I recently picked up a nice small business consulting engagement that brings some revenue our way at a good time. It's the kind of work that I am qualified to handle, and I'm looking forward to it. And I resent the interruption of my writing that it represents.
Partly, this is a strategic decision - short-term goals vs. long-term goals. The consulting consulting deal will take a few weeks, perhaps less, and provide almost immediate rewards. The writing of a novel is more strategic, a process that began more than ten years ago, and may reach fruition a few months. Maybe.
It's also a strictly financial decision. This allows us to push a little more money into retirement accounts, which is important.
There's also the basic challenge for writers: Do we write, which we love. Or work, which we must do so that we can write. Less than 2 percent of writers make their living doing just writing. For almost all writers, some other job pays the bills.
I placed an article with the Journal of Accounting yesterday. No cash (ouch, it hurts to say that) but it continues to build my professional platform, and it gets my name out there.
Keep on writing!
