Fifteen years ago, I moved to the city in which I now reside thinking I was on my way (back) to New York and a writer’s paradise: coffeehouses on every corner and big publishers just a subway ride away, waiting for my novel.
But life in this almost city pulled me in. One year as a receptionist became a 14 -year career in administrative support–not what I had gone to school to study. And though I was able to have several writing projects, I found I had to make my own wiriting experience through freelance.
Now I feel in some major ways that I am back where I started 15 years ago: about to be thrown into the world with no tether, with a little plan and a lot of fear. Going down a sure road into another admin job means walking into a sure death–at least for my writing career, and that’s something I want to avoid. But not being able to see success scares me. How much do I want to use my “inner eye” to see my career path?
Now my vision is not coffeehouses in New York, instead it’s bistroes in San Francisco. It’s “retiring” in wine country, some successful novels under my belt and a lot of writing left to do. However, this time I’m going to have to focus on location success without seeing the path to it.