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Many years later, after I scaled down to part-time work, I cheered over my first published magazine article. The extra time at home was a big incentive. This wasn’t a technical piece either – it was the first in a series of articles about my learning to fly. Since then, I’ve had more articles published.

I’ve also been working on a novel and doing research on a non-fiction piece. I took early retirement at the end of 2006, but just like working didn’t stop my writing, retirement hasn’t opened the floodgates. Whether working or retired, life happens. There are still bills to pay and family and social obligations. What I find exciting about writing now is the flexibility. But, whether working the day job or writing full-time, love of and dedication to the craft are what make it all come together.

I fit in writing time whenever I can. I get up at quarter to 5:00 in the morning, to feed the dogs and do some exercise. Then, if I have a few minutes before I leave at 7:00, I get in about 15 minutes of writing (my goal is how many words I write, not how much time). I then parcel out the writing I do over the day, although the biggest block is during lunch hour (naturally).

By the end of the day, and with my cruddy commute home (New Jersey roads are quite horrid), I’m too pooped and my brain is too fried to even think about writing.

I also try to allot as much on weekends as possible, although hubby has beaten me to the computer a few times, and has tied it up. Must. Save. For. Notebook. Computer.

Thanks for this blog entry – quite interesting to see what others think and do.

~JerseyGirl

If an agents client isn’t Dan Brown or Margret Atwood they will need hundreds of writers if they are making only 15 points on a $5,000 advance.

Great post, Michael. I agree completely. And I would not be a full-time writer today if fate hadn’t intervened 2 years ago, when my husband took a job clear across the country at the exact moment my writing was taking off.

I’ve worked ‘real’ jobs since I was 11 years old. I was the main breadwinner for much of my married life (my husband worked for ‘peanuts’ for years at non-profit type jobs, out of devotion). And I was good with that. My most recent job was a 7 year stint as a Realtor, and I loved it.

But life was crazy. My phone was always ringing, I did evening showings as well as working at the office all day, and I squeezed in writing whenever I could — I admit now that my family suffered from lack of Mom.

When my hubby took the job, we thought long and hard over what I would do — start over as a Realtor in a community that not only I was totally unfamiliar with (don’t you hate it when the Realtor gets lost?), but also one in which the real estate market was booming out of control? I had my kids to think about — at 11 and 8 years old at the time, this move was a bit traumatic. I couldn’t be that busy.

So we worked the numbers. Went down to one car. Sold our 2400 s.f. house in Michigan and bought a 1300 s.f. house AZ — for the same price as what we got for our big wonderful home in Mich. Yep, it’s a little tight in here at times, but I have my green chair and a computer.

I was home all day. The steady for the kids. I began cooking way more than before — something I loved to do and it also saved us some money. We no longer needed childcare.

If we hadn’t done what we did financially to make it work, we would never be in this position.

But…

I also doubt that I would have written a novel (or, uh, several of them) by now.

And, this is a biggie — It took me a year to adjust to this strange new life. I had a hard time transitioning from making decent money to making zilch (except for the occasional $50 or whatever from short stories that trickled in). I really underestimated how drastic the change would be. And the pressure gave me writer’s block for a year. I put too high an expectation on myself. “Okay, you’re a full time writer now — go write something. Now!” It was soooo different. And I sat home, staring at a blank screen, hoping that when my hubby came home he’d not ask, “So, did you write anything today?”
I dreaded the question, and felt terribly guilty about my non-production. I should add, I have the most supportive husband in the world, and he is tickled that I’m doing this.

So those are the main reasons why I agree with ‘don’t quit the day job’.

Of course, one day everything changed. Something clicked — and all the ideas that were blocked came flooding out, and I couldn’t write fast enough. When I’m writing a novel, I work hard. Like, ’18 hours a day, forgot to eat breakfast and lunch’ hard. Like, ‘my fingers are numb and I’ve worn off the letter “N” from my keyboard’ hard. Some days I wake up at 3 a.m. with my brain buzzing, and go write for three hours…and then get the kids off to school and write for 12 more.

In many ways, I’ve worked harder at this job and am more dedicated to it than in all of my previous jobs combined. And I think that the most rewarding part of it.

I wouldn’t go back to working a steady job — no way. I love this now. But it took me some time to love it.

If anyone plans to become a stay-at-home writer:

1. get the finances in order first. If I never, EVER make another dime with my writing, our family will be financially fine.

2. Transition slowly, if you can, by cutting hours.

3. Don’t be hard on yourself if it takes you a bit to get into the swing of writing full-time.

Good grief — sorry about the longest.comment.ever. Fantastic topic, though.