How many frustrated writers are there out there (and other artistic types as well!) who've taken a day job just to pay the bills? If you're lucky, your day job will have some component of journalism or writing involved, and you'll at least be able to enjoy what you do between the hours of 9 and 5 (or midnight and 9, or 3 am till noon - whatever). And that's definitely not to say that all journalists or reporters or ad writers or copywriter are frustrated novelists, just hoping for the day when a better opportunity will come along. As a writer, I for one, have no burning desire to pen a novel! But - up until recently - I did fall into the "writer with a bill-paying day job" category.

I'd gotten into Journalism as a way to make a living (albeit quite a meager one!) as a type of "professional" writer. And for the first few years, I did just that. As a TV reporter, I got to tell people's stories, and write out exactly how I wanted those stories to go. While I was a newspaper reporter, I got much more experience with different types of short form writing - everything from newsy blurbs, to travel stories, to personality profiles. When I became a TV producer, I adopted a much more shortened form of writing - the pieces in my newscast that I wrote averaged between 20 and 45 seconds read-time. Then I went to work for a non-live cable TV station, and my writing requirements got cut drastically, till it got to the point that I wasn't even able to do what I got into the business to do!

Now, I was one of the "lucky ones" who happened to have a found a day job that I really liked. I'd fallen in love with live TV production and thrived off the energy, chaos and relationships that were a part of my everyday life on the job. When I went into cable news, and subsequently lost my writing responsibilities, I'd also stepped out of the live TV realm. These two things coupled together forced me to the realization that I wasn't really doing much of anything that I liked any more!

For a while I looked around for other jobs, then it dawned on me that I should "get back to my roots." That I should focus my efforts on writing, writing, writing. So I did. I'd be lying if I said it was easy to make the transition from 9-5er to self-employed writer - and the ins and outs of that are enough for another post on another day! - but it was worth it.

Sure, I had to take a lot of jobs at the beginning that I didn't really like (and sometimes I still do!), but I was my own boss, and I was writing. And I had enough good gigs to sustain me.

When and if you decide to take matters into your own hands is obviously up to you, and each person has a different "breaking point." But speaking as one writer to another, going into business for yourself - no matter when and how you choose to do it - is worth the freedom, creativity and autonomy in so many ways.

*alexis (www.10thfloorpr.com)