Working Hard for a Few Cents Here and There

Being a writer I suppose it's in my nature to join every site I can find that mentions the possibility of making money from writing. I admit I've gone a bit overboard with these sites lately until I suddenly had a moment of clarity. Here I am, knocking myself out to make a few cents here and there at some of these pay per view or pay per click sites. Perhaps some of you may think the time and effort spent at these places is worth it but from what I've seen so far I have to disagree. I've also seen a site or two that offers to pay a couple of dollars, and I do mean a couple for articles that are quite good and could fetch a much higher price elsewhere. I don't write solely for the money, although I do enjoy getting paid. I love to write and that is why I choose to do what I do. Writers deserve to get paid too. After all, writing takes time and effort. Sometimes, your muse leaves you stranded behind writer's block and you're chewing your lip and wracking your brain. You might find yourself revising the same piece over and over only to find that the editor still wants even more revisions. Earning a few cents is not worth a writer's time. There are writers that will insist that writing for free or very little money is still good exposure. They are right, of course. Yes, it is good exposure. It is a method of getting your work out there and getting it noticed but you can accomplish that with your very own blog so what do you need all these other sites for? While exposure for your writing is good, it doesn't pay the bills which means that you have to work another job and you have less time for writing which also means less time at working toward the career you really want. Not to mention, that after a few years of writing for free you get to the point where you would like to see some monetary compensation. I'd love to have a quarter for every free article I've written over the years.