Writing for money

Long hours at work lately have made me realise how far away I am from my dream.

I don't hate my job by any stretch - I work with some amazing people, I like finding solutions to problems, I am analytical and I get a lot of personal satisfaction through the training aspect of my role (there is few things that I like more than to share knowledge - as the Dalai Lama says, it is the only way to immortality). But my passion is writing.

I am lucky in that I do get to put (virtual) pen to paper in my paid work but technical manuals, requirements documents and business reports are not the least creative.

The older I get, the more I realise how much people like my writing. It was always something I did for me but through my writings here and in opening my heart in personal correspondence I have been overwhelmed by the responses I have received.

After my divorce, I found that people actually think I am funny. I always thought there was something wrong with me because my ex didn't really laugh at my jokes. But in the last five years, I have found my humour appreciated and well received. It was a major revelation.

So too is writing. I have always found writing easier than conversation (though I am not terrible in the boardroom by any stretch). Writing is a medium in which you are one step removed from your audience and, as such, the rawness with which you can bear your soul is a level up. Gamers rejoice for this is the realm where anything is possible!

Now I face the realisation that, in order to be true to myself, I  need to find a way to make money doing something I love. I am increasingly frustrated with myself and this is the root cause.

As with IT projects, once you have found the root cause of an issue you can begin to resolve it. My task is to find a way to make money from writing.

I consider myself blessed because I can write about anything. I know this because I took up a challenge posed to me by my nephew recently where I wrote six hundred words (exactly) on a hole in a roti bread.  Seriously, read it for yourself.

For the next two weeks, while I travel to my number one destination of choice, I will be pondering in the background ways in which to generate an income from writing. Game on!