The AC Addiction: Is it Just a Rookie Writer Symptom?

The company I work for, ended 2006 with cutting my hours about 38%. This occurrence left me with the choice to find another job or find a way to supplement my income by earning extra money. I love my job and the last thing I want to do is leave it behind. So, I revisited the Volition.com website to look for available merchandising or mystery shopping work as I had done in the past. Searching through the posts in one of Volition's forums, I found a link to Associated Content's web page. The poster wrote that they were able to make a few extra bucks and were paid quickly for their work. I clicked on the link they so brilliantly placed and here I am.

Little did I know how this website was going to affect my brain. I am a creative person by nature, although drawing is my creative outlet of choice. It is extremely noticeable to everyone around me, that Associated Content is taking over my brain cells. I'm not sure if it is the opportunity for making extra money or the writing that is so addictive. Usually, at this time of year, my entire focus is on the Detroit Tigers Opening Day and the beginning of another Major League Baseball season, but this year is different. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVE my boys more than anything and I am going to the Opening Day game tomorrow at 1:05. The problem is that I can't seem to stop thinking about subjects I can possibly write about.

Driving the people around me crazy with talking about my passions is not new to anyone who knows me. Last year, during the Detroit Tigers playoff run, I was nuts. Sleeping with my playoff tickets under my pillow and painting my face in tiger stripes for every game, were the norm of September and October of 2006 for me. This year, I began my count down to opening day in February, when I parted with my hard earned money and paid the balance on my season ticket package. But then something happened, I found that link to Associated Content, and life, for me and the people around me, changed. I registered on Associated Content's website and began waiting for that confirmation email. I don't know what the problem was, maybe because I have an AOL email account, but that confirmation email never came. So I sent out an email in request of that confirmation. Within three days I received a reply with the link to my confirmation as an AC Producer.

Let the excitement begin. I wrote my first three articles on the first day, writing until 4 AM, the first sign the addiction was taking over. I didn't write anything else for days; I was content in waiting for those offers everyone talks about in the forums. Five business days passed but still no offers arrived. Searching through the Associated Content forums, I read a couple entries that said the Content Managers were a little behind on extending offers. So, I continued waiting patiently. It took a few days, I logged onto the website and to my surprise, I received an offer on all three articles. Granted, it wasn't what anyone would consider a lot of money, but it was money. A rush of adrenaline hit me and I quickly responded by accepting those offers.

Since that day, the addiction is running rampant, I can't get the thought of writing out of my head. My younger sister thinks I'm crazy, I'm sure, but I just got paid $22 for writing three small articles and I'm elated. I keep trying to get her to write, she loves to shop, I keep telling her that, she too, can make a little extra money and support her shopping habit. She tells me that she registered, but she hasn't written anything. Is she is just scared that my addiction will become hers? Could it be possible that I look, on the outside, as strung out on AC as I feel on the inside? I can't walk by anything and not think "I could write about that and make a little more money". Is this normal thinking for all Associated Content Rookies? I feel like I am completely out of my mind with the thought of writing and how much money can be made.

When the fuel pump went out on my car Friday, my first thought was that I could write a review on the repair shop. It's crazy, before Associated Content invaded my life, I would have been upset that I had to spend the money I had saved to fix my car. Saturday, when I picked up the car and I discovered they hadn't reattached the muffler correctly, I immediately thought "that review will definitely happen". Better yet, I could go further and write an article on how some repair shops try to take advantage of you. Like telling you that the muffler problem was caused by the tow service that towed your car in. After, getting them to fix that small muffler problem, we went to lunch. Wow! I thought, I can write a review on Red Lobster tonight, that waiter was terrible!

How do I get these thoughts out of my head? Associated Content appears to be in my blood now, do I need a transfusion? Maybe I will be saved by my beloved Detroit Tigers when they take the field tomorrow at 1:05. Maybe my boys will pull me back to my reality. I fear however, that instead, I will find myself writing articles about the games, the players and the great Detroit Tiger Fans for Associated Content. After all, I do smell playoff tickets in my future and they cost money. I think my only hope, is that business picks up for the company I work for, and my "real job" work schedule will be back at 40 hours. Then I will not have the need or time to write.........or will I?