Member-only story
How not to quit your day job
Learning from my many mistakes
The scene is set — it’s December of 2018 and I’m finally leaving my office job to be a full time writer. I have a novel drafted but in need of edits, I have four hundred followers on a completely not writing related Facebook page, and lifetime earnings as a writer of $15CAD from the sale of a single poem. I’ve recently married my boyfriend of seven and a half years, and want to join him in being a full time creative rather than the one who brings in the regular, boring paycheck. There’s money in the bank and I have grand, if somewhat vague, plans.
Sound stupid?
Oh yeah, was I ever stupid.
After two months my old day job asked me to come back for “a few weeks” as a casual to free up time to train new staff. By November 2019 I decided that since I’d been a casual for nine months at that point I may as well talk to my manager about being made permanent part time. Then in January 2020 another staff member resigned and I landed right back into the position I had quit. Then, of course, 2020 happened and I found myself exceptionally grateful to be employed throughout it all.
And that’s okay. Because to be completely honest, I failed hard at being making a living as a creative and it’s a relief to go back to that regular, boring paycheck. Surprisingly…
