Writing Like Crazy

I am happy to report that since sharing my story in December about getting insurance writing contract work, that endeavor has continued to grow.  I have spoken with a handful of different people within the insurance industry who are putting together writing projects for me:  either outright contracts or collaborations that pay royalties.  I am doing the happy dance on a daily basis:  I'm writing every day AND getting paid for it!

Yes, I know, writing insurance isn't as exciting as writing about murder and mayhem but, until I hit the best seller list, it's paying the bills.  It also gives me a great deal of satisfaction to know that when I write an insurance education text or seminar, other people will be advancing their careers and broadening their knowledge base because I was not only able to explain a technical subject, I was able to do so in a far less boring manner than your typical insurance author/instructor.  (Thirty-five years in the business has provided me with LOTS of stories and real-life examples--aka fodder.)  If people are benefitting directly from the way I tell my insurance "stories," and it's helping them advance their careers and support their families, then I'm also doing good.

And, as my sister pointed out, all this insurance writing will accomplish two things:

1. The more insurance stuff I write, the better I get at my craft and the more it will improve my fiction writing.
2. The more insurance stuff I write, the more $$ I earn, the more financial security I have, the fewer things I have to worry about, the more relaxed I'll be when I'm writing my fiction, and the better that will be, so it'll sell faster OR earn more $$.

Do you sense a recurring theme here?

All humor and wisecracking aside, the best thing about all this is that I'm now working and paying the bills with my writing but it doesn't feel like I'm working.  I'm having fun and I'm living my dream.  There is not a single ounce of sarcasm in that italicized sentence, either, I really, really mean it.  I am living my dream:  writing and having the words I string together mean something [positive] to the people who read them.

(Oh, and making money doing it.  That validation makes me dizzy!)