Lately I’ve been reading through the chronicles of a corporate-secretary-turned-freelance-writer, Alex Beauchamp. Her website is http://girlatplay.com/. She chose to quit her job cold-turkey back in 2001 and figure out how to write for a living. Part of me admires her courage.
I admit I’ve fantasized about leaving my job at Adobe to be writing full-time; in fact, my goal is to one day do just that. How tempting to say, “The heck with money, I’m going for my dream!” But part of me shrinks back from her recklessness. In her chronicles, she struggles with discovering how and what she wants to write. She has to work slowly through all her stereotypes of what it means to be a writer and artist.
Her approach reminds me of leaping into a race without proper training — you won’t be able to sustain your pace, and you might hurt yourself. Of course, you’ll also learn a lot and get inspiration from the runners around you, and if you persist, you’ll get in shape eventually. Looks like Alex is hitting her stride now; in fact, she’s got so many projects going that she’s had to cut back.
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