Storytime with Rachel F Hundred

Switching career tracks to focus on writing is scary but I’m doing it anyway

This coming Friday I will leave my current job and for the first time in eleven years start working for myself.

It’s not the first time that I’ve worked for myself, but back when I did it before, I was still searching for what I wanted to do.

Of course, I loved writing and wished idly that I could do that. I had some lovely rejection letters basically confirming that I could write, but what I was writing wasn’t what they were looking for (‘they’ being magazines, agents or publishing firms). I’d done creative writing courses and gotten great feedback. I’d had the small successes of gaining a readership and a couple of fandom awards in fanfiction. But it never crossed my mind to really focus on it as my career. Not even when I got involved with Geek Speak Magazine as a contributing writer there (under the pseud Rachel Day), publishing over a hundred reviews and articles.

Instead I set-up as an independent consultant and focused in on that to pay the bills while I ostensibly retrained in psychology. Four years later, I returned to doing what I had already spent a large part of my career doing, just using the psychology to enhance it, and eleven years on, here we are.

I have enjoyed my main career as a consultant – I’m very good at what I do and I have loved working with many, many talented people. I’ve helped create a lot of innovative change across many different organisations. But I have chronic conditions and as I grow older and less able to bounce back from flare-ups, it has forced a rethink on the career front.

Back at the end of November, I decided that my primary focus in 2024 was going to be switching my career focus to writing. Yes, if needed, I will still consult and take paid employment if I need to in order to pay the bills (and keep the cat in the luxury to which he has become accustomed), but I am refocusing my career ambitions and aspirations to writing.

The first part of the plan was to set-up this website. I am so pleased with its success so far (more on that next Sunday when I look back at February’s statistics).

The second part was to finish up with my current company – this week is my last week. I’m going to miss everyone but it is the right thing to leave.

The third part of the plan begins with a reset in March. I have a detailed plan which includes finishing up my Big Moxie projects and moving forward with A Jump to the Left, plotting out a number of original projects (both fictional and non-fictional), and setting up my own business.

As I face my final week of guaranteed paid employment for a while, I can’t deny it’s scary. But I know it’s the right thing to do.

I’m excited. I’m enthusiastic. I’m eager to get started on my future. I’m planning and plotting to be writing every day. What could be better than that?