I must have written something earlier, everyone does, but it was in high school when I began writing sports for the Chieftain.

They may have paid me a nickel or two, I dont remember, but it was kind of fun writing about peers on topics Id been raised to champion at all costs. I first wrote Wallowa sports, for teams I played on, and was able to minimize my role for Cougar teams through selective reporting.

Which was easy to do because there were so many gifted athletes I had the honor to play sports with.

But by now, many years later, the scope of my writing has expanded beyond sports to general news coverage for local newspapers, technical writing for a business newspaper, magazine articles, and contracted work secured through the Internet as well as customized pieces written for private businessmen.

For some reason, blame it on God if you will, the act of writing consistently has come naturally to me, and never been an onerous task.

Among many things Ive learned along the way is that working for wages and health insurance is a good thing.

I tested the waters on that a few years back when, feeling stymied in a work environment where I was one of three reporters answerable to three exacting editors, I stepped aside and became a freelance writer.

Paychecks became sporadic and working hours skyrocketed simply to buy peanut butter.

Shortly, the proverbial feast-or-famine scenario was upon me. Whenever Id land lucrative assignments to write for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air magazines (which I did on three occasions), at least when payday arrived, I was on easy street.

But that was not the norm.

I did get hooked up with one major online job site where, literally, there were thousands and thousands of writing jobs to bid for. However, in most instances, the time to complete a project far exceeded the pay. Understandable, Id guess, because I was competing for jobs with writers from all over the world where those paying the tab regularly had more interest in keeping costs down than ensuring quality.

Try competing in price with persons from India on any endeavor!

The hardest job Ive yet to tackle on any level came when a young man from Nigeria studying as a law student in Germany hired me to edit his 100,000-word novel.

Needing work at the time, I agreed to do the job at a ridiculously low price, unaware of what I was getting into. The man is an amazingly talented writer, wrote one of the most beautiful books Ive ever read, and yet there was an unexpected problem.

English, the language I was editing in, is the mans third language. Translated, that means Id guess there were no more than two sentences in the entire novel that didnt require some, if not quite a bit of editing. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, I worked overtime not to alter his work and, practically working day and night, I did meet his deadline.

That, although challenging beyond belief, became a work of love. Other assignments, such as writing a tourism promotional piece for Egypt shortly after deadly riots in Cairo not so much.

My passion is writing fiction, but advancing through life and being able to do that full-time is a luxury Ive yet to experience. Ive published four books, three of them fiction, but that only has been accomplished during off hours.

Ive found that putting peanut butter on the table is a life necessity Ive yet to learn how to avoid.

Jabberwock II columnist Rocky Wilson is a reporter for the Chieftain.