As someone who did the opposite (and as writers go, I was “successful” — I reached the six figure mark and everything), I’m not going to say “don’t do this” — because that’s unfairly glib, but I would say to consider your options.
I’ve found that my skills as a writer and editor (and being good at communications in general), are valued much more in my current job (I work in DevRel and intersect engineering and product) than I ever expected.
Rather than leaving tech to turn to writing, perhaps you could find opportunities in your current job to write. Even something as seemingly benign as documentation is something! (And in truth, we need more good writers and editors working on documentation. It’s not sexy but it impacts so many people and often the difference between good and bad documentation is the ability of the writer/editor.)
I’m also a big fan of scratching my creative itch with side-projects and then seeing if that passion leads you to wanting to do something full time. That’s what led me to professional writing to begin with.
Rather than leaving tech to turn to writing, perhaps you could find opportunities in your current job to write. Even something as seemingly benign as documentation is something! (And in truth, we need more good writers and editors working on documentation. It’s not sexy but it impacts so many people and often the difference between good and bad documentation is the ability of the writer/editor.)
Great advice! I'd take it a step further: we need more good writers working on the documentation that's needed before the code is written. Call it Business Requirements, Functional Specs, Technical Specs, Stories, or whatever, almost everyone sucks at it and almost every project suffers by the lack of it. No one reads documentation written after the fact (it's not sexy), but projects are saved and careers are made by those who can write anything that helps the people actually building the software. I may be a little weird, but I think that's very sexy.
100% this. There are a lot of opportunities for creative work in content marketing, devrel, and so forth. Writing, video, etc. Also a great way to bridge with doing if that’s your thing.
It’s obviously not the same as literary fiction, etc. But it can be a good gig. If you have some other particular interest do it as a hobby/sideline.
One downside is that you may not be credited but even that’s not always a given. I get a byline for most external things I write as part of my job.
I’ve found that my skills as a writer and editor (and being good at communications in general), are valued much more in my current job (I work in DevRel and intersect engineering and product) than I ever expected.
Rather than leaving tech to turn to writing, perhaps you could find opportunities in your current job to write. Even something as seemingly benign as documentation is something! (And in truth, we need more good writers and editors working on documentation. It’s not sexy but it impacts so many people and often the difference between good and bad documentation is the ability of the writer/editor.)
I’m also a big fan of scratching my creative itch with side-projects and then seeing if that passion leads you to wanting to do something full time. That’s what led me to professional writing to begin with.