Two final steps helped me decide it was time to quit my day job and write full-time. The first was local magazines, while the second was simply called my “two month experiment.”
The only segment of writing I hadn’t tried was journalistic writing in my local community. I saw a website about a luxury lifestyle magazine in the nice town 20 minutes away from me, and I contacted the editor about potential writing opportunities. As it turned out, she was looking for a new writer!
I loved writing for that local magazine: the pay was good, I got to do interviews, which I found exciting, and it expanded my writing skills. I didn’t have to come up with my own topics – the editor planned and assigned them – which made me feel more relaxed. I could pour my creativity into her ideas rather than scrambling to come up with my own.
These kinds of magazines were getting popular, and before I knew it, I was writing for two of them, then 3. It was occasionally a scramble to fit a phone interview in on a lunch break or an in-person interview after work, but I was managing.
As summer came around, and my 10 month contract’s break months loomed, I thought to myself, “What would it be like to “pretend” to be a full-time freelancer for these two months? What if I could replace my day-job income entirely for these two months?”
So, instead of taking things easy, I tried to take on enough writing related work during the two months I was between contracts to be able to pay all my bills. As it turned out, the connections I’d made over two years’ time had paid off: I made my income goals.
I returned to my full-time job, realizing that I was mentally ready. I gave substantial notice at my work, but I did go ahead and quit within 6 months of returning to my contract. It was time, and I was ready.
This is the story of how I got from beginning to freelance in 2016 to full-time freelancing at the end of 2018. What has your journey been like?