Story)
As a writer, introvert, and future bridge troll, I’ve accumulated a little information about a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean I’ve “put myself out there” much. As snapshots go, this could get dull. Buckle up anyway. (Can’t be too careful.)
I’m Rebekah. I can be risk averse; sometimes I catch myself blowing on cold food. Maybe that’s why I gravitated toward a career that accommodates sitting quietly indoors. Safety is very important to me. [Everyone needs to know all the signs of infection (blood poisoning) and to always have food on your stomach when you take Ibuprofen (kidney damage). If nothing else, I’ll leave you with that and feel good you’ll be safer from now on.]
A day in my life looks like waking relatively early and nudging myself toward peace-inducing routine before falling asleep scrolling Reddit before 10 a.m. That about sums it up, but maybe sharing a little more about myself generally can paint a finer picture:
I love my dog.
I like crafts.
When I cry, I like to figure out why and talk about it.
I’ve never broken a bone. Except by accident—like when I thought I’d try sprinting at 32 years old and snapped an obscure little bone in my hip I thought was a pulled tendon for three months.
I write to therapize myself and make money—most often the latter, but sometimes both.
I love canceled plans at least as much as the ones that work out.
Now to the point: When I was first introduced to Comma Copywriters, I saw a future with the company when I learned how well the founder understands writers, and then experienced how Comma is run. Predictably, as a result, I love being a writer at Comma.
Every Relationship Is a Partnership
I make it a point to be a partner in every relationship because I think the whole grand scheme of success is “shipping” yourself with people who see their future in you too.
As creators, and especially as freelancers, we learn to take stock. We make lists. We chronicle our time, our inspirations, trying to make the type of money—and keep the type of company—we need to thrive. I take stock on the daily.
I rarely left the house even before quarantine. I just like to be home, which was useful in 2020, but also as a writer. I’m primed to create in the spaces of my choosing, so choosing a partner to that end is important.
When I broke my hip bone, I wasn’t writing for Comma, but I was still a freelancer, a human who types while trying to counterbalance a life of sedentariness with modest activity. My primary client was my dad. He’d written a novel and hired me to rewrite it for him. The endeavor absorbed my life for four years. I loved it—every day a knot of his words to unravel and reorganize. We worked collaboratively and finished the project with a successful launch and increasingly successful reception.
I put my heart into his book because I believed in the ways it would make me a better person and a more capable, competent writer. My dad got a finished novel, and growing readership.
My partnerships have to serve me like I serve them, in all those hyper-functional, fulfilling ways you look for when you want something long-term. These aren’t “give a little, get a lot” situations. Or the reverse. I give everything I can without depleting myself of what I need to keep in reserve for my other hustles, and I expect as much in return.
Side Hustles and Sewing Machines
One of my side-hustles is my dog. We have an appointment every morning to run. I pound my steps to the Into the Spider-verse soundtrack and he keeps time too, his eyes sharp for strangers, his nose keen to every possible scent. We understand each other. He relies on me for this and I need him—to remind me that running is good for my heart, to help me remember how taking care of myself is as important as the life I swore to shelter when I brought him into mine.
Another hustle is the dude I’m gonna marry. (Okay, I know there’s a term for that, but “fiancé” feels like it belongs to Beyonce somehow, and anyway “partner” is the word I prefer for the reasons above.) Every hour I spend with him is an investment in laughter, memory, and meaning. Then there’s the living space I share with him. Another hustle. I’m molding my home office into a sanctuary of creation, complete with a sewing machine I don’t really know how to use yet.
“Comma makes me feel valued.
The professional partnerships I nourish fund the rest of my life. Comma is one of them, and I hold onto it because it fits alongside the rest of my pursuits. And because Comma makes me feel valued.
How Setting Aside Time for Comma Makes Me a Better Writer
When I first hit the pavement looking for more reliable writing work, I’d just spent the first wave of the pandemic doubling down on my natural instinct toward isolation and writing a horror fiction novel.
Novel writing, poetry, CNF essays—they’re what I always circle back to as someone who emphasized her English language degree in creative writing. As a freelance writer, I’m paid to help turn other people’s dreams into profit, but there’s still other things I want to write and work on besides freelancing and my day job, and Comma understands. In fact, I’m asked every month what I can commit to complete.
Writing feels like cataloging the indefinable things. Organization. Always the strain toward a more precise or illuminating definition. I think I’m good at it. Or at least I want to be good at it, and isn’t that what keeps us going? I don’t know a single writer who thinks they’ve reached the pinnacle of their craft. No quality piece of writing exists without an editor and that’s another thing I love about Comma: we’re each paired with an editor and the opportunity to learn from a passionate, curated team. We have monthly formative trainings, and the choice to join a reader’s group intended to make us even better creators and communicators.
“No quality piece of writing exists without an editor and that’s another thing I love about Comma: we’re each paired with an editor and the opportunity to learn from a passionate, curated team.”
Bottom line—I feel invested in, which makes the work I do for Comma an investment in myself.
Written by Rebekah Cuevas as part of our series from writers at Comma. Want to join our team? Check out www.teamcomma.com/blog/hiring
