This is really interesting and refreshing to read. It’s nice to see people who write for the sheer enjoyment and fulfillment of writing and not necessarily to “make it big” as a writer. I have to admit that I’ve been driven to “make it big” myself, but that started largely out of necessity and not choice, as I found myself living in a remote mountain town with no job opportunities and at the dead-end of a software career that left me exhausted from being unable to meet client expectations and therefore pay my bills. It was extremely frustrating to go from doing very well in software to being unable to find and retain good clients, and one day after burning weeks of my time on a project for a client only to have them not even test it and then demand additional work (for free) before making payment, I decided that I’d had enough of working as a software developer. I found myself with no other real option than to write for a living, and it indeed kills creativity and turns it into a job, but it does have the upside of allowing me to choose what I do in a day and literally answer to nobody.

There was a day when I was a great team player and I’ve been prized as a leader on teams that produced very large and successful projects and brands, but I’ve lost that patience and every effort I’ve made to get it back has only put me in a worse position. So, I pressed on and went forward, with my writing chained directly to my financial status (although I’ve since managed to move back to a real city where I now also run a small computer services business, in which my day-to-day customers appreciate my work, so I also have a “job” in a sense now and I completely understand where you’re coming from about wanting to keep a day job).

Excellent article — thanks for sharing your experience.