Having done all the things you mention, I do not share your incredibly negative venom about working for someone else as a writer (especially when those you worked for have supplied you with a career’s worth of contacts). Those are not entry level jobs these days with content marketing being recognized as the most effective approach for most B2B businesses. Ironically, your advice is great, but for me it was ruined by comments like ‘soul sucking’. My last soul sucking job paid over $100k and included unlimited personal days and every benefit imaginable. Yes, that was primarily a writing job. They are out there.

I do not understand writing a motivational article that repeatedly emphasizes the negative. Oh, and please never use the phrase ‘wordsmithing’. Ugh.