On the one hand I get it when people want to see progress, but at the same time there's a reason they say 'it takes 10 years to make an overnight success' it can take years of writing books to get to the point of publishing stuff *cough Brandon Sanderson cough * and to then go and classify someone who hasn't published yet as a failure when they're still working towards that goal seems a bit illogical (it kinda annoys me a little tbh) like would they say Brandon Sanderson was a failure up until he got published? probably not, or maybe they assumed he just popped up one day with 12 books written and got a publishing deal with the snap of his fingers cos they couldn't see the work going into him becoming a better writer. But I also think there's an assumption/double standard people have that if something isn't making you money it's a waste of time and as soon as it is seen to be making money then all the time leading up to it is suddenly reclassified as 'an investment', but why should publishing and making money off of things be the measure of success in the first place? 🤷🤦🧐 Personally I feel like it's actually very helpful to have realistic portrayals available of someone going through that process so that people can see with a lot more detail just how much work goes into writing and publishing books and becoming an author full time, like it's all well and good to hear oh it took so and so this many years to get published, but actually seeing an example of what that journey looks like is so helpful and awesome!! (basically you're awesome and anyone who thinks not being published=failure both annoys me and needs to get some perspective) ok rant over 😂 also I feel you so much on the 'once you realise you're not in the right job for where you wanna go in life it makes it 100x harder to get up and go to that job' thing, been there done that, worn the tshirt (although thankfully not in my current job) and it totally sucks! Hope the move is going well!! 😄
THIS - 100% this. This is Such an amazing way to explain something that I've been trying so hard to articulate. Like for so many of us publishing is the goal and what we're aiming for, but that doesn't mean that everything you are doing doesn't matter and have value. You are BUILDING. If you're building a house the first brick is just as important as the last, so why is it that people get so focused on that last brick as the only one that matters?
Love how you put it. I think another one to bring up is JK Rowling and King. There's the one author that didn't start until he was over 40 and it took him several years to get published as well. IDR his name off the top of my head. Its always the journey and that journey is going to be unique to all of us.
Yep, you definitely hit all the salient points. And the same critics would FOR SURE have thought Brandon Sanderson was an utter failure before he got picked up--he was working the night shift at a hotel and had over ten unpublished novels. Imagine if he had an AuthorTube channel during that time. "Okay, where's your success now, Brandon? Why aren't you published yet? Do you suck at writing or something?" I think it's great we see realistic portrayals of what it's like behind the scenes. People need to understand that writing career success rarely looks like teenage wunderkind Christopher Paolini's or first-novel blowouts like Stephanie Meyer's. They involve a writer working on their craft for years in obscurity before they get noticed, and most of their early novels will never get published (because they're not good). See: Brandon Sanderson. See: Josh Malerman. Even then, once you finally get published, is that "success"? A lot of writers are as prolific as Sanderson and Malerman and never get the Netflix deals or six/seven-figure book deals. They make a pittance in royalties while still working a day job. I think there's this unhealthy, naive notion that somehow writing is easy and writers piddle around on their typewriters for two hours a day while collecting massive royalty checks. That's not how this works at all. I think Brandon has one of the best videos out there on a healthy writer's mindset and realistic expectations. I'm going to drop the link here: ua-cam.com/video/oH9sJrAVeC0/v-deo.html
I was thinking the exact same rant. 👍 We need examples of people snap in the middle of this journey. I can't learn from someone who starts their channel 3 weeks before publication! What struggle did they possibly have? How did they deal with the solitude, the unknown, the dispair? They skipped the worst of it! And the best... I wish I could go back to that beginners excitement of drafting my first novel (week 1). When the road still seemed easy. Most viewers are at that stage. How long could it take to write a book? Tsss. Right? 🙃 Alas.
I know I am a year late but I wanted to say you are awesome! I too left a corporate job as a paralegal to find something less detrimental to my health. I suffer with chronic illness but do want to be a full time writer. So I work a reg job now but have kids so waiting until I can make a dent in my freelance jobs to jump out of reg jobs and work for myself! That my friend is progress. You have progressed and are amazing!
I found myself at the exact same point at the age of 44. I quit my job in logistics in order to freelance as a ghostwriter and translator, while writing and self-publishing my own stuff. There has been a smile on my face ever since then.
Me too. Sweet freedom is scary but at some point I just couldn't deny the "I don't belong here" feeling after ignoring it for 1000 times (well over a decade).
If you were here solely to promote your future novel or to raise your author profile, I might wonder where yo book at. But you're chronicling your experience for the community in which you are actively involved. I worry for people who are expecting to see (feel entitled to) a very specific progress arc. The journey is vastly different for every writer. The journey is almost always slow AF. And I expect the arc they want to see is on the extremely unlikely end of the publishing spectrum.
I quit my medical career to follow my passion for literature and linguistics, not just writing but in general. When I quit med school, I received a lot of comments from other friends that were doing something they didn't want because their dream and passion wasn't well paid, specially here in Mexico, and loved the idea that I was "freeing" myself, so to speak. They wanted to do something similar but couldn't for a lot of different reasons. But I also received so many coments about how I was wasting my potential and making a mistake. To be completely honest, I feel like I made the best decision of my life, because, as you mentioned, it was a constant struggle for me to do something that I wasn't passionate about just because it was better seen socially, and the money was better. Waking up to go to school and study until I couldn't be awake anymore would've been great if medicine was my passion, but it wasn't. And like you with the corporate world, I'm not saying a medical career is an awful idea in general, it just wasn't for me. I'm well aware that it's a lot of people's dream, and I hope they become great doctors. From what I can tell, all good changes come with a constant struggle. Maybe it's uncertainty, maybe it's giving up the idea that you'll be as well paid as a doctor, maybe is living with the stigma of not having a "formal job" or because you live with your parents. But, also, now I live happily and far away from unhealthy habits that an unwanted life made me create. As always, love watching you! Also, that's also not the reason why I watch authortube so I'm confused lol
Kate, I'm not done with the video yet, but, you don't having your book out doesn't stress me! It's the opposite! It calms me down and it shows me that writing and publishing a book takes time, deliberate effort, that there're failures and small victories on the way. I would say you stress me out only when you write so fast and work so much, because I feel bad then. I suffer from clinical depression and I can't write more than 5000 words a month without failing at my part-time job. So please don't speed up :D Take care - you're great!
I spent my 20s chasing degrees not knowing what I really wanted to do.My main hobbies were writing short stories and journal entries but felt that I wasn't good enough be a published author. I only went to college straight out of high school because it was what my parents wanted. My sophomore year I decided to become a translator/foreign language editor. I loved watching foreign films and learning new languages. I never found a job as an editor after graduating so I went to graduate school with the idea of becoming a technical writer and freelance translator. I hated everything about my program, the professors, classmates, and assignments. I didn't want to admit that this wasn't working out and that once again I had failed. I wasted so much time and money working towards nothing. During this time, I was in horrible hit and run on the interstate in the middle of the night. Now I found myself living in my parent's house with no job, no car, no money to buy a car, debt, fear of being in a vehicle, no desire to do anything. I spent most of my day sleeping and would wake up a few hours before my parents arrived to cook them dinner and do a few chores. My father retired and started a new business during the same time. At first he was doing everything himself and realized that he needed help. My mother didn't really understand how to do any of the computer work and my father asked me to do. Now that I had something to do everyday I had a reason to be awake in the morning. I felt normal again and my physical pain from laying down all day disappeared. I started watching UA-cam videos to learn how to properly create/improve the documents my father needed to keep track of inventory and other business related items. I also had teach myself to troubleshoot our computers. This sparked my interest in computers and watched hours of videos on how to code. I decided to take an online class at my local university and later went on to take in person classes and finished my computer science degree and have been working in the field for five years now. My foreign language degree hasn't gone to waste because I've only worked at international companies and have speak Spanish and French on a daily basis.
I left a very well paid corporate job to pursue my dream of being a software developer. A lot of people were against it, tried to make me feel bad for leaving a good job at a well known big employer. But little did they know I hated it there, spend my time hiding and crying in the bathroom. For a year I lived, like you Kate, from my savings and focused on what I really wanted to do, which was learning to code and building a career I would love. After 9 months of intense studying and doing other things I deeply love, which is writing Fiction, as a sort of balance, I actually landed a job as a web developer starting this October. Sometimes you just have to take a leap and go all in. I wish you all the best and hope you will eventually reach your main goals and succeed because that is what every brave person deserves. And do not listen to haters or people who doubt you for something they would not have the guts to do :D
You were so brave, but you had a plan! I had no plan. Transitioning to being an author was more like a smack in the head. I began writing as part of my language recovery after I had a catastrophic stroke. I was working as a rural post master, as in the only employee at my post office and floating to other single person offices, running a farm with a dozen milk goats and poultry, huge gardens for canning, Volunteer work, School volunteer mom, and church choir director. I had a headache in April, not unusual because allergies happen, went to the bus stop 4 miles from our house and my kids found me. I had zero risk factors but I did have a large bruise on my leg and a deep clot that moved. I lost everything but my life and family that day. I have always been super creative, Art Minor in college but also an anthropology minor because I love people. You don't realize how much language you use until you literally have none, and you can't make the words you want come out of your mouth of fingertips. My Occupational Therapist suggested I start writing (and so much reading) to get my words back. That was when we discovered the the damage affected my short to long term memory path. But I quickly figured out that writing and reading things stored them in my rote memory, so while I still struggle with experience memory, I have a way to remember and function mostly normally. The physical stuff still creates problems but it too is manageable. Still disabled but I have gone from less than five thousand words expressible to over a million words written since the first that started my writer journey. A cute story I wrote with the help of my girls, as a way to spend time them when I couldn't move much, based on their favorite youtube let's play. I how have 4 books on Amazon, one with an indie publishing house, and stories on many free platforms like Wattpad and Inkitt.
Quit my job in psychiatric nursing in my 50's and wrote two novels and published a book of short stories in the five years I took off (thanks to my wife). I lived the dream and loved every second. I went back to a part-time job two years ago and love it. I think you have the necessary energy to drive towards your goal. Some authors take six or seven years to produce their 'breakthrough novel', so don't lose heart. Good luck with the move and I think a lot of people will miss the dogs.
The fact that you haven't published a book yet makes me like your channel MORE! Watching you pursue your dreams gives your content a sense of relatability, and the advice you give never comes off as preachy (which I think is so important, because honestly there's so many different paths to the same destination- as proven in your "write like" videos). I am beyond excited to read your work once it is published, and until then your videos serve as a constant source of inspiration for me... and many others! PS 5:52 - 6:12 had me laughing so hard
I started working from home a year ago (I was a manager at a coffee shop) and it was absolutely the best decision for me when it came to my mental health. I had moved back in with my parents and had the opportunity to save up and focus on my writing. Honestly, the only thing I don't like about my situation are the stigmas against this lifestyle. Seeing extended family especially gives me so much anxiety because I'm basically forced to explain myself and defend my choices. I don't know about other countries, but the US has such an awful habit of basing 'success' off of how people make money and where they live and that's the first question that they will ask about people as if that defines who they are. Seeing you being able to work for yourself and pursue your dreams is incredibly validating for me and I love that you are upfront and careful about your publishing plans. We need to normalize the non-traditional career paths and people need to learn that instant success isn't realistic, nor is it fair to hold people up to that standard.
I definitely understand the feeling of being 'stuck' in a corporate job. Even doing something I thoroughly enjoy (software development), the idea of my time and energy being controlled by product release schedules and arbitrary team commitments has always been stifling. I have been fortunate that changing to a different company DID help my situation a lot. I still don't love holding a 9-to-5, but when you work for a company that respects and appreciates their employees' time, you have a lot less of the "not-technically-mandatory-but-highly-recommended-wink-wink-nudge-nudge" overtime hours that sound a lot like what you were experiencing at your corporate job. I still long for a bit more freedom, and maybe someday I'll make that leap, but I just wanted to mention it in case anyone else feels stuck and hopeless but can't afford to leave the corporate workforce. Finding a company that actively works to prevent burnout can make a huge difference.
Yes, it’s important to find a company which accepts that work is not your life and respects family and free time. I try not to make any overtime, because I know my husband and toddler are waiting for me. Those are the ones I want to spend my life with, not my workplace.
I feel like you may not have a book out, but you're determined, and watching your thought process to keep going despite not having a book out or be financially "successful" is heaps motivating. Getting to see what you're up to has always been a delight so no unsubbing for me :D
I really appreciate this video because I did a similar yet opposite thing. I was teaching English and finishing up my PhD when I realized the amount of mental energy that job and life took would never allow me to pursue my fiction writing career, which I had wanted my whole life, so I left academia. And then I went into a deep depression for several years because I had wrapped up so much of my identity into that life that I didn’t know who I was without it. I’m still dealing with some of that depression now, but I’m a lot better. I also took an entry level corporate job that I knew would be low stress and provide me the stability I need so I can focus on my writing career, so that’s where I am now. And it’s hard sometimes because I left 5 years ago and I still don’t have the writing career and I sometimes fear that I never will and so then leaving academia behind was a mistake...but I try not to go there. So yeah. All that to say I appreciate your candidness and bravery to go after what you want. 💜
Laura, the challenge with academic life was for me, how utterly consuming it is. I'm so glad you're working at something that allows for stability but also brainspace to write. I started writing (after literally years/decades of wanting to be an author) earlier this year, and it's only because I have the brainspace after work. Your writing career will come - in fact, you are on that path now! You can do it! :)
I taught at a high school for a year, and I hated it. I had that experience of waking up in the morning and dreading work. The teaching wasn't so bad, but the administration was toxic, and then I got caught up in drama between other teachers - it was all a terrible mess. So I quit. I got a temp job working as a credit clerk, which became a permanent job. I'd made better money as a teacher, but it was a healthy work environment, and I looked forward to work every morning. And then my boss told me about one of his friends whose daughter had gotten a job teaching English in Japan, and he encouraged me to take a chance on that. Six months later, I was living in Japan and enjoying the best job I have ever had. I also met my future husband. So, yeah, sometimes taking that leap and making a change is the best thing to do. Sometimes. I'd be a lot further along in my writing career if I hadn't had a baby. I don't regret having her, and I've figured out how to write while being a homeschooling mom, but it took a lot of time. If things had gone differently, maybe I would've published my first book in 2015 instead of 2020. All I know is that I'm much happier now than when I was teaching at that high school 13 years ago. TLDR: I think risks are sometimes necessary, but that doesn't mean they're going to pay off immediately. Life is a long haul, and there will be constant adjustments as you figure out what you need. I think you're doing fine, you don't need us to determine if you're making progress or not. Keep on keeping on. Hope the move is going smoothly!
Omg, I have a finance and economics degree! Yes, to all of this. I was at my corporate job for 10 years and let me tell you, it DOES NOT get better. IT 👏 DOES 👏 NOT 👏!!!!!! The promotions don’t make you happier either.
I thought I wanted to be a teacher and went to college for it. I quickly realized it was not the career for me! Then I worked in insurance claims for 8 years and that wasn’t my passion either. (Very stressful, actually) Now I have my dream job as a library assistant and I love it! And it kind of goes well with me wanting to publish books too. I think I was meant to work with books. I’m glad you got out of the corporate job...I know the stress of being in a job you don’t like and when you reach that point, you got to get out if you can.
I've always wanted to be a writer. I've been writing since I was like eight years old but at some point after getting a "real" job, I got to a place where it felt like writing would always be a hobby. I never finished anything and I couldn't pick a project to stay focused in. And then I finished writing a novella a few years ago and after that, something clicked in my brain. I found my process and I found a project that I loved and finished writing a manuscript. And I know you said once you finish these things it's like unlocking that skill and that's true for me. All this to say, once I started finishing things, it made me sit down and go, "Hey, this is what I want to do forever and that's not something to shit on. Let's do it." Maybe it's because of this year and a few personal tragedies, but it's started to weigh more and more on me that I want write full time. I'm burned out at my job and it doesn't make me happy, but I'm not financially ready to leave it. And it isn't a bad job, it gives me enough freedom to get writing done there when it's slow and I'm grateful to have a job, I'm just ready for this other thing. I might not ever fully quit a "standard" job, but going down to part time or variable is an option I want. I still have a long way to go but it's steadily going from dream to goal. Maybe putting this out here will make it more real. Also, I love watching your videos and videos of other authortubers who haven't published yet because it feels like we're in the same journey, you know? We're at different parts of it and it's not the same, but we're in this together. It gives me hope. And there are so many things you talk about that I might have been thinking about and it's nice to go, "yes, yes, okay, we're on the same page, we're learning about these things together". For me, it makes the journey feel less lonely. Like I hope you'll eventually talk about how you plan to get your cover art for your books and the self-publishing aspect (or traditional publishing aspect) of your journey because those are things I think about and I want to know other people's experience. Like there's just something hopeful about seeing someone go before you, you know? I'm looking forward to seeing your work published, that's something I really like about joining this community however recently, is that it feels like we're all rooting for each other and I love that the vibe is like, "I did it this way, here are my resources, here how it worked out. Go out and flourish or try this on your own." Wow, this got really ranty and kind of sappy, but anyways, I clean up my bookshelves whenever I feel too restless or anxious and I need to declutter something. Usually fill it back up with more books a few weeks later lol.
I know others have said this, but everyone has their own journies and everyone takes time to get there. You're sharing your journey with us and giving us insight into what you've done that maybe didn't work or what you've done that does work and that's very helpful. It's also authentic. You don't sugarcoat or cover up what's going on, and that's helpful for people to see someone going through the same steps as they are. Keep doing you, Kate. We're here for it!
UGH! Moving can totally bring up all the emotions. No shame! And also, congrats for going after what you want rather than 'doing the right things' according to somebunny ELSE. I'm here for it!
I feel like there are three types of people; people who thrive in corporate or "traditional" workplaces, people who can stick it out despite feeling unfulfilled, and people who feel like they're dying and need to get out. I essentially haven't worked for nearly two years and I used to be in a job that honestly felt like it was sucking out my soul every day I was there. I ended up leaving long before my rational brain would normally let me but by that time it was daily panic attacks and seriously declining mental health that pushed me to finally quit. And honestly the day I handed in my two weeks notice was the day I felt like I could breathe again. Two years later I still haven't published a book, but I don't regret making the decision to bet on myself and my ability.
hi kate im not sure if you will ever see this but yes i have had a life change what feels like a million years ago and its been very negatively affected me. i went through a lot of hell and im still on that journey to find home again. my writing has expanded before my move and its been growing but i feel like all the ways it could have been as i miss my old life so very dearly. my mental health overall has fluctuated and it will never been the same again and i've been working through the fear of touching my old stories as i don't want to 'ruin' them with my current self which is a horrible train of thought. But it was writing that got me into a beautiful safe place and i believe it can bring me to a home once again.
I recently quit my job in furniture sales to become a freelance writer. I have an MA in literature and felt like my career was going in completely the wrong direction. I was underpaid and underappreciated and I realised I had to get out now before I had financial responsibilities like a mortgage or children that would keep me stuck. It's been just over a week and I already feel like it was the best decision. I'm far from building my career and the pressure of knowing I'm now fully in control of whether I make money or not is both scary and exciting.
to all the people saying watching kate stresses you out because YOU can't see her progress is so baffling and completely rubbish. since when did the productivity of a writer become their self worth? people we love kate and her pupperoni and we support her writing journey. the rest can leave thank you very much. I mean how could you not love kate? She's a ray of sunshine who writes!
I worked in an office job that I absolutely despised and got extremely depressed commuting there (1.5 hours each way). So much relief getting to move on to something in my field and in an environment that was less sterile and corporate. If you can take the risk, so worth moving on to something else! My philosophy is that YOU should come first over work. Our working lives should not define our lives in totality.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood. I knew there was a reason you were my favorite Booktuber I just couldn't express why in words. Now it all makes sense. 🙀
As someone currently working a corporate job that leaves me feeling like a single tiny screw in a giant machine, I feel like I really really need this. 😅😭 It's so scary to leave.
It really is! And you need to figure out the right time for you and the right safety net too. But Kate is so so right when she says - it will only get worse the higher up you get. It's harder to walk away from a 150K / year job, and its also more difficult to avoid the company taking over your life when they are paying you that much :D
This is my favorite video of yours. Thank you for being transparent; it’s very hard to answer hard questions. I would’ve not been able to do that myself as a prideful person. I realize that I’m human too and it’s okay to have a break and not have a lot of “accomplishments” on the field we choose to transfer at some point in our lives after getting invested in another. The path and milestones are different for each person, and that’s okay. Plus I love the editing for the moving. My family have always moved from one place to another since childhood. It’s nostalgic in a way. I wish you a lot of happiness and success ✨ I know you are a great author as you have inspired a lot of us here!
I quit my full time job and found a part time one, because of so unhappy and stressed I was getting while at work. I've always loved the idea of being a free-lance writer, but just don't have the courage or belief (in my skill,) to actually go for it. Thanks for being so open and honest about this. I love your chatty videos, and will happily follow your journey until you achieve your goals!
I like that you are waiting to publish--really working on your craft. You've influenced me to slow down and build my craft before I try to publish, and I think that has been really healthy for me. And by "slow down" I don't mean "stop writing." I mean, developing a style, a voice, and a technique.
I just stopped college... I quit so sick and tired of my degree. It felt so good to stop, I started chasing my dreams and I am now happy with what I have going on ^^ no one commented, they know me too Well ^^ I am so happy you listen to your intuition ! I am just happy to see you grow as a person and learn I don't need results ^^
I have watched several of your videos and did not know you had not published a book yet. It's fine and I learn a lot from you. I have worked as a news reporter in my hometown for the past 20 years and I cannot begin to tell you how burned out I am. This video really helped me to put things in perspective and it is definitely time to start making some changes so that I can get my author/writing business off the ground completely! Thanks, Kate!!
Omg!!!! Love your channel and this video! I quit my job at post office. It was the most draining job I’ve ever experienced. I invested 7 years!!! The day i walked in and handed my 2 weeks, i felt like i lost 10 pounds. Now I’m on journey to figure out what I’m meant to do. I know I’m creative, love to write.. i just need to combine all that LOL. I’m blessed because my husband works, but i love your hustle! ❤️❤️
I wouldn't say I have a corporate job, but I went to college to get my degree and worked in Healthcare for almost 7 years. And now, I just dropped to part time to focus on writing and doing the things I love. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but the burnout is strong! I'm ready to put that behind me. I think its fantastic that you made the leap. It inspired me to do the same!
I'm a college student in my last semester and I'm lucky to be able to live with my parents and know that I want to go into writing immediately. It's honestly such a blessing that I changed my major half way through college from global affairs to a bachelor's of fine arts in creative writing. There are a lot of older ppl in my classes that say they decided to go back and get their degree in creative writing because they realized their degrees and jobs weren't what they wanted. It's so important to listen to your passion because even if you go with the degree that is higher paying, you might end up like them and want to go back to school and have to chuck out more money.
One of your discussion goals got me thinking. My writing goals used to be about publishing (I never have) but over time they morphed into writing for my own pleasure. Perhaps I will publish but I don't put that pressure on myself anymore. This mindset change was extremely positive for me.
i thought i was the only one who quitting job for writting. i got same struggle like you and im 23 years old, working for 4 years since i graduated from vocational school, i have family finance problem which is, i help my mom for working, but it's so nice since i know you and maybe other people not give up on their dream. i have a book published before, but yet not very popular and i never have the royalty because my book is not that much people buy it. so yeah, i kinda start again from 0. i hope, we always enjoy anything what we want to achieve for real. especially what dream life that we want to take!^^ thank you for sharing Kate!
Ok, I feel like there's never going to be an appropriate video for this request so here it goes: Kate's hair braid tutorial! I've been using this braid style for a while but mine always look so weird and croocked and yours are ALWAYS PERFECT. 🙏🏻🥰
Keep kicking ass. I too had a similar experience as you: working around the clock, always on call. The screws slowly tightened and my ability to execute began to deteriorate until I was working 80 to 100 hours per week. It was a vicious cycle and I learned to, for the most part, hate my field. So I burned out and quit. I quit after many years of tolerating that unhealthy lifestyle. Now I am semi-retired but DONE with the corporate life. I'm freelance editing, working on a novel, writing poetry and short stories, managing our little farm, building rustic furniture. I do a little bit of real estate agenting. And my wife works, we have no kids, and no chronic illnesses-that certainly helps. And now I sleep. I can finally read again. I had hardly read a thing in 15 years because I simply didn't have time. And I can experiment with different things which I never had time to do before. I write. Most importantly, my marriage is far FAR healthier than it had been in the past. Finances are interesting, but we are making do. Keep at what you are doing and if you haven't found it yet, you'll eventually find that equilibrium as well. Thanks for sharing this story.
Aww. I mostly watch your videos under the radar but I felt the need to comment today as I wanted to shout to the world and to you that you are MOST DEFINIITELY an author and that we love having you on Authortube. A lot of people under estimate the pressure we as authors feel to want to want until our book babies are perfect to us or until we complete writing our series before publishing so that they aren't left waiting very long after that nail biting cliffhanger. IT IS PERFECTLY OK TO TAKE YOUR TIME TO PUBLISH. A lot of major names in the publishing world has taken over a decade to write before publishing their debut and I'm sure no one would consider them any less of an author. I currently do freelance writing as well as many other creative ventures and it can be hard to juggle the time sent on client jobs and our own projects. Especially since the reality is that we will make more money freelancing that publishing at least for the first few years of our publishing careers, and that's not being negative that's being realistic. I know that viewers are just excited to read your words and the ones that are true supporters will be there even if it takes you 3 more years (not saying you should wait that long lol but if you have to we'll be here). I hope your move went well and that you got there safely. Can't wait for the update :).
I’ve seen your channel as interesting and entertaining. As far as “an author-tuber who hasn’t published a book yet and therefore doesn’t qualify”, I beg to differ. I think showing your day to day enthusiasm, struggles, skill building, habit developing, etc, journey to be a very REAL LIFE depiction of the journey from not-a-published-author to a successfully-published-author. There is a benefit to learning from people who did it and are sharing what they went through. But there is also much to be gained by watching someone going through it in the present. I can tell you what is was like to be a military wife with three children. But what I tell you about the early years, now that they are 20, 17 & 14, will be very different than the conversations we would have had back then, in the moment. There is tremendous value in what you’re doing...showing us “the long game”, the dedication, experimentation, flexibility and self-discipline needed while maintaining your joy for the craft. Don’t let others judge you based upon their own timeline. In the words of Bill & Ted, “Write on, dude!”.
Yay for the big move! And I've always been curious on how you took that leap from corporate job and became a writer/creator job(s). Also, every time I see your blindfold in the background, I always think it looks like a bra XD XD
For a long time, I have felt that being productive (i.e., publishing, working, etc.) meant I was living. And that, if I didn't produce a novel or have a job or do something with the degree I attained that I was a failure and letting down my loved ones. All in my head, of course, because more often than not, my family has tried to encourage me. So I understand you in that sense. I can only speak for myself, but learning to not equate or measure my value to the work I do or the book(s) I write has been a struggle. I am getting there. Quarantine only makes an already difficult time with anxiety and depression harder when it comes to all of this. Like you, I have multiple projects going on at once (though I cannot work on more than one per day, so I bow to your time management skills!). Combine that with being a naturally slow typist and handwriter due to disability, I find it takes me months and sometimes years to get a novel done. Short stories and essays intrigue me for this reason, but until recently I hadn't thought much of focusing on them. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I'm a bit rambly. I may make a video about this. Hm. Thanks for the video, Kate!
I had a similar experience (a little less drastic of a change) I had worked in retail for 6 years full time and had completely lost my passion for writing and creating. I got to a similar point where I was burnt out and soo unhappy every day I went to work and one day a friend gave me a tarot reading that shifted my entire mindset. I knew I needed to start writing again because ultimately that’s my dream and I would never find happiness in the job I was in. so I saved up and found a new job with less hours where I could spend more time focusing on my passion. I have never been happier! It was the best decision I ever made.
Love this topic. I don't think people understand how day jobs can encroach on so much of your life. And while I never tried to actually move up in companies because I knew I didn't want that, it's almost expected. Like, if you don't work all the overtime and go to the office happy hours, you're often seen as a bad employee. I quit the corporate life and decided to teach at a university which gave me such a better schedule and allowed for writing time. But still, you're expected to be a mentor and work with student groups or appear at in-university networking events, even though literally all educators at a university have a ton of writing they have to do in order to keep their jobs. Since quitting and freelancing and making digital products, I've finally had a sense of balance and I haven't felt overextended. All of this is to say that if you feel like you have no writing time, it's probably because you don't and you job doesn't want you to have it.
I really appreciate this video! I'm pretty new to your channel, and authortube in general, but I've been spending more time watching writing videos.This really made me feel less alone, I'm working in a community college basically helping students enroll (majored in Creative Writing, yada yada), and while I wouldn't say I'm unhappy with the job.. before covid I just didn't have much of a life outside of it because I would work into the evening most days, and while I do have an internship with a literary agent which is fun, I just didn't want my full-time job to be something where I feel like I'm not growing/not excited about. it helps to hear that someone around my age at one point wasn't satisfied either. i'm really happy for you that you're doing more of what you love now!!
I personally looooove that I have found your channel and you are not a fiction published author yet. Like duh I would love to see a your published fiction BUT it is sooo helpful to see your process of how you write. You legit start from scratch and show us what you work on and how you work on it. When i think of your channel and other people I watch who do a similar thing to you.. I don't think author tube. You are like a writer tube/ expiremental channel that i so appreciate.
I loved learning more about your past and your change... I get that people want to see progress from people they're watching, but I think it's just wishful thinking to think that it will just happen suddenly. Living more life will teach people that things definitely don't happen overnight (unless you're lucky enough to win the lottery), but for most people, it isn't overnight and most of the time "overnight success" looks like years of hard work that most people don't see. Keep it up! You're doing great! Also, I've been unpacking boxes all weekend because we just moved to TX!! :). It's hot down here, y'all!!
I have definitely thought about writing full time but have not yet made the transition from my marketing job. I'm trying to be more intentional about spending my extra time outside of work on my creative work so that I can query before the end of the year like I had hoped to and can start moving in the direction of writing full time. Thanks for sharing Kate this was a very helpful video!
I find your transparency! Authenticity! And creativity so genuinely inspiring. I watch your content almost every day since I found you. I super support you and admire you!!
I wish I could quite to focus on writing but I have too many financial responsibilities at the moment. My partner has told me that he would support me if I wanted to make this jump, but I want to try and get more savings and pay down some debts. I didn't realise how much I wanted to be able to write and work for myself until I was furloughed earlier this year. I've made a decision that it will be the path I take at some point but when I think I have more freedom to be able to do it. It's great to see you being so honest about the ability that you could take this jump without having anything published, and it's kind of refreshing.
We can all agree that the corporate world in the US is broken. As much as I hear people from the US hating "socialism" and equalising it wrongly to "communism" , it makes me incredibly happy that Europe has fought for worker rights and those kind of situations are straight away illegal. Not that it is perfect, but I highly cringe with moments like Miranda in SATC asking to reduce her working week to 55h so she can be with her baby. I work 35 and it is a full time job with a really good pay and some occasional weekends or out of work hours ( always previously agreed and only if I am available for them )
We have all made major changes in our lives. I think you're brilliant and if anyone can make a success of your change in life you can. You got this Kate. :)
I had the exact same experience (burn out included) and during lockdown I realized I HAD to quit if I don’t want to fall in to depression. Now I’m happily a full time mom (thanks to my husband support) and we’re all so much happier! I find there’s still a little bit of stigma around full time moms, at least here where I live in Italy, specially (as you said in your case too) if you have a degree and you’re “not using it”. Keep going and buona fortuna (good luck) 🍀
In 2015 I was “let go” from my position at a Home Health facility where I was a CNA for 10 YEARS!!!! taking care of the elderly. I was on my way to becoming a Registered nurse and wanted that on my resume. I cried and cried for weeks about the loss until a light bulb went off when I found NaNoWriMo that year....Writing had been my passion but I let it go as a sacrifice for my kids. But, without a job I was able to get my Master's in Business Management, write my stories, and work part-time at my current job (which is now full-time) as Teacher's Assistant. I now have the free time to write, an easier schedule, and LOTS of story ideas from the kids and things I see. I'm blessed and YOU are blessed to be given the opportunities you have to do what you do. I'm inspired by you and will buy ALL your books WHEN you publish. PLEASE PUBLISH something for us to have a tangible part of you NOW with more inspiration behind it...maybe put all your "I wrote like" journey in book form. Or give us small chapter by chapter clips of your Project Death story! I JUST WANNA READ IT!!! However or whenever you publish is YOUR right! I'm 40 with three kids and haven't published beyond Medium and my Blog BUT it's my JAM and I wouldn't quit it EVER again! Keep goin Girl!!! (Hell, that's me in my pic icon with my FAVORITE author Jessica Brody and I NEVER believed it would happen! Up next is Stephen King! because us writers make shit up and then it becomes REAL!!!)
Kate, you are a breath of fresh air. I fell into a job I really loved while running from academia (because I thought I wanted to be a Lit professor... yeah). Now, after a while doing a really worthwhile job in 'industry', I'm back in academia-aligned work, which is ironically giving me the space to breathe and write, what I hope one day will be a novel some other people who are not related to me want to read. Gatekeepers of organic community like authortube make me antsy, because seeing people like you shows me I don't need to have a pub list of anything to create and be proud of the process (not just the physical 'I birthed a book' product). One day, I'll make some time to write as a primary income stream (of whatever shape that takes), but it is not this day.
Regarding the section where you talked about people challenging your ability to give advice. I find it a little presumptuous of random internet people that publishing and monetary gains are the mark of success in writing. Those things are nice, but not everyone can get there. It doesn't make their stories less worthy of existing. It also doesn't make the experience of their writers any less valuable. People have different goals and reasons for writing. And honestly, your channel kicked my butt into proper planning of 2 novels I want to write and also taught me how to deal with hitting a brick wall with one of them. Binge watching with my coffee right now 😂
I just changed jobs to a part-time retail job and used a large (majority) chunk of my savings to buy my own little place so that I could quit my full-time job and have more time and energy to focus on writing. It's been so exciting, and I'm so grateful for everything that led me here to be able to do this!!!
This couldn't have come at a better time for me! I'm currently in a similar situation with my part-time job (not as big of a deal, I know), kinda debating going full-on freelance but, oh, the guilt is definitely there. Awesome to hear your story, Kate! Super interested on your take on non-fiction articles and querying!
This video resonated with me so much. I had a very very similar journey quitting my corporate job and coming home to write at my parents'. I still haven't cracked the 'make money from 5 channels' - have currently found 1 channel, but need to find more. On the plus side, finally finished my first draft of my first novel this year!!
Changing careers can really be stressful. I dropped out of med school to course journalism and to be a writer. My parents were very skeptical and upset at first but after sharing my aspirations with them and truly having a conversation with them about the topic, I feel like they finally see that my writing is not just a hobby and that I truly want to work in this field. They've started taking it more seriously. I'm already 21 so everyone seems to have these expectations of work from me. They expect to have everything figured it out and it's just not that simple, especially when you're planning to go into an artistic field.
I quit my corporate software job 8 months ago at age 29 with only nebulous plans for future income. I was fully burnt out. I'm currently trying to work on my "hodgepodging it together" income, but it took me about six months to even do anything productive, and so I'm basically making pennies right now. But I have all my debts paid off though and a few years of savings, and my income needs once I run out are low enough where if I can work full time at Starbucks I'll be okay. But I would love to figure out how to cobble together income from creative work instead of doing that.
I used to work at a bank, and when I decided to quit to pursue a writing career, I felt terrified but also liberated at the same time. Eventually, after months of joggling and pitching scripts, I landed my first job as a screenwriter for mini tv series unexpectedly. I think that opportunity would not present itself if I were not honest with myself for wanting to be a full time writer and choice only to write for a living. You made the right decision, good luck.
Hi Kate! Love your content. I also had a big career switch. I used to own a martial arts school in Florida--it was my passion since I was a child--and at 28 ended up losing the business. I could blame it on the economy, but really I was just a horrible business man. But, after the depression and dread fell away, I decided to go back to college because I wasn't qualified for anything else...at 28, back to school. I feel old haha. Anyways, now I'm 34 and getting my MFA in creative writing in December, and I couldn't be happier (maybe I could, but I'm happy regardless).
I relate so much to what you said about job burnout. I used to dread going to my retail job in the summers while putting myself through university. I would cry in the car in the mornings and try to mentally prepare myself for 10 hours of customers treating me sub-human and never being able to sit down. Sometimes quitting is the best thing you can do for yourself for your physical and mental health. Thank God I only had to do that job 6 months at a time. Never going back. I'm so happy that you're in a happier situation now too. :)
I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos - informative and entertaining. I failed a college course a few years ago, and didn't really want to go back to work, or, more likely, back to unemployment. I asked my wife for her permission to write full time. She agreed. Since then, I have two published books, and am planning to write 1.5 million words over 2 years. It's not going well...
I can relate, My illuminating moment of clarity was in the middle of Graduate school. A Masters Swimming teammate recommended Christopher Moore's Fool & it helped eject me from my post graduate school slump. I was binging a few of his audiobooks this summer. We all need germination time. Getting the water & nutrition to sprout is never easy. Especially when said sprouts are in the creative pursuits.
At this ponit I can't quit my corporate job but Covid keeps putting my in lay off and with a very low salary. So, I will try to take the time to get back into writing at setting a schedule. Who knows, maybe I will find joy and the push I need to finally get some accountabiity and words on paper. Really happy to support you on Patreon, you always inspire me to write and I hope you achieve your goals soon.
One of my favorite things you do is your “I tried writing like...” series. It’s fun and inspiring to see writers try new things. Writing is complex and progress can be subjective. Might as well enjoy the journey :)
I realized recently that I am just now starting to live the dream I was having over 10 years ago. If dreams just sprung up over night there would be no question... people would be quitting jobs everywhere and living the dream job! But it takes years of hard work (and also working jobs that are not what we are wanting) before a pathway will open up. It's esp hard when you live your journey online and feel like you owe an explanation. I hope all the concern comes from a place of people wanting you to succeed. I am guessing its because they want to see that its possible to quit and immediately start living your life's goal. But I think the beauty of what you're doing here is showing the reality that it takes a while... sometimes 10 years like in my case... and a lot of hard work to even get things moving in the right direction. And honestly if I didn't have such an amazing support system I would still be doubting myself! Keep doing what you are doing Kate! We creatives have to be in it for the long haul ;)
This video is so good ! I totally understand your decision ! After graduating in international human rights law, I could not find a job, so I decided to move to Benin, in Africa, and I'm working for a small NGO ! Not making that much money but it's way enough in that country ! And I'm super happy there, so that was a win for me ! 😊 Thanks for saying that having savings and people around you makes that decision safer ! Although that's pure common sense, I know people that have quit their job and ended up more miserable because they have kids, and expenses to cover... Love your work Kate !! ❤️
You are absolutely killing it, Kate! You amaze me with all that you do, on top of providing writing, process, and productivity inspiration for tens of thousands of people on a regular basis. It's obvious that you could do anything that you set your mind to. I have no doubt that I'll get to read your books one day, but in the meantime, I'm so happy to follow along on your journey!
It is SO WEIRD to realize you're personally responsible. Not only daily schedule but life choices! I think it takes a while to sink in. Still learning!
This was surprisingly fun to watch. I have been considering the career change myself, but my day job is as a college professor. So I get to teach my passion (writing) but in a political climate that is stifling. Plus, if you are teaching well, there is very little left in the creative tank for your own work. I also have kids and responsibilities-and COVID is making it very difficult to “rock the boat” at the moment. I have had some small press and literary magazine successes, but hope to make the push for an agent sometime before I turn 40. It’s inspiring and a little anxiety inducing to watch your journey-but I am glad to see you making a go of it.
Very relatable. I also left my job this year, having saved up about a year's worth of expenses, with the intention of writing novels full-time and seeing if I can make any money at all that way. In my case, this isn't the first time I've done something like this. Eight years, I walked away from another job (that time with a bank loan rather than savings) and moved abroad with no plan other than to take a teacher training course for a month and try to get teaching work. That was tough, but it all worked out in the end and led to unexpected opportunities. Still though, I didn't end up where I REALLY wanted to be, doing what I REALLY wanted to do. So I'm flinging myself into the uknown yet again...
I'm working on a similar transition now. I'm a mobile groomer, worked so hard to get here. But my body is falling apart and it's not my dream. Writing has always been my dream. But the grooming world leaves no time to do it. Covid taught me to fight for the future I want and not let go. Hoping to begin backing up from my day job in 2021 and doing whatever writing jobs I can get my hands on. In addition to the books I have written/am writing of course.
I found my way here and watched. In my traditional work at a brick and mortar setting, I've done what I refer to as the 'jump off the cliff' several times. That is leaving a steady income without any idea of what was next. My dream from childhood has always been to make a living from my art. There have been more pauses to doing that while still creating art and having a massive internal crash where there was nothing left of the dream or much else either. It's been 13 years and now, like way too many people out there, it's time for reinvention amid uncertainty. For years the idea of working from home was appealingly but there were too many voices saying that thoes weren't real jobs and I stupidly listened rather than listening to what was left of my dream and trusting that it was possible to stitch together enough of an income to take care of bills and eat. Now, all thoes voices who told me I couldn't are gone. And one of the side dishes to the pandemic is that the whole arena of working from home is now emerging as a 'smart move' trying to figure the parts, streams of income, has become part of the journey to make the now very odd shaped dream of making a living from my art. Getting your dream blown up tends to reshape it as you work on healing it. I wrote this because you asked the question about any of us doing or ever having done. What I've learned is the dream calls and draws us in and through what looks like a dense wilderness some times to both teach and reshape us so we can bring a richness that might not have been there if the road had been simple or easy. It makes the dream better because we as creators, what ever the shade of art we are in, writing, visual art, music, cooking etc., so much deeper and richer.
I recently resigned from my full time teaching job (high school English and theatre) to pursue teaching at the community college level part time to allow myself the time to get serious about my writing. It was a hard decision to leave the safety net, but I was in that same situation where every day was getting worse. Now, it's just trying to get used to working from home and staying productive. My mental health has definitely taken a turn for the better since leaving. The hardest thing is still wanting things that the full time job would be able to pay for (wedding expenses, house) but not letting myself go back to an unhealthy environment and being okay with the necessary changes.
I am late to the game -- I'm so SO glad I found your channel Kate! Thank you so much for your honesty. This was so inspiring and I'm so excited to keep watching and following you on your journey!
I don't think of it as a "hodgepodge" way of making money, I think of it as "multiple streams of income", lol. For real though, as someone that's made more money on non-novel writing than novel writing (I don't have a published novel yet either) this real talk was so validating. It's like there's a disclaimer I have tack on when I talk about my writing, "I'm a writer, (Disclaimer: but not a published novelist)", "I get paid for my work sometimes, (Disclaimer: but that work wasn't a novel).". Thanks for opening up about this, it was so helpful and refreshing
My degree is in teaching (primary school). I loved being around the energy of youth and being able to help mold the future and help people. After I got my degree, I taught for a little while and found that it wasn't really for me. I did some education-adjacent things for a while but I still wasn't happy. It wasn't until a life-changing family emergency happened, that I just fell into freelance writing. I was hooked after that. It's still hard to deal with the stigma from not having a regular 9-to-5. I get anything from "I hear that so-and-so is hiring" (as if I don't make enough to pay bills, even though I do) to "Oh, I bet you can drop everything and do this favor for me." But despite all that, I still love what I do now and I wouldn't go back. It's healthier for me to have this career. I feel like there are different ways that writers and authors progress. In the short time I've been watching your videos I've seen you progress from one part of the writing process to another. No matter when we get our books published, we're always progressing as writers, aren't we? We're becoming better writers, our writer/author voices evolve, we learn different techniques and try out new tenses and genres and and...
I too have worked in education in some form or another since graduating with my degree in Elementary Education, and have also discovered it’s just not for me. I’ve been substitute teaching for a while, but now with COVID I feel like I’m finally getting the push I need to leave education and make writing more of a priority. I would love to know a little bit about how you got started freelancing! What kind of writing you do, how you got started, etc. I am so overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin haha, but I’m also excited to start doing something new and more aligned with my passion for writing. ☺️❤️
@@EyesForYou21 My path to freelance was actually pretty lucky. It just fell in my lap while I was doing that education-adjacent job: a site coordinator for a before-after school program. My boyfriend at the time (husband now) got a call from his family that his grandparents needed live-in care. So we both dropped everything and went. While we were there, I had the opportunity to be able to look for freelance jobs and buff-up my resume while helping take care of his grandparents. We didn't have to pay for rent and food while we took care of his grandparents and kept their house clean and maintained. I took small writing jobs here and there and soon enough, I had a pretty decent entry-level writing resume which helped me get bigger gigs. I definitely suggest building your resume while you're working a different job or if you're lucky and don't have to worry about paying rent. Like Kate was with her parents, or like I was when we were live-in care for Jake's grandparents.
After being too busy to watch videos, I'm back. This channel sure has grown a lot! There's a reason I'm trying to be a technical writer or something related to writing, but not fiction. Expecting to have a writing job as a publisher of books as soon as I graduate, especially since it's covid and I'm graduating this December, is ludicrous. I've finally realized that, as long as I work in an environment that I like, I don't need to have a fiction job. I'm in retail now, but in a better job than before, and that's a good start. I do really want a job dealing with writing though. I love English, and I want to be able to use my skills in a way to help others. Even if that's just writing manuals. I want to live comfortably, and be able to provide for my S.O. That's good enough for me.
Your reasons for leaving your job sound very similar to my own. Like you said, it was that sort of 'Aha!' moment where you can just feel it in the pit of your gut that this is NOT what you want out of life, that dread every single morning, the weekend and after hours phone calls and knowing it's always going to be this way and people are always going to be stressed and upset and looking to your for answers when often there are none. It's absolutely soul-sucking and it took a few weeks of crying every day after work to realize that sometimes the money ISN'T worth it. Like you, I am extremely fortunate in that I have my husband who is very supportive in allowing me to stay home and work on my craft, but as I've only been doing this since April, I still struggle knowing that I am not financially contributing to the household (yet). I don't know how much longer I'll continue this for or if I will be searching for another job soon, but it definitely does help hearing the stories of other people and finding that relatability instead of feeling like I just couldn't hack it in the corporate world.
You're such an inspiration! Good luck with your books :) I havent been on UA-cam for a while so now I'm binge watching all of the videos I've missed :D Thanks for the amazing content
So I quit my job almost a year ago because of not only burn out but it was also a toxic situation. I too love the idea of writing full time, but I knew that I couldn’t realistically live like that. So quitting was so hard for me for that exact purpose. Instead, my husband and I moved into his parents house, I wrote a full novel, and found a different job (same career but different location) with a much better atmosphere and situation. (We also we’re able to move out of his parents place too after COVID restrictions eased up.) I also recently joined Authortube and gave you a shout out in my last video! 🥰 Your channel really inspired me to share my own writing journey. I havent been published yet either and would love to someday. Feel free to check it out if you’d like.
I had a full-time job with a non-regular schedule and a 1.5 hour commute. It was the first time I wasn't writing regularly and I was absolutely miserable. Now I'm a part-time writing tutor and I write for the rest of my time and it's so much better!
This video is quite inspiring. I find myself, as I'm sure many others do, stuck in a moment in time. Working a career that pays decently but still is not fulfilling. Being a writer is everything to me. I've already taken the first steps and wrote my first book, a children's book. Have had it edited and proofread professionally, and now I'm awaiting the illustrations to be done by an artist I hired. It's going quite great and I'm excited to see the finished result. I don't plan on becoming a children's author exclusively, I just had this story in my head for years on top of years. Now, I feel all of my stories are just ready to break themselves out of my head and it's driving me insane lol. Started working on my first novel while beginning to promote my children's book. Researching ways to create an alternate pen name effectively so I can always put out another children's book if I want while writing my other series. I cannot wait to go along with you on your journey as I walk along on my own. Thank you for sharing.
The popular saying is: "Never have all your eggs in one basket," because if that one basket breaks, you're at square one with no other option. That's why it's good to have six things that help you make money. Be it youtube, freelancing, ghostwriting, publishing or even having a part-time job in the corporate world.
I've hit the point of "I dread every day and have to make a change" multiple times in my life so far, and I've made the (terrifying) decision to stop everything else and pursue writing because I simply can't imagine living happily any other way. I'm hoping it'll work out, and I am riding on some significant privilege, without which I wouldn't be able to even attempt this.
Really appreciated this video. I watch individuals’ authortube channels because I enjoy watching their growth and progress in terms of personal development rather than any external or publishing ‘success’ and it’s a privilege to be able to watch yours! As someone who’s currently having a bit of an aha moment myself it’s really comforting to know other people are succeeding in making their job something they really do enjoy (mainly because I think there’s a mindset that creative pursuits are never real achievable careers - everyone has writing a book on their bucket list or wants to be an actor, right?) I think there’s also a problem where you’re not encouraged to make the jump unless you’ve already got some level of success in what you’re jumping into which ignores just how difficult it might be to actually do that whilst working full time and commuting for a job that drains your energy... Anyhow to be more positive, really enjoying your content and watching your journey to creativity 🌸
On the one hand I get it when people want to see progress, but at the same time there's a reason they say 'it takes 10 years to make an overnight success' it can take years of writing books to get to the point of publishing stuff *cough Brandon Sanderson cough * and to then go and classify someone who hasn't published yet as a failure when they're still working towards that goal seems a bit illogical (it kinda annoys me a little tbh) like would they say Brandon Sanderson was a failure up until he got published? probably not, or maybe they assumed he just popped up one day with 12 books written and got a publishing deal with the snap of his fingers cos they couldn't see the work going into him becoming a better writer. But I also think there's an assumption/double standard people have that if something isn't making you money it's a waste of time and as soon as it is seen to be making money then all the time leading up to it is suddenly reclassified as 'an investment', but why should publishing and making money off of things be the measure of success in the first place? 🤷🤦🧐
Personally I feel like it's actually very helpful to have realistic portrayals available of someone going through that process so that people can see with a lot more detail just how much work goes into writing and publishing books and becoming an author full time, like it's all well and good to hear oh it took so and so this many years to get published, but actually seeing an example of what that journey looks like is so helpful and awesome!! (basically you're awesome and anyone who thinks not being published=failure both annoys me and needs to get some perspective)
ok rant over 😂 also I feel you so much on the 'once you realise you're not in the right job for where you wanna go in life it makes it 100x harder to get up and go to that job' thing, been there done that, worn the tshirt (although thankfully not in my current job) and it totally sucks! Hope the move is going well!! 😄
THIS - 100% this. This is Such an amazing way to explain something that I've been trying so hard to articulate. Like for so many of us publishing is the goal and what we're aiming for, but that doesn't mean that everything you are doing doesn't matter and have value. You are BUILDING. If you're building a house the first brick is just as important as the last, so why is it that people get so focused on that last brick as the only one that matters?
@Peach Macabre too true, the journey is the most interesting part.
Love how you put it. I think another one to bring up is JK Rowling and King. There's the one author that didn't start until he was over 40 and it took him several years to get published as well. IDR his name off the top of my head. Its always the journey and that journey is going to be unique to all of us.
Yep, you definitely hit all the salient points.
And the same critics would FOR SURE have thought Brandon Sanderson was an utter failure before he got picked up--he was working the night shift at a hotel and had over ten unpublished novels. Imagine if he had an AuthorTube channel during that time. "Okay, where's your success now, Brandon? Why aren't you published yet? Do you suck at writing or something?"
I think it's great we see realistic portrayals of what it's like behind the scenes. People need to understand that writing career success rarely looks like teenage wunderkind Christopher Paolini's or first-novel blowouts like Stephanie Meyer's. They involve a writer working on their craft for years in obscurity before they get noticed, and most of their early novels will never get published (because they're not good). See: Brandon Sanderson. See: Josh Malerman.
Even then, once you finally get published, is that "success"? A lot of writers are as prolific as Sanderson and Malerman and never get the Netflix deals or six/seven-figure book deals. They make a pittance in royalties while still working a day job. I think there's this unhealthy, naive notion that somehow writing is easy and writers piddle around on their typewriters for two hours a day while collecting massive royalty checks. That's not how this works at all.
I think Brandon has one of the best videos out there on a healthy writer's mindset and realistic expectations. I'm going to drop the link here: ua-cam.com/video/oH9sJrAVeC0/v-deo.html
I was thinking the exact same rant. 👍 We need examples of people snap in the middle of this journey. I can't learn from someone who starts their channel 3 weeks before publication! What struggle did they possibly have? How did they deal with the solitude, the unknown, the dispair? They skipped the worst of it! And the best... I wish I could go back to that beginners excitement of drafting my first novel (week 1). When the road still seemed easy. Most viewers are at that stage. How long could it take to write a book? Tsss. Right? 🙃 Alas.
I know I am a year late but I wanted to say you are awesome! I too left a corporate job as a paralegal to find something less detrimental to my health. I suffer with chronic illness but do want to be a full time writer. So I work a reg job now but have kids so waiting until I can make a dent in my freelance jobs to jump out of reg jobs and work for myself! That my friend is progress. You have progressed and are amazing!
I am about to be 40, I'm homeschooling my kid and pursuing my dream of writing WITH debilitating chronic pain. Don't let anything stop you!
You've got this and ily
@@sami6998 Thank you! I love you too! ❤🙌🏼😊
U got this!💪🏾
I am with you! Chronic pain and children make it hard but we got this!!!!
Same here. We can do this!
I found myself at the exact same point at the age of 44. I quit my job in logistics in order to freelance as a ghostwriter and translator, while writing and self-publishing my own stuff. There has been a smile on my face ever since then.
My goal too
Me too. Sweet freedom is scary but at some point I just couldn't deny the "I don't belong here" feeling after ignoring it for 1000 times (well over a decade).
If you were here solely to promote your future novel or to raise your author profile, I might wonder where yo book at. But you're chronicling your experience for the community in which you are actively involved.
I worry for people who are expecting to see (feel entitled to) a very specific progress arc. The journey is vastly different for every writer. The journey is almost always slow AF. And I expect the arc they want to see is on the extremely unlikely end of the publishing spectrum.
I quit my medical career to follow my passion for literature and linguistics, not just writing but in general. When I quit med school, I received a lot of comments from other friends that were doing something they didn't want because their dream and passion wasn't well paid, specially here in Mexico, and loved the idea that I was "freeing" myself, so to speak. They wanted to do something similar but couldn't for a lot of different reasons.
But I also received so many coments about how I was wasting my potential and making a mistake. To be completely honest, I feel like I made the best decision of my life, because, as you mentioned, it was a constant struggle for me to do something that I wasn't passionate about just because it was better seen socially, and the money was better. Waking up to go to school and study until I couldn't be awake anymore would've been great if medicine was my passion, but it wasn't.
And like you with the corporate world, I'm not saying a medical career is an awful idea in general, it just wasn't for me. I'm well aware that it's a lot of people's dream, and I hope they become great doctors.
From what I can tell, all good changes come with a constant struggle. Maybe it's uncertainty, maybe it's giving up the idea that you'll be as well paid as a doctor, maybe is living with the stigma of not having a "formal job" or because you live with your parents. But, also, now I live happily and far away from unhealthy habits that an unwanted life made me create.
As always, love watching you! Also, that's also not the reason why I watch authortube so I'm confused lol
I have a similar story. I left a doctoral program and had a similar experience.
Kate, I'm not done with the video yet, but, you don't having your book out doesn't stress me! It's the opposite! It calms me down and it shows me that writing and publishing a book takes time, deliberate effort, that there're failures and small victories on the way. I would say you stress me out only when you write so fast and work so much, because I feel bad then. I suffer from clinical depression and I can't write more than 5000 words a month without failing at my part-time job. So please don't speed up :D Take care - you're great!
School starts in 10 minutes and I'm watching a video. It's the first day.
Same for me lol
Have a good first day guys!
Good luck! Have a good first day
Hope you had a lovely first day
It went well for me. Just drained me a lot.
I spent my 20s chasing degrees not knowing what I really wanted to do.My main hobbies were writing short stories and journal entries but felt that I wasn't good enough be a published author. I only went to college straight out of high school because it was what my parents wanted. My sophomore year I decided to become a translator/foreign language editor. I loved watching foreign films and learning new languages. I never found a job as an editor after graduating so I went to graduate school with the idea of becoming a technical writer and freelance translator. I hated everything about my program, the professors, classmates, and assignments. I didn't want to admit that this wasn't working out and that once again I had failed. I wasted so much time and money working towards nothing. During this time, I was in horrible hit and run on the interstate in the middle of the night. Now I found myself living in my parent's house with no job, no car, no money to buy a car, debt, fear of being in a vehicle, no desire to do anything. I spent most of my day sleeping and would wake up a few hours before my parents arrived to cook them dinner and do a few chores. My father retired and started a new business during the same time. At first he was doing everything himself and realized that he needed help. My mother didn't really understand how to do any of the computer work and my father asked me to do. Now that I had something to do everyday I had a reason to be awake in the morning. I felt normal again and my physical pain from laying down all day disappeared. I started watching UA-cam videos to learn how to properly create/improve the documents my father needed to keep track of inventory and other business related items. I also had teach myself to troubleshoot our computers. This sparked my interest in computers and watched hours of videos on how to code. I decided to take an online class at my local university and later went on to take in person classes and finished my computer science degree and have been working in the field for five years now. My foreign language degree hasn't gone to waste because I've only worked at international companies and have speak Spanish and French on a daily basis.
I left a very well paid corporate job to pursue my dream of being a software developer. A lot of people were against it, tried to make me feel bad for leaving a good job at a well known big employer. But little did they know I hated it there, spend my time hiding and crying in the bathroom. For a year I lived, like you Kate, from my savings and focused on what I really wanted to do, which was learning to code and building a career I would love. After 9 months of intense studying and doing other things I deeply love, which is writing Fiction, as a sort of balance, I actually landed a job as a web developer starting this October. Sometimes you just have to take a leap and go all in.
I wish you all the best and hope you will eventually reach your main goals and succeed because that is what every brave person deserves. And do not listen to haters or people who doubt you for something they would not have the guts to do :D
You were so brave, but you had a plan! I had no plan. Transitioning to being an author was more like a smack in the head. I began writing as part of my language recovery after I had a catastrophic stroke. I was working as a rural post master, as in the only employee at my post office and floating to other single person offices, running a farm with a dozen milk goats and poultry, huge gardens for canning, Volunteer work, School volunteer mom, and church choir director. I had a headache in April, not unusual because allergies happen, went to the bus stop 4 miles from our house and my kids found me. I had zero risk factors but I did have a large bruise on my leg and a deep clot that moved. I lost everything but my life and family that day. I have always been super creative, Art Minor in college but also an anthropology minor because I love people. You don't realize how much language you use until you literally have none, and you can't make the words you want come out of your mouth of fingertips. My Occupational Therapist suggested I start writing (and so much reading) to get my words back. That was when we discovered the the damage affected my short to long term memory path. But I quickly figured out that writing and reading things stored them in my rote memory, so while I still struggle with experience memory, I have a way to remember and function mostly normally. The physical stuff still creates problems but it too is manageable. Still disabled but I have gone from less than five thousand words expressible to over a million words written since the first that started my writer journey. A cute story I wrote with the help of my girls, as a way to spend time them when I couldn't move much, based on their favorite youtube let's play. I how have 4 books on Amazon, one with an indie publishing house, and stories on many free platforms like Wattpad and Inkitt.
Quit my job in psychiatric nursing in my 50's and wrote two novels and published a book of short stories in the five years I took off (thanks to my wife). I lived the dream and loved every second. I went back to a part-time job two years ago and love it. I think you have the necessary energy to drive towards your goal. Some authors take six or seven years to produce their 'breakthrough novel', so don't lose heart. Good luck with the move and I think a lot of people will miss the dogs.
I come back to this video ever so often. only this time I’m on my way to the last day of work at my corporate job. 4:31 I’m doing it
AHHHH OMG!!! I'm so happy for you! Congratulations on this next chapter, I'm sending all the good vibes your way!!
The fact that you haven't published a book yet makes me like your channel MORE! Watching you pursue your dreams gives your content a sense of relatability, and the advice you give never comes off as preachy (which I think is so important, because honestly there's so many different paths to the same destination- as proven in your "write like" videos). I am beyond excited to read your work once it is published, and until then your videos serve as a constant source of inspiration for me... and many others! PS 5:52 - 6:12 had me laughing so hard
I started working from home a year ago (I was a manager at a coffee shop) and it was absolutely the best decision for me when it came to my mental health. I had moved back in with my parents and had the opportunity to save up and focus on my writing. Honestly, the only thing I don't like about my situation are the stigmas against this lifestyle. Seeing extended family especially gives me so much anxiety because I'm basically forced to explain myself and defend my choices. I don't know about other countries, but the US has such an awful habit of basing 'success' off of how people make money and where they live and that's the first question that they will ask about people as if that defines who they are. Seeing you being able to work for yourself and pursue your dreams is incredibly validating for me and I love that you are upfront and careful about your publishing plans. We need to normalize the non-traditional career paths and people need to learn that instant success isn't realistic, nor is it fair to hold people up to that standard.
Its not just the US, I can tell you that! But yay for your journey!
I definitely understand the feeling of being 'stuck' in a corporate job. Even doing something I thoroughly enjoy (software development), the idea of my time and energy being controlled by product release schedules and arbitrary team commitments has always been stifling. I have been fortunate that changing to a different company DID help my situation a lot. I still don't love holding a 9-to-5, but when you work for a company that respects and appreciates their employees' time, you have a lot less of the "not-technically-mandatory-but-highly-recommended-wink-wink-nudge-nudge" overtime hours that sound a lot like what you were experiencing at your corporate job. I still long for a bit more freedom, and maybe someday I'll make that leap, but I just wanted to mention it in case anyone else feels stuck and hopeless but can't afford to leave the corporate workforce. Finding a company that actively works to prevent burnout can make a huge difference.
Yes, it’s important to find a company which accepts that work is not your life and respects family and free time.
I try not to make any overtime, because I know my husband and toddler are waiting for me. Those are the ones I want to spend my life with, not my workplace.
I feel like you may not have a book out, but you're determined, and watching your thought process to keep going despite not having a book out or be financially "successful" is heaps motivating. Getting to see what you're up to has always been a delight so no unsubbing for me :D
I really appreciate this video because I did a similar yet opposite thing. I was teaching English and finishing up my PhD when I realized the amount of mental energy that job and life took would never allow me to pursue my fiction writing career, which I had wanted my whole life, so I left academia. And then I went into a deep depression for several years because I had wrapped up so much of my identity into that life that I didn’t know who I was without it. I’m still dealing with some of that depression now, but I’m a lot better. I also took an entry level corporate job that I knew would be low stress and provide me the stability I need so I can focus on my writing career, so that’s where I am now. And it’s hard sometimes because I left 5 years ago and I still don’t have the writing career and I sometimes fear that I never will and so then leaving academia behind was a mistake...but I try not to go there. So yeah. All that to say I appreciate your candidness and bravery to go after what you want. 💜
Laura, the challenge with academic life was for me, how utterly consuming it is. I'm so glad you're working at something that allows for stability but also brainspace to write. I started writing (after literally years/decades of wanting to be an author) earlier this year, and it's only because I have the brainspace after work. Your writing career will come - in fact, you are on that path now! You can do it! :)
I taught at a high school for a year, and I hated it. I had that experience of waking up in the morning and dreading work. The teaching wasn't so bad, but the administration was toxic, and then I got caught up in drama between other teachers - it was all a terrible mess. So I quit. I got a temp job working as a credit clerk, which became a permanent job. I'd made better money as a teacher, but it was a healthy work environment, and I looked forward to work every morning.
And then my boss told me about one of his friends whose daughter had gotten a job teaching English in Japan, and he encouraged me to take a chance on that. Six months later, I was living in Japan and enjoying the best job I have ever had. I also met my future husband. So, yeah, sometimes taking that leap and making a change is the best thing to do.
Sometimes. I'd be a lot further along in my writing career if I hadn't had a baby. I don't regret having her, and I've figured out how to write while being a homeschooling mom, but it took a lot of time. If things had gone differently, maybe I would've published my first book in 2015 instead of 2020. All I know is that I'm much happier now than when I was teaching at that high school 13 years ago.
TLDR: I think risks are sometimes necessary, but that doesn't mean they're going to pay off immediately. Life is a long haul, and there will be constant adjustments as you figure out what you need. I think you're doing fine, you don't need us to determine if you're making progress or not. Keep on keeping on. Hope the move is going smoothly!
Omg, I have a finance and economics degree! Yes, to all of this. I was at my corporate job for 10 years and let me tell you, it DOES NOT get better. IT 👏 DOES 👏 NOT 👏!!!!!! The promotions don’t make you happier either.
How is it going so far with the change? Im excited for you and subscribed to follow your journey. :P maybe a view, subscribe or like will help you out
SO TRUE.
I thought I wanted to be a teacher and went to college for it. I quickly realized it was not the career for me! Then I worked in insurance claims for 8 years and that wasn’t my passion either. (Very stressful, actually) Now I have my dream job as a library assistant and I love it! And it kind of goes well with me wanting to publish books too. I think I was meant to work with books. I’m glad you got out of the corporate job...I know the stress of being in a job you don’t like and when you reach that point, you got to get out if you can.
I've always wanted to be a writer. I've been writing since I was like eight years old but at some point after getting a "real" job, I got to a place where it felt like writing would always be a hobby. I never finished anything and I couldn't pick a project to stay focused in. And then I finished writing a novella a few years ago and after that, something clicked in my brain. I found my process and I found a project that I loved and finished writing a manuscript. And I know you said once you finish these things it's like unlocking that skill and that's true for me. All this to say, once I started finishing things, it made me sit down and go, "Hey, this is what I want to do forever and that's not something to shit on. Let's do it."
Maybe it's because of this year and a few personal tragedies, but it's started to weigh more and more on me that I want write full time. I'm burned out at my job and it doesn't make me happy, but I'm not financially ready to leave it. And it isn't a bad job, it gives me enough freedom to get writing done there when it's slow and I'm grateful to have a job, I'm just ready for this other thing. I might not ever fully quit a "standard" job, but going down to part time or variable is an option I want. I still have a long way to go but it's steadily going from dream to goal. Maybe putting this out here will make it more real.
Also, I love watching your videos and videos of other authortubers who haven't published yet because it feels like we're in the same journey, you know? We're at different parts of it and it's not the same, but we're in this together. It gives me hope. And there are so many things you talk about that I might have been thinking about and it's nice to go, "yes, yes, okay, we're on the same page, we're learning about these things together". For me, it makes the journey feel less lonely. Like I hope you'll eventually talk about how you plan to get your cover art for your books and the self-publishing aspect (or traditional publishing aspect) of your journey because those are things I think about and I want to know other people's experience. Like there's just something hopeful about seeing someone go before you, you know?
I'm looking forward to seeing your work published, that's something I really like about joining this community however recently, is that it feels like we're all rooting for each other and I love that the vibe is like, "I did it this way, here are my resources, here how it worked out. Go out and flourish or try this on your own."
Wow, this got really ranty and kind of sappy, but anyways, I clean up my bookshelves whenever I feel too restless or anxious and I need to declutter something. Usually fill it back up with more books a few weeks later lol.
I know others have said this, but everyone has their own journies and everyone takes time to get there. You're sharing your journey with us and giving us insight into what you've done that maybe didn't work or what you've done that does work and that's very helpful. It's also authentic. You don't sugarcoat or cover up what's going on, and that's helpful for people to see someone going through the same steps as they are.
Keep doing you, Kate. We're here for it!
UGH! Moving can totally bring up all the emotions. No shame! And also, congrats for going after what you want rather than 'doing the right things' according to somebunny ELSE. I'm here for it!
I feel like there are three types of people; people who thrive in corporate or "traditional" workplaces, people who can stick it out despite feeling unfulfilled, and people who feel like they're dying and need to get out.
I essentially haven't worked for nearly two years and I used to be in a job that honestly felt like it was sucking out my soul every day I was there. I ended up leaving long before my rational brain would normally let me but by that time it was daily panic attacks and seriously declining mental health that pushed me to finally quit. And honestly the day I handed in my two weeks notice was the day I felt like I could breathe again. Two years later I still haven't published a book, but I don't regret making the decision to bet on myself and my ability.
hi kate im not sure if you will ever see this but yes i have had a life change what feels like a million years ago and its been very negatively affected me. i went through a lot of hell and im still on that journey to find home again. my writing has expanded before my move and its been growing but i feel like all the ways it could have been as i miss my old life so very dearly. my mental health overall has fluctuated and it will never been the same again and i've been working through the fear of touching my old stories as i don't want to 'ruin' them with my current self which is a horrible train of thought. But it was writing that got me into a beautiful safe place and i believe it can bring me to a home once again.
I recently quit my job in furniture sales to become a freelance writer. I have an MA in literature and felt like my career was going in completely the wrong direction. I was underpaid and underappreciated and I realised I had to get out now before I had financial responsibilities like a mortgage or children that would keep me stuck. It's been just over a week and I already feel like it was the best decision. I'm far from building my career and the pressure of knowing I'm now fully in control of whether I make money or not is both scary and exciting.
to all the people saying watching kate stresses you out because YOU can't see her progress is so baffling and completely rubbish. since when did the productivity of a writer become their self worth? people we love kate and her pupperoni and we support her writing journey. the rest can leave thank you very much. I mean how could you not love kate? She's a ray of sunshine who writes!
I worked in an office job that I absolutely despised and got extremely depressed commuting there (1.5 hours each way). So much relief getting to move on to something in my field and in an environment that was less sterile and corporate. If you can take the risk, so worth moving on to something else! My philosophy is that YOU should come first over work. Our working lives should not define our lives in totality.
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.
I knew there was a reason you were my favorite Booktuber I just couldn't express why in words. Now it all makes sense. 🙀
As someone currently working a corporate job that leaves me feeling like a single tiny screw in a giant machine, I feel like I really really need this. 😅😭 It's so scary to leave.
It really is! And you need to figure out the right time for you and the right safety net too. But Kate is so so right when she says - it will only get worse the higher up you get. It's harder to walk away from a 150K / year job, and its also more difficult to avoid the company taking over your life when they are paying you that much :D
Honestly, I love your videos because it's about the PROCESS, and it feels relatable because I feel like writing fiction is a long-term process.
This is my favorite video of yours. Thank you for being transparent; it’s very hard to answer hard questions. I would’ve not been able to do that myself as a prideful person. I realize that I’m human too and it’s okay to have a break and not have a lot of “accomplishments” on the field we choose to transfer at some point in our lives after getting invested in another. The path and milestones are different for each person, and that’s okay.
Plus I love the editing for the moving. My family have always moved from one place to another since childhood. It’s nostalgic in a way.
I wish you a lot of happiness and success ✨ I know you are a great author as you have inspired a lot of us here!
I quit my full time job and found a part time one, because of so unhappy and stressed I was getting while at work. I've always loved the idea of being a free-lance writer, but just don't have the courage or belief (in my skill,) to actually go for it. Thanks for being so open and honest about this. I love your chatty videos, and will happily follow your journey until you achieve your goals!
I like that you are waiting to publish--really working on your craft. You've influenced me to slow down and build my craft before I try to publish, and I think that has been really healthy for me. And by "slow down" I don't mean "stop writing." I mean, developing a style, a voice, and a technique.
I quit my job and live with my parents as well. My writing goals are still there and I am still not published... I am right there with you!
I just stopped college... I quit so sick and tired of my degree. It felt so good to stop, I started chasing my dreams and I am now happy with what I have going on ^^ no one commented, they know me too Well ^^ I am so happy you listen to your intuition ! I am just happy to see you grow as a person and learn I don't need results ^^
I have watched several of your videos and did not know you had not published a book yet. It's fine and I learn a lot from you. I have worked as a news reporter in my hometown for the past 20 years and I cannot begin to tell you how burned out I am. This video really helped me to put things in perspective and it is definitely time to start making some changes so that I can get my author/writing business off the ground completely! Thanks, Kate!!
Omg!!!! Love your channel and this video! I quit my job at post office. It was the most draining job I’ve ever experienced. I invested 7 years!!! The day i walked in and handed my 2 weeks, i felt like i lost 10 pounds. Now I’m on journey to figure out what I’m meant to do. I know I’m creative, love to write.. i just need to combine all that LOL. I’m blessed because my husband works, but i love your hustle! ❤️❤️
I wouldn't say I have a corporate job, but I went to college to get my degree and worked in Healthcare for almost 7 years. And now, I just dropped to part time to focus on writing and doing the things I love. Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but the burnout is strong! I'm ready to put that behind me.
I think its fantastic that you made the leap. It inspired me to do the same!
I'm a college student in my last semester and I'm lucky to be able to live with my parents and know that I want to go into writing immediately. It's honestly such a blessing that I changed my major half way through college from global affairs to a bachelor's of fine arts in creative writing. There are a lot of older ppl in my classes that say they decided to go back and get their degree in creative writing because they realized their degrees and jobs weren't what they wanted. It's so important to listen to your passion because even if you go with the degree that is higher paying, you might end up like them and want to go back to school and have to chuck out more money.
One of your discussion goals got me thinking. My writing goals used to be about publishing (I never have) but over time they morphed into writing for my own pleasure. Perhaps I will publish but I don't put that pressure on myself anymore. This mindset change was extremely positive for me.
i thought i was the only one who quitting job for writting. i got same struggle like you and im 23 years old, working for 4 years since i graduated from vocational school, i have family finance problem which is, i help my mom for working, but it's so nice since i know you and maybe other people not give up on their dream. i have a book published before, but yet not very popular and i never have the royalty because my book is not that much people buy it. so yeah, i kinda start again from 0. i hope, we always enjoy anything what we want to achieve for real. especially what dream life that we want to take!^^ thank you for sharing Kate!
You’re awesome. I believe in going big or going home. Either put your entire heart into something, or don’t do it at all.
Ok, I feel like there's never going to be an appropriate video for this request so here it goes: Kate's hair braid tutorial! I've been using this braid style for a while but mine always look so weird and croocked and yours are ALWAYS PERFECT. 🙏🏻🥰
Keep kicking ass.
I too had a similar experience as you: working around the clock, always on call. The screws slowly tightened and my ability to execute began to deteriorate until I was working 80 to 100 hours per week. It was a vicious cycle and I learned to, for the most part, hate my field.
So I burned out and quit. I quit after many years of tolerating that unhealthy lifestyle. Now I am semi-retired but DONE with the corporate life. I'm freelance editing, working on a novel, writing poetry and short stories, managing our little farm, building rustic furniture. I do a little bit of real estate agenting.
And my wife works, we have no kids, and no chronic illnesses-that certainly helps.
And now I sleep. I can finally read again. I had hardly read a thing in 15 years because I simply didn't have time. And I can experiment with different things which I never had time to do before. I write.
Most importantly, my marriage is far FAR healthier than it had been in the past.
Finances are interesting, but we are making do. Keep at what you are doing and if you haven't found it yet, you'll eventually find that equilibrium as well. Thanks for sharing this story.
Aww. I mostly watch your videos under the radar but I felt the need to comment today as I wanted to shout to the world and to you that you are MOST DEFINIITELY an author and that we love having you on Authortube. A lot of people under estimate the pressure we as authors feel to want to want until our book babies are perfect to us or until we complete writing our series before publishing so that they aren't left waiting very long after that nail biting cliffhanger. IT IS PERFECTLY OK TO TAKE YOUR TIME TO PUBLISH. A lot of major names in the publishing world has taken over a decade to write before publishing their debut and I'm sure no one would consider them any less of an author.
I currently do freelance writing as well as many other creative ventures and it can be hard to juggle the time sent on client jobs and our own projects. Especially since the reality is that we will make more money freelancing that publishing at least for the first few years of our publishing careers, and that's not being negative that's being realistic. I know that viewers are just excited to read your words and the ones that are true supporters will be there even if it takes you 3 more years (not saying you should wait that long lol but if you have to we'll be here). I hope your move went well and that you got there safely. Can't wait for the update :).
I’ve seen your channel as interesting and entertaining. As far as “an author-tuber who hasn’t published a book yet and therefore doesn’t qualify”, I beg to differ. I think showing your day to day enthusiasm, struggles, skill building, habit developing, etc, journey to be a very REAL LIFE depiction of the journey from not-a-published-author to a successfully-published-author. There is a benefit to learning from people who did it and are sharing what they went through. But there is also much to be gained by watching someone going through it in the present. I can tell you what is was like to be a military wife with three children. But what I tell you about the early years, now that they are 20, 17 & 14, will be very different than the conversations we would have had back then, in the moment. There is tremendous value in what you’re doing...showing us “the long game”, the dedication, experimentation, flexibility and self-discipline needed while maintaining your joy for the craft. Don’t let others judge you based upon their own timeline. In the words of Bill & Ted, “Write on, dude!”.
Yay for the big move! And I've always been curious on how you took that leap from corporate job and became a writer/creator job(s). Also, every time I see your blindfold in the background, I always think it looks like a bra XD XD
For a long time, I have felt that being productive (i.e., publishing, working, etc.) meant I was living. And that, if I didn't produce a novel or have a job or do something with the degree I attained that I was a failure and letting down my loved ones.
All in my head, of course, because more often than not, my family has tried to encourage me. So I understand you in that sense. I can only speak for myself, but learning to not equate or measure my value to the work I do or the book(s) I write has been a struggle. I am getting there. Quarantine only makes an already difficult time with anxiety and depression harder when it comes to all of this.
Like you, I have multiple projects going on at once (though I cannot work on more than one per day, so I bow to your time management skills!). Combine that with being a naturally slow typist and handwriter due to disability, I find it takes me months and sometimes years to get a novel done. Short stories and essays intrigue me for this reason, but until recently I hadn't thought much of focusing on them. I'm not sure why.
Anyway, I'm a bit rambly. I may make a video about this. Hm. Thanks for the video, Kate!
I had a similar experience (a little less drastic of a change)
I had worked in retail for 6 years full time and had completely lost my passion for writing and creating. I got to a similar point where I was burnt out and soo unhappy every day I went to work and one day a friend gave me a tarot reading that shifted my entire mindset. I knew I needed to start writing again because ultimately that’s my dream and I would never find happiness in the job I was in. so I saved up and found a new job with less hours where I could spend more time focusing on my passion.
I have never been happier! It was the best decision I ever made.
Love this topic. I don't think people understand how day jobs can encroach on so much of your life. And while I never tried to actually move up in companies because I knew I didn't want that, it's almost expected. Like, if you don't work all the overtime and go to the office happy hours, you're often seen as a bad employee.
I quit the corporate life and decided to teach at a university which gave me such a better schedule and allowed for writing time. But still, you're expected to be a mentor and work with student groups or appear at in-university networking events, even though literally all educators at a university have a ton of writing they have to do in order to keep their jobs. Since quitting and freelancing and making digital products, I've finally had a sense of balance and I haven't felt overextended.
All of this is to say that if you feel like you have no writing time, it's probably because you don't and you job doesn't want you to have it.
I really appreciate this video!
I'm pretty new to your channel, and authortube in general, but I've been spending more time watching writing videos.This really made me feel less alone, I'm working in a community college basically helping students enroll (majored in Creative Writing, yada yada), and while I wouldn't say I'm unhappy with the job.. before covid I just didn't have much of a life outside of it because I would work into the evening most days, and while I do have an internship with a literary agent which is fun, I just didn't want my full-time job to be something where I feel like I'm not growing/not excited about.
it helps to hear that someone around my age at one point wasn't satisfied either. i'm really happy for you that you're doing more of what you love now!!
I personally looooove that I have found your channel and you are not a fiction published author yet. Like duh I would love to see a your published fiction BUT it is sooo helpful to see your process of how you write. You legit start from scratch and show us what you work on and how you work on it. When i think of your channel and other people I watch who do a similar thing to you.. I don't think author tube. You are like a writer tube/ expiremental channel that i so appreciate.
I loved learning more about your past and your change... I get that people want to see progress from people they're watching, but I think it's just wishful thinking to think that it will just happen suddenly. Living more life will teach people that things definitely don't happen overnight (unless you're lucky enough to win the lottery), but for most people, it isn't overnight and most of the time "overnight success" looks like years of hard work that most people don't see. Keep it up! You're doing great!
Also, I've been unpacking boxes all weekend because we just moved to TX!! :). It's hot down here, y'all!!
I have definitely thought about writing full time but have not yet made the transition from my marketing job. I'm trying to be more intentional about spending my extra time outside of work on my creative work so that I can query before the end of the year like I had hoped to and can start moving in the direction of writing full time. Thanks for sharing Kate this was a very helpful video!
I find your transparency! Authenticity! And creativity so genuinely inspiring. I watch your content almost every day since I found you. I super support you and admire you!!
I wish I could quite to focus on writing but I have too many financial responsibilities at the moment. My partner has told me that he would support me if I wanted to make this jump, but I want to try and get more savings and pay down some debts. I didn't realise how much I wanted to be able to write and work for myself until I was furloughed earlier this year. I've made a decision that it will be the path I take at some point but when I think I have more freedom to be able to do it. It's great to see you being so honest about the ability that you could take this jump without having anything published, and it's kind of refreshing.
We can all agree that the corporate world in the US is broken. As much as I hear people from the US hating "socialism" and equalising it wrongly to "communism" , it makes me incredibly happy that Europe has fought for worker rights and those kind of situations are straight away illegal. Not that it is perfect, but I highly cringe with moments like Miranda in SATC asking to reduce her working week to 55h so she can be with her baby. I work 35 and it is a full time job with a really good pay and some occasional weekends or out of work hours ( always previously agreed and only if I am available for them )
We have all made major changes in our lives. I think you're brilliant and if anyone can make a success of your change in life you can. You got this Kate. :)
I had the exact same experience (burn out included) and during lockdown I realized I HAD to quit if I don’t want to fall in to depression. Now I’m happily a full time mom (thanks to my husband support) and we’re all so much happier!
I find there’s still a little bit of stigma around full time moms, at least here where I live in Italy, specially (as you said in your case too) if you have a degree and you’re “not using it”. Keep going and buona fortuna (good luck) 🍀
In 2015 I was “let go” from my position at a Home Health facility where I was a CNA for 10 YEARS!!!! taking care of the elderly. I was on my way to becoming a Registered nurse and wanted that on my resume. I cried and cried for weeks about the loss until a light bulb went off when I found NaNoWriMo that year....Writing had been my passion but I let it go as a sacrifice for my kids. But, without a job I was able to get my Master's in Business Management, write my stories, and work part-time at my current job (which is now full-time) as Teacher's Assistant. I now have the free time to write, an easier schedule, and LOTS of story ideas from the kids and things I see.
I'm blessed and YOU are blessed to be given the opportunities you have to do what you do. I'm inspired by you and will buy ALL your books WHEN you publish. PLEASE PUBLISH something for us to have a tangible part of you NOW with more inspiration behind it...maybe put all your "I wrote like" journey in book form. Or give us small chapter by chapter clips of your Project Death story! I JUST WANNA READ IT!!!
However or whenever you publish is YOUR right! I'm 40 with three kids and haven't published beyond Medium and my Blog BUT it's my JAM and I wouldn't quit it EVER again! Keep goin Girl!!!
(Hell, that's me in my pic icon with my FAVORITE author Jessica Brody and I NEVER believed it would happen! Up next is Stephen King! because us writers make shit up and then it becomes REAL!!!)
Kate, you are a breath of fresh air. I fell into a job I really loved while running from academia (because I thought I wanted to be a Lit professor... yeah). Now, after a while doing a really worthwhile job in 'industry', I'm back in academia-aligned work, which is ironically giving me the space to breathe and write, what I hope one day will be a novel some other people who are not related to me want to read. Gatekeepers of organic community like authortube make me antsy, because seeing people like you shows me I don't need to have a pub list of anything to create and be proud of the process (not just the physical 'I birthed a book' product). One day, I'll make some time to write as a primary income stream (of whatever shape that takes), but it is not this day.
Regarding the section where you talked about people challenging your ability to give advice. I find it a little presumptuous of random internet people that publishing and monetary gains are the mark of success in writing. Those things are nice, but not everyone can get there. It doesn't make their stories less worthy of existing. It also doesn't make the experience of their writers any less valuable. People have different goals and reasons for writing.
And honestly, your channel kicked my butt into proper planning of 2 novels I want to write and also taught me how to deal with hitting a brick wall with one of them.
Binge watching with my coffee right now 😂
UGH! The corporate jargon! My personal favorite is 'put that in the parking lot' :PPPPP I feel ya.
I just changed jobs to a part-time retail job and used a large (majority) chunk of my savings to buy my own little place so that I could quit my full-time job and have more time and energy to focus on writing. It's been so exciting, and I'm so grateful for everything that led me here to be able to do this!!!
This couldn't have come at a better time for me! I'm currently in a similar situation with my part-time job (not as big of a deal, I know), kinda debating going full-on freelance but, oh, the guilt is definitely there. Awesome to hear your story, Kate! Super interested on your take on non-fiction articles and querying!
This video resonated with me so much. I had a very very similar journey quitting my corporate job and coming home to write at my parents'. I still haven't cracked the 'make money from 5 channels' - have currently found 1 channel, but need to find more. On the plus side, finally finished my first draft of my first novel this year!!
Changing careers can really be stressful. I dropped out of med school to course journalism and to be a writer. My parents were very skeptical and upset at first but after sharing my aspirations with them and truly having a conversation with them about the topic, I feel like they finally see that my writing is not just a hobby and that I truly want to work in this field. They've started taking it more seriously. I'm already 21 so everyone seems to have these expectations of work from me. They expect to have everything figured it out and it's just not that simple, especially when you're planning to go into an artistic field.
I quit my corporate software job 8 months ago at age 29 with only nebulous plans for future income. I was fully burnt out. I'm currently trying to work on my "hodgepodging it together" income, but it took me about six months to even do anything productive, and so I'm basically making pennies right now.
But I have all my debts paid off though and a few years of savings, and my income needs once I run out are low enough where if I can work full time at Starbucks I'll be okay. But I would love to figure out how to cobble together income from creative work instead of doing that.
I used to work at a bank, and when I decided to quit to pursue a writing career, I felt terrified but also liberated at the same time. Eventually, after months of joggling and pitching scripts, I landed my first job as a screenwriter for mini tv series unexpectedly. I think that opportunity would not present itself if I were not honest with myself for wanting to be a full time writer and choice only to write for a living. You made the right decision, good luck.
Hi Kate! Love your content. I also had a big career switch. I used to own a martial arts school in Florida--it was my passion since I was a child--and at 28 ended up losing the business. I could blame it on the economy, but really I was just a horrible business man. But, after the depression and dread fell away, I decided to go back to college because I wasn't qualified for anything else...at 28, back to school. I feel old haha. Anyways, now I'm 34 and getting my MFA in creative writing in December, and I couldn't be happier (maybe I could, but I'm happy regardless).
I relate so much to what you said about job burnout. I used to dread going to my retail job in the summers while putting myself through university. I would cry in the car in the mornings and try to mentally prepare myself for 10 hours of customers treating me sub-human and never being able to sit down. Sometimes quitting is the best thing you can do for yourself for your physical and mental health. Thank God I only had to do that job 6 months at a time. Never going back. I'm so happy that you're in a happier situation now too. :)
I thoroughly enjoy watching your videos - informative and entertaining. I failed a college course a few years ago, and didn't really want to go back to work, or, more likely, back to unemployment. I asked my wife for her permission to write full time. She agreed. Since then, I have two published books, and am planning to write 1.5 million words over 2 years. It's not going well...
I can relate, My illuminating moment of clarity was in the middle of Graduate school. A Masters Swimming teammate recommended Christopher Moore's Fool & it helped eject me from my post graduate school slump. I was binging a few of his audiobooks this summer. We all need germination time. Getting the water & nutrition to sprout is never easy. Especially when said sprouts are in the creative pursuits.
At this ponit I can't quit my corporate job but Covid keeps putting my in lay off and with a very low salary. So, I will try to take the time to get back into writing at setting a schedule. Who knows, maybe I will find joy and the push I need to finally get some accountabiity and words on paper. Really happy to support you on Patreon, you always inspire me to write and I hope you achieve your goals soon.
One of my favorite things you do is your “I tried writing like...” series. It’s fun and inspiring to see writers try new things. Writing is complex and progress can be subjective. Might as well enjoy the journey :)
I realized recently that I am just now starting to live the dream I was having over 10 years ago. If dreams just sprung up over night there would be no question... people would be quitting jobs everywhere and living the dream job! But it takes years of hard work (and also working jobs that are not what we are wanting) before a pathway will open up. It's esp hard when you live your journey online and feel like you owe an explanation. I hope all the concern comes from a place of people wanting you to succeed. I am guessing its because they want to see that its possible to quit and immediately start living your life's goal. But I think the beauty of what you're doing here is showing the reality that it takes a while... sometimes 10 years like in my case... and a lot of hard work to even get things moving in the right direction. And honestly if I didn't have such an amazing support system I would still be doubting myself! Keep doing what you are doing Kate! We creatives have to be in it for the long haul ;)
This video is so good ! I totally understand your decision ! After graduating in international human rights law, I could not find a job, so I decided to move to Benin, in Africa, and I'm working for a small NGO ! Not making that much money but it's way enough in that country ! And I'm super happy there, so that was a win for me ! 😊
Thanks for saying that having savings and people around you makes that decision safer ! Although that's pure common sense, I know people that have quit their job and ended up more miserable because they have kids, and expenses to cover...
Love your work Kate !! ❤️
That's awesome. God bless you
You are absolutely killing it, Kate! You amaze me with all that you do, on top of providing writing, process, and productivity inspiration for tens of thousands of people on a regular basis. It's obvious that you could do anything that you set your mind to. I have no doubt that I'll get to read your books one day, but in the meantime, I'm so happy to follow along on your journey!
It is SO WEIRD to realize you're personally responsible. Not only daily schedule but life choices! I think it takes a while to sink in. Still learning!
This was surprisingly fun to watch.
I have been considering the career change myself, but my day job is as a college professor. So I get to teach my passion (writing) but in a political climate that is stifling. Plus, if you are teaching well, there is very little left in the creative tank for your own work.
I also have kids and responsibilities-and COVID is making it very difficult to “rock the boat” at the moment.
I have had some small press and literary magazine successes, but hope to make the push for an agent sometime before I turn 40.
It’s inspiring and a little anxiety inducing to watch your journey-but I am glad to see you making a go of it.
Very relatable. I also left my job this year, having saved up about a year's worth of expenses, with the intention of writing novels full-time and seeing if I can make any money at all that way.
In my case, this isn't the first time I've done something like this. Eight years, I walked away from another job (that time with a bank loan rather than savings) and moved abroad with no plan other than to take a teacher training course for a month and try to get teaching work.
That was tough, but it all worked out in the end and led to unexpected opportunities. Still though, I didn't end up where I REALLY wanted to be, doing what I REALLY wanted to do. So I'm flinging myself into the uknown yet again...
I'm working on a similar transition now. I'm a mobile groomer, worked so hard to get here. But my body is falling apart and it's not my dream. Writing has always been my dream. But the grooming world leaves no time to do it. Covid taught me to fight for the future I want and not let go. Hoping to begin backing up from my day job in 2021 and doing whatever writing jobs I can get my hands on. In addition to the books I have written/am writing of course.
I found my way here and watched. In my traditional work at a brick and mortar setting, I've done what I refer to as the 'jump off the cliff' several times. That is leaving a steady income without any idea of what was next. My dream from childhood has always been to make a living from my art. There have been more pauses to doing that while still creating art and having a massive internal crash where there was nothing left of the dream or much else either. It's been 13 years and now, like way too many people out there, it's time for reinvention amid uncertainty. For years the idea of working from home was appealingly but there were too many voices saying that thoes weren't real jobs and I stupidly listened rather than listening to what was left of my dream and trusting that it was possible to stitch together enough of an income to take care of bills and eat. Now, all thoes voices who told me I couldn't are gone. And one of the side dishes to the pandemic is that the whole arena of working from home is now emerging as a 'smart move' trying to figure the parts, streams of income, has become part of the journey to make the now very odd shaped dream of making a living from my art. Getting your dream blown up tends to reshape it as you work on healing it. I wrote this because you asked the question about any of us doing or ever having done. What I've learned is the dream calls and draws us in and through what looks like a dense wilderness some times to both teach and reshape us so we can bring a richness that might not have been there if the road had been simple or easy. It makes the dream better because we as creators, what ever the shade of art we are in, writing, visual art, music, cooking etc., so much deeper and richer.
I recently resigned from my full time teaching job (high school English and theatre) to pursue teaching at the community college level part time to allow myself the time to get serious about my writing. It was a hard decision to leave the safety net, but I was in that same situation where every day was getting worse. Now, it's just trying to get used to working from home and staying productive. My mental health has definitely taken a turn for the better since leaving. The hardest thing is still wanting things that the full time job would be able to pay for (wedding expenses, house) but not letting myself go back to an unhealthy environment and being okay with the necessary changes.
I am late to the game -- I'm so SO glad I found your channel Kate! Thank you so much for your honesty. This was so inspiring and I'm so excited to keep watching and following you on your journey!
I don't think of it as a "hodgepodge" way of making money, I think of it as "multiple streams of income", lol. For real though, as someone that's made more money on non-novel writing than novel writing (I don't have a published novel yet either) this real talk was so validating. It's like there's a disclaimer I have tack on when I talk about my writing, "I'm a writer, (Disclaimer: but not a published novelist)", "I get paid for my work sometimes, (Disclaimer: but that work wasn't a novel).". Thanks for opening up about this, it was so helpful and refreshing
My degree is in teaching (primary school). I loved being around the energy of youth and being able to help mold the future and help people. After I got my degree, I taught for a little while and found that it wasn't really for me. I did some education-adjacent things for a while but I still wasn't happy. It wasn't until a life-changing family emergency happened, that I just fell into freelance writing. I was hooked after that. It's still hard to deal with the stigma from not having a regular 9-to-5. I get anything from "I hear that so-and-so is hiring" (as if I don't make enough to pay bills, even though I do) to "Oh, I bet you can drop everything and do this favor for me." But despite all that, I still love what I do now and I wouldn't go back. It's healthier for me to have this career.
I feel like there are different ways that writers and authors progress. In the short time I've been watching your videos I've seen you progress from one part of the writing process to another. No matter when we get our books published, we're always progressing as writers, aren't we? We're becoming better writers, our writer/author voices evolve, we learn different techniques and try out new tenses and genres and and...
I too have worked in education in some form or another since graduating with my degree in Elementary Education, and have also discovered it’s just not for me. I’ve been substitute teaching for a while, but now with COVID I feel like I’m finally getting the push I need to leave education and make writing more of a priority. I would love to know a little bit about how you got started freelancing! What kind of writing you do, how you got started, etc. I am so overwhelmed and don’t know where to begin haha, but I’m also excited to start doing something new and more aligned with my passion for writing. ☺️❤️
@@EyesForYou21 My path to freelance was actually pretty lucky. It just fell in my lap while I was doing that education-adjacent job: a site coordinator for a before-after school program. My boyfriend at the time (husband now) got a call from his family that his grandparents needed live-in care. So we both dropped everything and went. While we were there, I had the opportunity to be able to look for freelance jobs and buff-up my resume while helping take care of his grandparents. We didn't have to pay for rent and food while we took care of his grandparents and kept their house clean and maintained.
I took small writing jobs here and there and soon enough, I had a pretty decent entry-level writing resume which helped me get bigger gigs. I definitely suggest building your resume while you're working a different job or if you're lucky and don't have to worry about paying rent. Like Kate was with her parents, or like I was when we were live-in care for Jake's grandparents.
@@j.devore That is such great advice! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me! 🤗 I will definitely get to work beefing up my resume.
After being too busy to watch videos, I'm back. This channel sure has grown a lot!
There's a reason I'm trying to be a technical writer or something related to writing, but not fiction. Expecting to have a writing job as a publisher of books as soon as I graduate, especially since it's covid and I'm graduating this December, is ludicrous. I've finally realized that, as long as I work in an environment that I like, I don't need to have a fiction job. I'm in retail now, but in a better job than before, and that's a good start. I do really want a job dealing with writing though. I love English, and I want to be able to use my skills in a way to help others. Even if that's just writing manuals. I want to live comfortably, and be able to provide for my S.O. That's good enough for me.
Your reasons for leaving your job sound very similar to my own. Like you said, it was that sort of 'Aha!' moment where you can just feel it in the pit of your gut that this is NOT what you want out of life, that dread every single morning, the weekend and after hours phone calls and knowing it's always going to be this way and people are always going to be stressed and upset and looking to your for answers when often there are none. It's absolutely soul-sucking and it took a few weeks of crying every day after work to realize that sometimes the money ISN'T worth it. Like you, I am extremely fortunate in that I have my husband who is very supportive in allowing me to stay home and work on my craft, but as I've only been doing this since April, I still struggle knowing that I am not financially contributing to the household (yet). I don't know how much longer I'll continue this for or if I will be searching for another job soon, but it definitely does help hearing the stories of other people and finding that relatability instead of feeling like I just couldn't hack it in the corporate world.
You're such an inspiration! Good luck with your books :) I havent been on UA-cam for a while so now I'm binge watching all of the videos I've missed :D Thanks for the amazing content
So I quit my job almost a year ago because of not only burn out but it was also a toxic situation. I too love the idea of writing full time, but I knew that I couldn’t realistically live like that. So quitting was so hard for me for that exact purpose. Instead, my husband and I moved into his parents house, I wrote a full novel, and found a different job (same career but different location) with a much better atmosphere and situation. (We also we’re able to move out of his parents place too after COVID restrictions eased up.)
I also recently joined Authortube and gave you a shout out in my last video! 🥰 Your channel really inspired me to share my own writing journey. I havent been published yet either and would love to someday. Feel free to check it out if you’d like.
I had a full-time job with a non-regular schedule and a 1.5 hour commute. It was the first time I wasn't writing regularly and I was absolutely miserable. Now I'm a part-time writing tutor and I write for the rest of my time and it's so much better!
I quit my corporate job because it was sapping the life out of me and I was genuinely being pushed toward homicidal rage :D Ha... ahem...
This video is quite inspiring. I find myself, as I'm sure many others do, stuck in a moment in time. Working a career that pays decently but still is not fulfilling. Being a writer is everything to me. I've already taken the first steps and wrote my first book, a children's book. Have had it edited and proofread professionally, and now I'm awaiting the illustrations to be done by an artist I hired. It's going quite great and I'm excited to see the finished result. I don't plan on becoming a children's author exclusively, I just had this story in my head for years on top of years. Now, I feel all of my stories are just ready to break themselves out of my head and it's driving me insane lol. Started working on my first novel while beginning to promote my children's book. Researching ways to create an alternate pen name effectively so I can always put out another children's book if I want while writing my other series.
I cannot wait to go along with you on your journey as I walk along on my own. Thank you for sharing.
The popular saying is: "Never have all your eggs in one basket," because if that one basket breaks, you're at square one with no other option.
That's why it's good to have six things that help you make money. Be it youtube, freelancing, ghostwriting, publishing or even having a part-time job in the corporate world.
I've hit the point of "I dread every day and have to make a change" multiple times in my life so far, and I've made the (terrifying) decision to stop everything else and pursue writing because I simply can't imagine living happily any other way. I'm hoping it'll work out, and I am riding on some significant privilege, without which I wouldn't be able to even attempt this.
Really appreciated this video. I watch individuals’ authortube channels because I enjoy watching their growth and progress in terms of personal development rather than any external or publishing ‘success’ and it’s a privilege to be able to watch yours!
As someone who’s currently having a bit of an aha moment myself it’s really comforting to know other people are succeeding in making their job something they really do enjoy (mainly because I think there’s a mindset that creative pursuits are never real achievable careers - everyone has writing a book on their bucket list or wants to be an actor, right?) I think there’s also a problem where you’re not encouraged to make the jump unless you’ve already got some level of success in what you’re jumping into which ignores just how difficult it might be to actually do that whilst working full time and commuting for a job that drains your energy...
Anyhow to be more positive, really enjoying your content and watching your journey to creativity 🌸
You rock, Kate! Thank you for sharing your experience.