I used to have a lot of ideas about what I would do if I had all the time in the world. I even got a job where I could work 4 days a week and still have enough money to live on. But the job was rewarding, and I ended up not doing much in my 3 days off other than exploring (San Francisco Bay Area / California - so much to see!) Prior to getting that job, I was trying to start an internet-related company. I kept thinking I needed to learn a new programming language, and kept trying to learn more, but never actually got to a point where I felt I could do much with it. Oh sure, when the internet was first taking off, things didn't have to look slick. But then so many companies hired graphic designers, and from that point your site needed to be pretty slick or people wouldn't trust it. Now a lot of sites are filled with garbage because it's all about maximizing ad revenue.
One of the (full time) jobs I had was writing grant proposals for a non-profit. I did pretty well. But when the notion of doing that freelance came up, I just didn't have the heart for it. Because here's how professionals in that line work... First, you have to not really care whether the nonprofit is legit or a scam. Most of the legit nonprofits have in-house people to write their grant proposals, and they're doing ok. It's the ones that are struggling that need an outsider. So if they're legit and struggling - you feel bad charging them a high fee. But your time is worth the money, because they'll potentially get money. If they're not legit, you don't really want to work for them. But if you're freelance, you're a mercenary - you do it for whomever. And no one does it on a contingency fee - meaning - if you get money, I'll take a cut of it; that's a risky proposal. So the people doing it professional charge up front (usually pretty decent money).
I had a stretch off without work and was supported by my partner (though after we broke up she asked me for a chunk of money to cover her expenses). I wrote two novels - but they're crap. The first one I just needed to get all the autobiographical stuff out of my system - so it wasn't really a novel, it was mostly autobiographical. Portions of it are pretty good though - a friend of mine read the ending at an open mic night. The ending wasn't true, but it was gripping. The second was a real novel; it was futuristic, and though that was 20 years ago, it's still a potential futuristic reality. I didn't market it much because there are elements where I wanted to be anonymous as the author. I wouldn't call it fantastic - it's hard to judge your own work.
When I worked my day job, I also wrote technical manuals for them. I could potentially do that. But I quit the job and moved to Australia. The society over here seems more closed off to me. Where there were lots of jobs I could do in the US and lots of things I could see needed doing - here I don't have that sense at all. Society functions better here (for the most part), but it's also more boring and fewer opportunities. And based on some bad experiences, I feel like no one here wants to acknowledge that an American might be competent or know something - they copy a lot of stuff from the US, but then want to pretend that Australia is the greatest place on earth. In the US I've worked lots of odd office jobs - here an agency said they wouldn't even put me in an office job because I'm not an "office specialist". wth? I was an office manager in the US! They have a technical school certificate for everything. If you don't have a certificate, a lot of people have no concept that you might be able to handle something.
Someone said I should write a book about how I ended up in Australia; meeting my wife and making that decision. I finally started tapping the keys on that project. I'm trying to learn JAVA (to build some apps). I'm trying to learn to play the piano better (just for self-satisfaction). I have a bad habit of procrastinating on my own goals - I'm much better about helping other people or getting assigned projects done. That's why I'm writing this instead of studying the JAVA book. It's sad.
note: I've reached an age where I'm a little too young to retire, but I'm also too old to put up with a lot of bullshit and start over from the bottom. So I took my pension early - which isn't much money - and my wife is supporting me. I went back to the US and worked for six months, but that workplace had a lot of problems and high turnover, and after six months I came back to Australia to be with my wife.
