I’ve been a writer-editor for most of my career because imagining a life without creative work is impossible for me. Usually the editing work pays the bills and the creative work satisfies my need for expressing myself and exploring ideas I have about the world and how stories work.

Most of the writer-editors I know started off as writers and then wanted to use their skills to make more money, often so they can write what they want (a literary novel, perhaps) rather than what the market is willing to pay them for (“The Ten Best Mattresses of the Year!”).

The trick is to build editing skills and an editing business without sacrificing the writing. We edit to support our writing but the challenge, or one of them, is that there’s a significant learning curve in establishing a freelance editing business. That’s especially true if you already have a day job (or other time-intensive obligations, like young children).

The biggest stumbling block I see when I’m coaching writer-editors is that they want to plan and plan. Planning is fine! It makes sense to do prep work before you jump in. But you can’t know what will work for you until you try – what type of editorial, what type of creative, what type of schedule – because what works is different for everyone.

People get overly invested in having big splashy launches and having every slot in their calendar booked months in advance. But that’s not how this works, and it’s particularly not how it works when you’re first starting out.

As a matter-of-fact, it’s easier if you take baby steps at first because it’s easier to change direction when you realize you’re not going where you want to go. So, what’s a first baby step you can take today?

I’ve never met someone who started off as an editor and then decided to become a writer, though it’s possible and if it describes you I’d love to hear from you (jennifer@jenniferlawler.com)

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Jennifer Lawler has been a writer-editor for more than twenty-five years and has more than forty published novels and nonfiction books. She is the founder of the online education company Club Ed LLC