As a full-time graduate student and creative person, having multiple streams of income was a success.

When I tell people that I’m a creative, specifically an artist and writer, who has lived off of being a creative person for the past few years, they don’t know what to think of me. The stereotypical assumption about creative people is that they’re the bums of society, barely making enough money to scrape by on a daily basis.

Sometimes I pinch myself when I think about the fact that my art paid my way through graduate school. There’s a major caveat when I say this: I was fortunate enough to get into and attend a school near my parent’s home.

I paid for all of my expenses and tuition, but I was grateful they let me stay inside their house for as long as they have. We don’t have a lot in life, as we’re not rich at all, but they helped me out here.

It took a long time to get to the point where my art could make me something more than $50 every four or five months. That’s what I was making with poetry in the beginning, but then I began to teach myself during COVID-19 and the lockdowns other skills that could turn this into a business.

That said, I am also aware that this is dumb luck sometimes too. Not everyone is able to do the same steps and things I did to get here, and because of that, I am fortunate. Here’s what I did, though, to try and make more income streams as a creative human.

Freelance writing and marketing paid for my first few semesters of school.

Freelance writing was the project I began in the middle of the COVID pandemic, and it was kind of how I started doing all of this to begin with. I graduated early during the pandemic from university, then told myself I would take a gap year from everything before pursuing graduate school. It would be my opportunity to experiment.

I began working as a film critic and writer over at MovieWeb, which generated such a good income and portfolio for me for a bit. Unfortunately, that began to slide over the years as policies took hold, but I had such wonderful time (and an income) from there while interviewing celebrities and other creative people.

On the marketing side of things, I first began interning at a theater in New York City. From there, I began getting more social media managing gigs and eventually website design, which was so fantastic to have throughout my time not in school. When I was in school, it really began paying my tuition straight out of pocket.

Finding a part-time job that had flexible hours was integral to success.

During graduate school, I worked two other part time jobs that were on campus. One was at my school’s Career Center, where I reviewed resumes and cover letters for students. With some remote hours, this was such the perfect job.

For example, when it was not busy in the Career Center itself, I would just sit and do my homework because there were no expectations of us. We didn’t have to pretend to look busy, like I had to on an on campus job I had during my undergraduate years. Plus our hours were incredibly flexible.

I also worked a remote graduate assistantship, where I helped my department out in exchange for a stipend and half off of the tuition from the school. The stipend basically paid for my tuition in itself, so it was the perfect deal. Once I go that GA, it helped so much with my bills and for saving money.

Blogging eventually became a full-time income in itself.

This blog is another project I started during COVID-19 because I was starting to learn and engage more with SEO practices throughout my time trapped in my childhood bedroom. I saw a blog as an opportunity to not only have a creative outlet, but have something that also can help market me as a writer.

It was when I started getting insane levels of traffic and impressions on Google Search Console that it began to click that this was a legit source of an income, and that I should be putting ads on my site. I started doing that, found out about Mediavine, and now this has transitioned into something that generates the most income for me.

Granted, I could walk away right now and this site would still be a passive income source. But it’s landed me so many opportunities, and I want to cultivate this little garden and community indefinitely for now.

Grants and scholarships are going to help me continue forward throughout my time as a creative.

This is an entirely new development by the time I’m writing this, but in the summer of 2024 I will be departing for South Korea on a fully funded government scholarship. All of my expenses are going to be paid for under this program, so I’m set for another two months.

After that, I received a Fulbright Open Research Award, so I will be moving to Kolkata, India, with a stipend to keep me going throughout that time. I can’t work my other jobs, but it’s expected of me to just write and create art during this time abroad, which is such an incredible opportunity.

Like I said, I’m lucky. But look for funding whenever possible, even if it seems like you would never get the award you’re applying for. The judges might see your talent and who you are, even if there are other hotshots applying.

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