I have officially been writing for Odyssey for almost two years and have written countless article on subjects such as film, video games, comics and art. With this being my 100th article for Odyssey, I think it's the best time to look back on my working here and what I've accomplished. This will be a great way to mark this occasion and not just because I couldn't come up with anything better for my 100th article (did I just say that out loud?).
I remember starting at Odyssey during the summer of 2016. I was a young (well... younger) college student about to graduate and who had no idea where his life after school was finally done. I took up a job working at a movie theater (because film was my major), but I really wanted to do something within my field of expertise.
A close friend of mine (who used to work as an editor and contributor to Odyssey) let me know on Facebook that this website was looking for fresh new talent and that they allowed you to write about almost anything you want. I saw a great opportunity staring me in the face and I jumped at the chance to get more writing experience under my belt for possible future employment. However, that doesn't mean I was a tad overwhelmed by the idea.
I remember constantly questioning and second guessing myself when it came to writing my articles. Trying to come up with interesting concepts and ideas to flesh out in my writing is the hardest thing about writing an article. However, I mostly got over this by writing about ideas I already had floating in my brain prior to working for Odyssey.
I wrote about all kinds of films and comics, however, my articles about "Star Wars" usually seemed to be the most popular. In fact, my most popular article, about toxicity within the "Star Wars" fandom (which, unfortunately, feels very relevant over this past week), has had over seven thousand views at the time of this writing. This is probably because I'm a huge "Star Wars" nerd and when I write about the franchise it's coming from a genuine place.
That's the greatest lesson I've learned since writing at Odyssey. It's important to understand an audience and write about something they want to read, but you must also make sure that what you are writing about is coming from a genuine place within your mind. If you write about something you don't like or don't agree with just because you think it will get more views, then your article will come across as shallow and disingenuous.
These two years have been a great learning experience for me. There have been times where I struggled to come up with an idea for my article or struggled to even muster the energy to write an article (mostly do to personal emotional problems I'd rather not talk about). However, I pulled myself out of bed and put myself to work because I believe in what I write and I love the opportunity to share it with you fine people. Here's to the time I've spent here and to my future at Odyssey, whatever it may hold.
