Moving Beyond The Professional

I saw some posts on Twitter from people pondering the question — “Why do you write?” That got me to thinking about my own situation. For the most part, my writing has sprung out of necessity — due to work, church, volunteer projects, etc. I’ve not spent much time writing for pleasure.

Maybe that’s part of the reason I’ve never really considered myself a real writer. I’ve always attached that term to authors with professionally published books that earn income from practicing their craft. However, when I stop and think about it, I realize that I’m not being accurate. While I may not have authored any books, I’ve actually had many years in my career as a professional writer. In fact, I once held the position of Senior Technical Writer at a Fortune 500 company.

Writing for my several jobs has encompassed long form technical documents, business communications, marketing pieces, press releases, and the like. Very seldom, though, have I had the opportunity to write fiction. I’m hoping that is about to change.

I’m feeling the pull to branch out and start working on some fiction — maybe even start that novel I’ve been thinking about. However, I’m still a husband, father, employee, and volunteer. Now I’ve just got to figure out how to balance personal writing time against a very full and busy life. Other people have done it, so perhaps I can as well.