Thursday, April 18, 2013

Jimdependence Day

Today is a day that I always stop and take a moment to reflect; April 18th is my Independence Day.


ID4 Jimdependence Day

Back in 1997, I made a decision that would change the course of my entire life. I quit my job - my nice, normal Earth job - to become a writer full time. I've blogged about this before, but I think it bears repeating, and not just because I'm taking the opportunity to give myself a pat on the back. My independence proves that it can be done. To every wannabe writer out there who fears that they could never make the leap to supporting themselves through their work, I can tell you this: I did it. I'm still doing it.

I'm not going to kid you, it was a big thing. Back in '97, when Comet Halle-Bopp was in the skies, TSR was bought out by Wizards of the Coast and we all had high hopes for The Phantom Menace, there was no certainty I could make a career out of this writing thing. But I was never fearful, not really...because I knew it was the right thing for me to do.

And I can say, hand on heart, that I have never once regretted it, not even in the darkest days of my freelance life. I'm a writer; I think have been all my life, it was just on that day that I finally owned that realization. So here I am, sixteen years on, my writing career is now old enough to ride a moped or buy a lottery ticket, and I can say that yeah, I did all this...and I'm not done yet.

1 comment:

  1. I am just embarking on writing stared blogging poetry but will do flash fiction and some novels. Nomad was my introduction to you can't waited for excite but your work is an inspiration

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