My first published article was an assignment I wrote in college. I submitted it to Salon.com. Six months later, long after I’d forgotten about it, I got an email saying they wanted to buy it for $150.

My first masthead gig came a couple years later. I didn’t know what I was doing with life so I emailed an editor of a film magazine I subscribed to and asked if he had any job openings. He actually wrote back—not to offer me a job, but to send him some freelance clips. I did, he liked them, and offered me an assignment. First of many.

90% of your “competition” talks themselves out of actually competing with you. So if you just actually try, you’re ahead right from the start.