THE SECOND ACT NOVELIST (https://janefriedman.com/second-act-novelist-6-ways-prepare/)

I love this post on Jane Friedman’s blog–probably because I relate to it so completely. I spent many years whining about how I wished I could afford to stop working so I could write full time. Then reality hit, and I realized that would never happen, at least not until I could retire. That reality check lit a fire under my behind. Did I really want to wait ten years before I closed the book on my first published novel?

Absolutely not!

It was a challenge, and I didn’t have much life outside of work and writing, but my first novel, Autumn Colors was published in 2011.

I was so thrilled, I got right to work on book number two, In Her Mother’s Shoes. I guess I was on a roll, because that one didn’t take four years to write! It was published in 2012.

I stalled a bit after that. Well, that’s not entirely true. I wrote one novel, Transition, which–after negative feedback from a few trusted sources, I discarded. Instead, I went to work on Star Catching. That one was released in November 2016. During the years between In Her Mother’s Shoes and Star Catching, I retired – a little sooner and a little lower on cash flow than I originally planned but, well, life happens, and I must say I love retirement.

I took a few months off from writing after Star Catching came out, but I’m now hard at work on–and very excited about–a new novel, as yet unnamed.

My point is this: few writer wannabes have the luxury of writing full time unless they have either a blockbuster book that gives them big cash or if they happen to be independently wealthy. That doesn’t mean your writing dreams are dead. It means it’s harder while you are working, but you can plan for that golden era when you retire and have that luxury to do exactly that.

It’s worth the wait, especially if you plan for it!

https://janefriedman.com/second-act-novelist-6-ways-prepare/