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(Answering Reader’s Questions: “My Desire to Write Burns in My Heart Daily”
October 7th, 2008 | Posted in creativity |
Hi Tom,
My name is Hannah, and I live in San Antonio, Texas. I found your web site when I typed technical writing in google.com. You have a beautiful family.
I am a part-time Accountant for a non-profit organization. I do not enjoy accounting and the desire to write has always been a part of my soul. My desire to write burns in my heart daily. The part-time accounting position pays the bills, however I need to find a way to obtain a writing position in order to fulfill my desire, and help my husband keep a roof over our heads. Do you have any suggestions of where a bored, hungry to write accountant can find work writing? I am also looking for a way to work from home. Currently, I work from home one day per week, and the other 3 days on site. Do you think you could help me?
Thank you for your time, and I hope to hear from you soon.
Have a great weekend!
Hannah,
Thanks for writing. You can make a better living as an accountant (but for a for-profit company) than as a writer. If you have a creative drive, start a blog and write at nights. When you make a living as a professional writer, you often write about things you don’t enjoy writing about. For example, you might write press releases about protein vitamins, or software manuals for products you would never use yourself.
If you go to WordPress.com, you can start a blog for free and write about whatever you want. It will cure your itch to write without putting you into the poverty house for lack of income. You might also try to harness your accounting expertise and write help material for accounting software.
Tom
(Note: Names and locations changed for privacy.)
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Tags: careers, salary, writing
October 8th, 2008 at 1:39 am
I have known several accountants that became technical writers. They write about financial and cost accounting ERP software, which requires too much domain knowledge for most writers. I would recommend that the letter writer get some experience writing and look into working remotely for an ERP software company.
October 8th, 2008 at 5:51 am
I think the key clause here is exactly what you used for the title of this post. If her desire to write “burns in her heart daily,” then I would wager what she wants to do is creative writing, not technical writing.
Speaking for myself, my creative juices are quite dry these days, having been working as a technical writer for 5 years. I do make a good living, though, so no serious complaints here!
D
DPs last blog post..When the Men Leave, Everything Goes to Hell!
October 8th, 2008 at 9:19 am
Surely, if one’s desire to write BURNS in one’s heart, one would already be writing. I think the author is one of those people (like me) whose day job can be quite exasperating, and you think to yourself, Hey, if only I had time to write, I would be a FANTASTIC novelist/poet/blogger. Either start writing, or hope the delusion that you harbor great writing fires passes quickly.
Reminds me of Judi Dench’s line in P&P about the harpischord “If I had ever learned, I would have been one of the world’s great proficients.”
Janes last blog post..Moved. Or, Why I’m Wearing My Fat Jeans, When I Didn’t Even Have a Baby
October 10th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Isn’t it worth mentioning that by starting a blog on the side now she can get experience writing, develop a portfolio, and determine if there’s a possible niche to write about a subject professionally?
After all, there is certainly a market for blogging professionally or submitting articles that interest you on many online magazines who are looking for content. Even if it’s not full-time for now she could choose to write about she likes while making a bit of pocket change, and gradually cut down her accounting work as her writing work gains momentum.
Eventually given a good blog she can either use it to make money or at least show it as a great set of examples for possible agencies who need content writers later.
October 10th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
At the very least, she should be keeping a journal. If someone says they burn to write and they’re not spending time daily with at least a journal, I question the true root of their desire.
I recently taught classes to a group of inner-city kids, and there were two girls in the class who had filled boxes with the journals and notebooks they’d filled with poetry, daily recountings of their life, and so forth. We’re talking 15 and 16 year old girls having filled DOZENS of books, and having done so because no day felt complete to them unless they’d written in these notebooks. In terms of diaries and writer’s notebooks, they made Virginia Woolf and May Sexton look like total slackers.
I agree with Jane — is this a true creative fire or the heart’s desire for a career change?
If this is about getting on a road to a different career, there’s much that she can do with her existing knowledge of accounting…parlaying it into accessible resources for the layperson. Some ideas off the top of my head:
–Write regular articles on sites like Helium or eHow.
–Publish articles through article distribution services like iSnare.
–Talk to local newspapers to see if there’s a chance to write articles or columns for their Web-based editions.
–Talk to the editors of the free publications that are distributed everywhere from grocery stores to libraries for families, for small businesses, for almost any niche audience you can think of.
–Talk to folks in state agencies that produce newsletters for residents, to see if they need filler copy. State agencies like Department of Labor, and Department of Economic and Business Development, are always strapped for content, resources, and time.
–Are there trade newsletters and magazines that you could approach about doing some freelance writing?
As Tracy said, look at companies that develop software systems for accounting departments. Also look into companies that do custom publishing (like Sunset) to see what opportunities lie there. Opportunity abounds for anyone willing to seek it out.
If you’re looking for a career change, I recommend checking out Curt Rosengren’s blog at http://mapmaker.curtrosengren.com/ to help you start evaluating what it is you REALLY want out of your career.