OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn
It's been a journey and I have learned a lot along the way … I've been sharing everything here since 2008 but here are some of the most important things I've learned.
First of all, looking back … what a difference 10 years makes!
On my 30th birthday, I was living in Auckland, New Zealand and newly divorced. The scuba diving business I had with my ex-husband, as well as our property investment was all gone, and I was back at my day job.
I was an IT consultant, implementing Accounts Payable systems into large corporates and small boutique companies (yawn!) – something I did from 1997 – 2011 in the end.
My two best friends were single at the time as well, so we hired a body painter and got glammed up. Cameras were clearly not as handy back then – no smart phones! – but the pics are still quite fun!
On my 40th birthday, I am happily married and living in London, England. I am a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author under J.F.Penn, with 6 novels and 3 novellas out in the ARKANE and London Psychic series, as well as a short story collection.
I also have 4 non-fiction books under Joanna Penn. I'm an award-winning creative entrepreneur, international professional speaker and this site, The Creative Penn, has been voted one of the top 10 sites for writers and self-publishers multiple times. My best friends are writers and I am part of a community of creative entrepreneurs worldwide.
I am incredibly grateful of the opportunities that have led me here, and thank you to all of you who have supported me on the journey.
So how did I make such a dramatic shift? Here's my lessons learned, in the hope they will help you too.
(1) Take 100% responsibility for your life
The first chapter, Take 100% responsibility for your life, still resonates with me.
I had what many would have seen as a successful life back then. I was earning very good money as a consultant, doing a high status job in one of the best cities of the world.
But I was empty inside.
That emptiness around my career remained even when I met a lovely man and moved to Australia. Which is when I read Jack's book and decided I had to make some changes.
I had originally decided to change careers way back in 2000 when I went traveling, but I kept ending up back in the same job. My exam results led to a degree at Oxford, which led to a consultancy job, which led into the work I did – seemingly without any real conscious choice. I had ‘fallen into' a job, as many do, and I needed to make a change.
Since then, I have changed direction several times – learning about blogging, online marketing, writing books, professional speaking and a lot more besides. But it all starts with deciding to take 100% responsibility, stop making excuses, stop blaming other people or your background or whatever and just start on whatever you really want to do with your life.
(2) Balance consumption with creation
- Make stuff instead of just buying stuff
- Write a book, don't just read books
- Or read a book and put it into action in concrete ways
- Record a podcast and not just listen to podcasts
- Record a video and not just watch videos
- Do an online course to learn something – and then immediately put it into practice and create something from those ideas
- Spend time creating instead of watching TV, or watch TV and then use those ideas in your own work. Steal like an artist as Austin Kleon says 🙂
We all NEED consumption as artists – we need to fill our creative well, and learn from other media – but if you record the hours you spend in consumption instead of production, you may see why you're not getting enough creative writing time in! Remembering this will help you turn your time into finished products.
(3) The magic of scalable income and intellectual property
- Discovering print on demand and realizing that I didn't have to pay for printing books. I could just upload digital files and Amazon would sell direct to customers. I didn't need to hold stock or do any shipping or pay in advance. That was amazing! (especially as I had just paid for 2000 print books, which mostly went in the landfill). Here's my video on that realization – it's 5 years old and pretty hilarious!
- The launch of Amazon Kindle and going digital as a reader. Realizing the potential of reaching readers globally through self-publishing to this new platform radically changed my business plans because the publisher was no longer necessary as middleman. I didn't have to ask permission anymore. I could just choose myself and give it a go. Here's another funny vid of me extolling the virtues of the first iteration of the international Kindle. You can see the packing boxes in the background as we were just about to move house in Australia. Again, it's pretty embarrassing but good to see how far I've come since then.
- Realizing that a book was not just one book. One manuscript can be turned into multiple streams of income through the exploitation of rights. Multiple formats, multiple country sales, multiple languages – and all possible as an indie author. When the penny drops, your head may explode! Read more on this idea here.
- Understanding that fiction doesn't age. Every story I write can sell for my lifetime and 70 years after I die according to copyright law. Stories touch people many years later, even generations later. Whereas I have to update my non-fiction every couple of years and I have withdrawn several since starting writing. Ditto for online courses, which date even faster. The best use of my time is therefore creating fiction. Here's a video of me talking about this realization.
(4) Beware the shadow career
He warns of the shadow career, which echoes our calling but entails no real risk. His example is,
“Are you getting your PhD in Elizabethan studies because you're afraid to write the tragedies and comedies that you know you have inside you?”
Everyone has their different version of a shadow career – and it is hard to face up to.
For me, the constant challenge is: Are you blogging and speaking about self-publishing and book marketing instead of writing the stories that will make an impact on the world?
The former is easier than the latter and it is easily justified.
I love to help other people, and I still make an income from this site, my non-fiction and professional speaking – and I love all of it to a point – but I need to constantly re-evaluate my time in order to create the things that really challenge me.
Does this challenge you? Do you have a shadow career?
(5) The Compound Effect works
The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy is a great book, even if the basic idea is quite obvious.
Essentially, little steps every day in the same direction will get you a very long way over time.
If you keep chopping and changing, and if you give up too soon, you may have nothing. But if you hold to your course, keep making consistent steps towards your goals every day, then you will achieve far more than you think is possible.
This might be 500 words every day on your book, which is 182,000 in a year, which is three thrillers or a couple of fantasy novel, or six romance novellas 🙂
It might be one blog post a week, making 52 by the end of the year. Or taking one photo a day and sharing it on Pinterest or Instagram or Facebook or Twitter, resulting in the beginnings of a platform by the end of the year. It might be 10 mins meditation a day, leading to a calmer, happier life.
It might be reading 10 pages a day of life-changing books – which has made a huge difference in my life, that's for sure! You can find more of my recommended books for writers here.
I am evidence of this principle working in practice.
On my 30th birthday, I had no books, and no inkling of even writing one.
I had no website, no blog, no social media, no email list. I knew nothing about publishing or marketing. I didn't know that I would end up here by 40. I DID have a desire to change my life, and I was willing to take massive action.
It was 3.5 years from the photo at the top of the page to when I started this site in Dec 2008. It was 6 years until I gave up IT consulting forever to become a full-time author entrepreneur. That may seem like a lot of time, or no time at all. But the point is, it can be done.
If you feel unhappy with where you are now, you CAN change things.
In this new world of creative opportunity online, you are empowered to write, to publish, to create, to reach readers directly, to make money online through a myriad of opportunities.
The only thing stopping you is you.
As for me, well, I have plenty of plans for the next 10 years. I hope you will join me for the ride!
Please do let me know what you think in the comments below. I'd love to hear about your journey and lessons learned along the way.
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1 2 3 … 7 Next »Wonderful post. I have been working at building something in self-publishing for a while. It is great to see that you have built something successful through a combination of hard work and a smart approach. I have a few years to go till I turn 40 (though not many!) but I plan to carry on with it, success or not, because I love doing it.
Thank you for such a positive and inspiring post and I wish you every success. :)
Thanks Toby - the years fly by, that's for sure :) All the best with your creative work too.
Generous post, Joanna. I love Steven Pressfield's books on writing and worry about the shadow career thing all the time. I dream about being a fiction writer, but non-fiction has been in my blood since forever (mostly in the business world). Hard to say on any given day which is my true calling.
I know what you mean Michael, and I struggle with this too. I have another post coming on Plato's chariot with the two horses that need to pull together. I love non-fiction too and always wanted to be a self-help speaker, but my shadow side needs the darker creation aspect. Tough to balance - and probably we will never manage equilibrium for more than a few hours! But as long as we keep creating on both sides, that's all good.
Thanks, Joanna, I'm working both sides, and on good days woking on one informs my craft on the other :-)
Just gave me food for thought. I spend too much time on social media, blogging and publishing on LinkedIn, I think, instead of giving enough time to my what should be my primary target: writing my book.
It's hard to get the balance right - hence the emphasis on consumption vs production. Anything social media related will disappear - our production time must be used for what will last, perhaps?
Belated Happy Birthday!
Lovely post. You are an inspiration to those who are stuck and want to make changes in their life.
I have overdosed on your podcasts again, and you have given me back my motivation to move on past the first (crappy) draft! My second draft will be finished this weekend. I had stalled just before Christmas and let work, and other excuses, get in the way. Re-listening to your podcasts, with your boundless enthusiasm has got me back on track.
This will be the year I self-publish - after editors, proof readers, beta readers....... !
I will be going to the Friday crime writing day at CrimeFest in May. Looking forward to seeing you there (in a non-stalker way...!).
Heather
oh super - I will see you in Bristol then, Heather. And all the best with your second draft ... and the third! Remember, it's making it better!
...and the fourth draft too! I've found an enthusiasm for editing/rewriting that I didn't have before. The change in mind-set makes a world of difference and I actually want to get to grips with character arcs and hunting out random changes of PoV and head-hopping.
Does this make me strange....?!
Happy birthday, Joanna!
My dear, you don't look a day over 30 (Maybe 20, but I haven't seen THAT pic). Hope your husband has been spoiling you rotten today, and you have an amazing evening planned for tonight! :-)
You've been a busy bee. I have four books out after two years, all of them fiction, and all of them short (my longest is just under 11k words). No series yet; maybe not ever. I'm not sure I'm that kind of writer, but we'll see.
I'm not too concerned, though - I have plenty of time to catch up to you (or at least, to catch up to where you are in 2015). It's very hypothetical right now, of course, but I'm actually not sure I would ever want to leave my day job. I love the coding - it kind of suits my personality just as much as my writing does, seeing as programming is also a very creative endeavour. Perhaps the solution would be to just seriously cut back on my hours, if/when I can one day afford it.
Oh well, plenty of time to decide that, as I said.
Really glad to see you've been doing so well. Hope you go from strength to strength. Here's to our respective writing careers! *clink* ;-)
P.S. You're exactly six years and eight days older than I am. Interesting - so where were you on your 35th birthday?
Hi Graham,
You don't need to leave your day job - and in fact, if you like it, you should stay with it. I'm an author entrepreneur - not a fulltime author - mixing pro speaking and internet business with writing books. Programming is definitely massively creative - my husband is a coder too and loves it. Keep both and keep your personality happy!
In 2010, I was living in Brisbane, Australia and this site was just over a year old - and funny you should ask - I just looked and found this post on lessons learned by my 35th birthday
http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2010/03/11/on-writing-and-creativity-lessons-learned-by-my-35th-birthday/
I was a third of the way through the first novel and learning all about the craft of fiction. Thanks for reminding me of that :) Blogging is so awesome for capturing these moments we forget about. You can also see how I have moved on in terms of openness and sharing more honestly. The post at 35 is a little guarded.
Thank you for the affirmation! Yeah, about keeping my day job - I can see myself doing it, even one day when I'm big (as we say in South Africa), but I can also see time becoming more and more of an issue.
Wow, what a blast from the past, from back in 2010. That post is definitely still useful for someone at the stage I am now, in my writing. Sure, it's a bit guarded, but I think there will always be an element of that. Besides, blog posts are different to books. I'm not sure why, but I'm far less guarded in my books than my blog posts as well. Different audiences, I guess. Maybe people expect to feel immersed in a book that they've paid money for, and they don't particularly care about the author's person feelings or whatever. Blog posts are much more easily (and quickly) consumed, and have a much more personal feel to them - so people are more likely to equate what you say on your blog to who you actually are as a person.
Anyway, look at me, I'm rambling. Hope you had a great day yesterday! :-)
A fantastic post - inspirational as always.
Happy belated birthday! Congratulations on all your success. Pushing forwards - sometimes at snail's pace - can be hard. But when you pause and look back, it is amazing to see how far you have come and where the journey has led you. Certainly its never where you expected! Here's to many more fantastic years ahead for you - now doing what makes you happy. :-)
Meg
Thanks Meg - and yes, it's only be looking at the retrospective that we see how far we have come - for me, it's measured in thousands of miles as well as career change! But those little steps have to happen every day too.
Great, honest post, Joanna. Thank you for being so open about your process about getting there to here. It's so great that you have stuck with your goals and reshaping your life. As someone who started out in entertainment and left that for 16 years in corporate IT, I have longed to find a way back to express and control my creative output. I've tried a lot of different ways over the years, but I feel independent publishing will finally get me where I want to go.
Your guidance and generosity has helped pave my way toward my dreams. I can't wait to see where I am in ten years. :) I hope to have achieved as much as you!
Hi Pete - I definitely think getting out of IT is a good way to go - although of course, we do a LOT of IT as authors these days - just in a different way!
Yes we do. And project management. And cost analysis. And trouble-shooting. I guess I'll never leave IT - haha.
Thank you so much for sharing these thoughtful life and business lessons, Joanna. As someone who is hoping to be a full-time creative entrepreneur one day, I am extremely grateful for those creatives, like you, who impart such wisdom. It's truly inspirational to see how much you have accomplished over the last decade!
By the way--happy belated birthday! I actually had a birthday yesterday as well (23), and I intend to be a full time author entrepreneur by age 30. I have a LONG way to go, but seeing stories like yours show me it's attainable!
Go for it Kate! When I was 23, there was no way to make a living online as we can these days - so you are exactly the right stage! Just keep going in the same direction!
Wow, that concept of the shadow career is just what I needed to hear. I've been telling myself, "It's just a practice book," and feeling miserable without acknowledging that it's not the direction I need to go in. Begin as you mean to go on - it's easy to let fear knock you sideways.
I'm going to check out the first book you mentioned. So often I get stuck after taking responsibility. It's down to me to succeed, but I don't know how.
Thank you for this post; I'll be 31 this year, and it's encouraging to hear from someone who's shifted careers and come out the other side still swinging for the fences.
Hang in there Michelle! and write what you love right now - life is too short to waste time on books you don't care enough about. In saying that, you will get better with subsequent books so the first book is often the practice book for everyone!
Great post. I hunted through our bookshelf and found the Jack Canton book so will be reading that next!
What you wrote about a shadow career got me thinking. I was going to go back to uni this year to study counseling, but realised that the main reason I wanted to was for a plan B. This is similar to the idea of a shadow career - and just as bad lol. I use the Batman analogy (when he's in the pit / cave): if there's no plan B, then you have to make plan A (writing) work no matter what.