I went and did something a little crazy.

As anyone who has been stopping by here probably knows I am trying to make it as a writer. The big dream right now is to get to a point where I can make a living (at a level that can support my family) writing fiction. The only problem with this? Until it happens it’s just not something I can plan on. Even if it does happen it’d probably be years before I could build a career up to a level where it could be my one and only job. And that’s probably a best case scenario!

This is a problem for me because I want to go home. I’m writing this post from my home here in South Korea where I’ve lived for going on eleven years now, but I am a Canadian, not a Korean. I’ve spent my entire adult life in Korea, but it’s getting time to go home. There are a lot of reasons for this but put simply, I miss my family, I miss my country and it’s culture, and I believe that growing up in Canada during his school years is better for my son. Sorry Korea, you’re a great country for a young man or woman, but for a child or teenager I believe Canada is the better choice.

So here’s the thing. Eleven years of EFL teaching experience means I could probably continue to get good work in the field for years and years to come, but there’s not much demand for that in Canada, and what there is either requires more education credentials than I have or doesn’t pay what I need. Besides, this was never supposed to be a career.

In considering my options I’ve decided to try and make writing work for me, but in a field I can control more of and can reasonably expect to make a living off of, if I put in the work. So yesterday I signed up for an online/distance education copywriting course. My hope is that I can use the next year to explore freelance copywriting as a viable career choice and build a practice that will let me move my family to Canada.

To be clear, this doesn’t mean I’m giving up on the fiction writing. It will continue to be what I consider my part-time job and it will continue to be the dream career, but copywriting will be the more grounded pursuit.

Now you can call me a father, husband, teacher, writer and student of copywriting. Good by free time, hello new challenge, hello future.