I’ve been freelancing and ghostwriting for ten months now. This is what I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid, even if I didn’t know the specifics of how it’d work. I had a vision of me sitting at a desk, writing, and supporting myself that way. I didn’t know what I’d be writing or who for, but it’s come to fruition and I couldn’t be happier.

I spend my days researching interesting topics, many I’ve never given much thought to, so I can write about them. This satisfies my need to learn. I don’t get bored because every day is something different. I’m someone who regularly goes down research and Wikipedia rabbit holes, so doing it for a purpose (and getting paid) hits the spot.

I balance daily work with bigger projects lasting two weeks or longer. I get to really immerse myself in this research and work closely with clients without focusing on the quick turnaround. Basically, I’m getting the best of both worlds.

My creative writing, however, has been pushed to the back burner. I’m writing at least 5,000 words a day for work, so when I stop, I usually just veg out with a book or random thoughts. I make notes about story ideas and things I’d like to write eventually, when I find time.

That time is now. I’ve decided to kick off summer by prioritizing my personal writing. It starts next week with #1000wordsofsummer with Jami Attenberg. It runs for two weeks and a Slack channel is set up for accountability and inspiration.

After that, I’ll take a week-long course with Nancy Stohlman. Her book was one of the first I read with my recent return to writing, specifically flash fiction. I’ve been writing at Lightning Flash every weekday (6 days a week in April) for four months now. I’ve even submitted to five places in the past two months. Not an astonishing feat, but I haven’t submitted since 2011, so it’s definitely something.

I look forward to prioritizing creative writing for the month of June, and then hopefully being able to find a balance between paid work and creative work for the rest of the year. I have some goals I’d like to meet, and marking goals off of my list has always been a great motivator for me.