In “making more monie”, it cannot be stressed enough the importance of marshaling resources, then tenaciously applying them to a goal. In this post – and in part two of it – these tactics are demonstrated by a very well-known writer and an almost equally-famous fighter.
In her mid-twenties, in the summer of 1990 during an extended train trip delay, J.K. Rowling ponders her lifelong desire to be a writer. While doing so, she hits upon a clear idea for a book, and fully commits to her goal. While working as a secretary for the Manchester Chamber of Commerce, she begins scribbling notes in the margins of her paperwork that will eventually become the Harry Potter series of books.
At the end of the 80’s, on New Year’s Eve 1990, her mother dies, seeing her face the upcoming decade and the rest of her life without her. Shortly thereafter, an advertisement leads Rowling to move to Porto, Portugal, to teach English as a foreign language at night while writing through the day. After 18 months there, she meets and marries a man who turns volatile, driving her and their newborn out of their home. The pair venture to her sister’s in Scotland, the first three chapters of her work in JK’s suitcase.
Upon arrival, her personal challenges cause her to see herself as a failure and the unemployed single mother sinks into clinical depression. Rather than succumbing to her demons though, she names them Dementors, and makes notes to introduce them into the series in book three. In July 1995, as poor as one can possibly be in modern Britain without being homeless, five years after that train delay, she completes the first book, much of it written in Edinburgh’s coffee houses while her baby slept in her tram beside her.
Many have suggested that she wrote in the cafés because they were warmer than her apartment. It is also said that it was on the blank sides of the welfare statements and other social assistance paperwork sent to her. Regardless, after making the commitment to be a writer, against all odds, she becomes one.
Knowing that authors of children’s books rarely “make more monie”, she begins a teacher training course as, at that point, she didn’t yet even have a publisher. As many now know, after being routinely rejected, and only upon agreeing to professionally use her initials publically, so her gender wouldn’t be initially known, she makes history, or perhaps better stated, “herstory”!
Disclaimer: The information contained herein should not be construed or considered professional advice. Nonetheless, thanks for reading! If it resonates, there’s “plenty more where that came from” on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube ‘n’ Twitter.