Just Getting Started...

I hate writing the first post on a blog. It always feels somewhat disingenuous when you're done. If I had to guess, I'd say 9 out of 10 blogs begin and end with a single post. It's a promise often left unfulfilled, like a New Year's resolution to stop getting fatter which ends on January 2nd.

Unfortunately, I can't promise that I will ever fulfill the promise of this blog.

You see, I'm at an odd crossroads in my career. I've just finished my first novel, published it on Amazon (here), and now I desperately want to write another. I will write another. But, the conditions which allowed me to write my first novel have changed.

Last week, I was a stay-at-home dad. For the past few years, I had a job which I could do from home. When I lost that job, I used the time I had left until my daughter went to preschool to finish the novel. Now my little girl is in school, and I have some time to fill.

I should get a job outside the house. In fact, I've been looking.

Part of me craves the idea of going to a job, putting in a hard day's work, and earning both respect and some extra spending money. Mainly respect, or rather, not having to face the uncomfortable judgments of people who won't tell me they think writing is a stupid career.

It's not stupid. It's not easy. I work harder than most people I know. It just doesn't pay well, yet.

Part of me wants and is looking for a "real" job, while the rest of me wants to make writing work as a career. So while I look for a job, I have tons of free time with my daughter in preschool. I might as well try to make this writing thing work.

There are two possibilities with this blog. The first is that I get a job, stop trying to make writing a career, and that's the end of this little experiment. The second possibility is that I find freelance writing opportunities to pay the bills while I crank out my second novel. If the second possibility is to happen, I have to have either very bad or very good luck. Either I can't find any job for an extended period of time (bad luck) or I find that earning money through writing is lucrative enough that I don't need to look for other employment (good luck).

For as long as I'm trying to make writing my career, which could be anywhere from a few weeks to forever, I will update this blog with my thoughts, struggles, successes and suggestions. If I give it up, I'll at least have the courtesy to let you know.

See you on the next post.

I hope...

-J.