Going into writing full time.
A common phrase states that the difference between an amateur and a professional is a paycheck. Someone said that to me shortly after I began my writing career. I don't remember who, but I remember their words, and I remember it was something that I had thought of as well when I landed my first paid writing job.
I decided to become a writer in March of 2013. I had been a writer long before then, and had kept all of my rejection letters as evidence that I was a real writer. Teaching was my career and I was always writing in my spare time, but could never find the time to finish anything else after those first few attempts. My first paid writing job came on April 1st, 2013, when I earned $33 for writing an evaluation of a software product for a company in the United Kingdom. With the delivery of that job I considered myself a professional writer.
Moving from amateur to professional happened more quickly than I had anticipated. Upon returning to school from Christmas break I realized that my passion for teaching was less fervent than it had ever been. There were many excuses that I made to myself about this: The government of Florida is ruining the education system; Working in the classroom has changed; Kids are more and more difficult to deal with. But these really were just excuses. Good teachers have always been flexible and get through to kids no matter the situation. I still enjoyed working with kids, and they haven't really changed since I began teaching in the 1990s (with the exception of social media and cell phones creating new avenues for mischief). I had to look inside myself to understand why I felt so differently about teaching than I had just two years before, when my students and I had accomplished so much. Teaching is an art, and I think of myself as an artist. I realized that sometimes the artist needs to step back from the canvas once in a awhile to evaluate and recharge. I decided to take some time away.
I had no idea what I would do outside of teaching. All of my training, reading, and experience was focused on how to continually improve myself as a teacher. I looked at the websites of large local companies for careers that could fit my skill set, but found nothing. My wife suggested that I try writing, but after the wide rejection of my previous book I wasn't sure I could make it as a writer. But I value her advice and looked for other avenues to writing, and discovered Elance and Teachers Pay Teachers. On the first day of April I joined Elance, and that night I had my first job. I couldn't believe it. As soon as I finished that job I had another, then another, and I've been working steadily since. Since September I've been creating teaching resources for Teachers Pay Teachers, some of which will be posted on November 15th. It was both terrifying and freeing to resign my teaching position after 13 years, but I have never regretted it.
The most exciting thing about this new career, though, has been the return to my own writing projects. There are so many notes that I have kept of ideas that I wanted to one day write but never had the time. I love looking at those random cards, pages, and notebooks. Half the time I say, What a great idea! and the other half, What was I thinking? There is always paid work, but between jobs I have had time to complete a good portion of a middle grades novel that I intend to self-publish in February. I often imagine what it will be like to hold that book in my hands for the first time. I'll let you know later if the actual experience compares to what I have in mind!
Someday I will return to teaching because I loved it once. I know that I will love it again, but this season of my life is writing. Story ideas come to me constantly and I am so thankful for that. There are many characters demanding to have their stories told and I can't wait to give them their moment in the sun.
--Scott
*As a side note, many of my jobs are ghost-written, but my first paid and published work is available on the Serealities website where readers vote to direct the plot of my short story Ride Share. If you stumbled upon this page and would like a sample of my fiction writing, that would be a great place to begin. Read and vote!
I decided to become a writer in March of 2013. I had been a writer long before then, and had kept all of my rejection letters as evidence that I was a real writer. Teaching was my career and I was always writing in my spare time, but could never find the time to finish anything else after those first few attempts. My first paid writing job came on April 1st, 2013, when I earned $33 for writing an evaluation of a software product for a company in the United Kingdom. With the delivery of that job I considered myself a professional writer.
Moving from amateur to professional happened more quickly than I had anticipated. Upon returning to school from Christmas break I realized that my passion for teaching was less fervent than it had ever been. There were many excuses that I made to myself about this: The government of Florida is ruining the education system; Working in the classroom has changed; Kids are more and more difficult to deal with. But these really were just excuses. Good teachers have always been flexible and get through to kids no matter the situation. I still enjoyed working with kids, and they haven't really changed since I began teaching in the 1990s (with the exception of social media and cell phones creating new avenues for mischief). I had to look inside myself to understand why I felt so differently about teaching than I had just two years before, when my students and I had accomplished so much. Teaching is an art, and I think of myself as an artist. I realized that sometimes the artist needs to step back from the canvas once in a awhile to evaluate and recharge. I decided to take some time away.
I had no idea what I would do outside of teaching. All of my training, reading, and experience was focused on how to continually improve myself as a teacher. I looked at the websites of large local companies for careers that could fit my skill set, but found nothing. My wife suggested that I try writing, but after the wide rejection of my previous book I wasn't sure I could make it as a writer. But I value her advice and looked for other avenues to writing, and discovered Elance and Teachers Pay Teachers. On the first day of April I joined Elance, and that night I had my first job. I couldn't believe it. As soon as I finished that job I had another, then another, and I've been working steadily since. Since September I've been creating teaching resources for Teachers Pay Teachers, some of which will be posted on November 15th. It was both terrifying and freeing to resign my teaching position after 13 years, but I have never regretted it.
The most exciting thing about this new career, though, has been the return to my own writing projects. There are so many notes that I have kept of ideas that I wanted to one day write but never had the time. I love looking at those random cards, pages, and notebooks. Half the time I say, What a great idea! and the other half, What was I thinking? There is always paid work, but between jobs I have had time to complete a good portion of a middle grades novel that I intend to self-publish in February. I often imagine what it will be like to hold that book in my hands for the first time. I'll let you know later if the actual experience compares to what I have in mind!
Someday I will return to teaching because I loved it once. I know that I will love it again, but this season of my life is writing. Story ideas come to me constantly and I am so thankful for that. There are many characters demanding to have their stories told and I can't wait to give them their moment in the sun.
--Scott
*As a side note, many of my jobs are ghost-written, but my first paid and published work is available on the Serealities website where readers vote to direct the plot of my short story Ride Share. If you stumbled upon this page and would like a sample of my fiction writing, that would be a great place to begin. Read and vote!
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