What Was it like to Receive a Surprise Bonus from Yahoo!? It was Great!

Once in a while you open your email and find a really nice surprise in there, and this happened to me recently when one of my featured contributor editors sent a "write about anything you want" bonus article my way.

This came at a time when I really needed a boost, and it also came as a complete surprise. Pleasant surprises like this bonus article can make you smile for more than just a few minutes that day, the positive effect can linger for quite a while. This is because it feels good to be appreciated and it is nice to be noticed. This kind of appreciation can inspire us when we may feel a bit stuck, and it can help make us see things in a brighter creative light.

There have been times while trying to write a really awesome piece that I end up with "digital stage fright" and the writers block which comes along with that can be really difficult to beat on your own. I am fairly sure that this is true for other contributors here on Yahoo! who are constantly working to come up with new topic ideas and better articles. When you get a little boost coming at you from out of the blue it can really help kick start your creativity.

So when my editor said that I could write about any topic, I naturally went down the list of things which I have been thinking about for future articles, and frankly none of the general topic areas I usually work within seemed to fit the requirement for this kind of piece.

I spent the better part of the next few days jotting down all sorts of opening lines, and interesting titles, and finally it dawned on me that the best thing to write in this situation would be how a little "Thank You" goes a long way with someone who is working hard toward their goals. While it should be noted that I write to share my passion for Home Improvement projects, and anything Automotive, focusing on Houses, Barns, Garages, Cars, Trucks, Boats, pretty much anything that is Mechanical, Electrical, Computerized or Motorized, I felt that a thank you back to the crew at Yahoo! would be an appropriate article to wrap up my best writing year ever.

For me writing has always been something that I did in a more technical arena writing operation and maintenance manuals, plus the associated operator training manuals for industrial water treatment systems. Now with Yahoo! I am connecting with a much broader audience, and as a result I have been doing quite a bit of research into what it takes to write more creative and interesting articles. So far this effort has benefited me in numerous ways, but primarily it shows up in the improved quality of my content. It is a good feeling when every article I submitted in a month goes to press with no revisions. The few that have required revision typically come back with an improved title, thanks to the many fine editors working with us here at Yahoo!

There are so many good people writing for Yahoo! which I feel are doing great work, and I can only marvel at the number of reads which others have achieved. I spend some of my time reading and connecting with fellow writers here on Yahoo!, and have grown my favorites list as time goes by. Recently three out of the four contest winners in one month were already in my favorites list! When I recently hit a clout level nine it was a really a big deal for me.

Although I have met many of my objectives as a writer here on AC-Yahoo! there are still many new challenges that I am willing to tackle. For example; I don't usually share my political views with strangers, but this last election I was asked to write a few local political pieces, and by the end of the mid term elections I was not only more aware of the issues and candidates than I have been in a long time. As a result of doing quite a few political articles I was saw a marked increase in my readership, plus a few more dollars flowing into my account.

I could have easily said "oh no I am not great at political writing" and refused these items, but instead I thought what the heck, I may even learn something in the effort, and I surely did.

This entire endeavor of writing for Yahoo! has been very good for me in many ways, one of which is to maintain the inquisitive part of my mind. Now I really enjoy researching topics which are new to me, and in doing so I am meeting one of my biggest personal objectives, which is to continue learning new things every single day. This is one of the reasons I enjoy reading my fellow writers here on Yahoo! There are many different and interesting points of view, plus the vast knowledge base which is being shared in an open and polite format is amazing to me! I love that there is no serious negativity in the majority of the articles which I have read here. It seems like a giant team of creative people all doing something that they truly enjoy!

I am so pleased with the fact that my editors are our supporters as well, and that they are here to not only advise and educate, but they also inspire us to do ever greater things with the works we create here. While I believe the recognition which this bonus article represents was earned, at the same time it was not expected in any way, and I am pleased to say that it feels great to be recognized and appreciated.

So I would like to finish this off by saying thanks to all the incredible editors here, and to all the support staff at Associated Content-Yahoo, and finally to all those folks who have been reading my content! Thank you!