Today, I was let go from my job of 24 years and I have to say that I couldn't be happier. It did happen a little sooner than I thought it would but that just means I get to call myself a full time writer much sooner than expected. I really thought I would end up leaving under my own steam and forgoing a severance package. So glad that I didn't have to do that.
Sure, it's bit on the scary side with a lot of important details still to iron out but just to be able to spend more time doing what I love makes this a lot easier to take. In fact, I was a lot happier about the whole thing than the people who were giving me the 'bad' news. I told them, my plan B has been in place for a long time. I was just waiting for the right time to put it into action.
What is that plan B?
For starters, I will finally be able to treat my writing as a full time job and get that writing done during my optimal writing time, which used to be late at night but now I can give it an entire morning, at least. I will set a larger word count goal for the day - probably just double what it is now and see how far that takes me. I think 4000 is a pretty good goal to shoot for but I intend to be flexible with it. If, for instance, I need to play chauffeur that day, I might lower it a bit. I live with my parents (another reason I'm not freaking out about this) who are in their mid-70's and have lots of appointments to keep. My dad doesn't like to drive in bad weather so me being home is an answer to that particular prayer.
I do have to finish and win NANO first, though. Then I will shift focus back to the project that is nearly through third draft state. I'm hoping to get it up on Amazon before the end of the first quarter of next year.
This also means that I no longer have to deal with the stress of a full time job that I had come to dread going to each day. Not the job itself, so much, but the environment in which I had to perform that job. Don't get me wrong. I worked with a lot of incredible people. I will miss them terribly but I hope we can remain in some kind of contact.
No, it was the stress of things going on in the background that made me wish and wish that I had another option. Things I could see coming down the road but had no way of getting confirmation that what I was seeing was correct. I even said in a survey that I didn't mind staying until the bitter end. I just wanted to know when that bitter end would be. If I had only known that day would be today and surprise, it wasn't really that bitter.
So, tomorrow, when my alarm goes off at 7am, the first day of my full time writing career begins. Here's hoping it's the first day of a wonderful rest of my life.
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