The point about recruitment firms is very accurate. Although most of the recruiters have a lot of understanding when it comes to a contractor saying that they have other career passions, in the permanent market the response is awful. I had one guy I had to put up with for a year (because I got me the permission) telling me that I was wasting my time being a writer and desperately tried to convince me to abandon my dream.

A couple of weeks ago I was called about another permanent position and I was told I would have to put the writing to one side to “focus on a managament career”. I said, “I can’t. I’m reaching 1000 people a week!”

I think it’s worth it. I’m very lucky because I don’t have responsibilities beyond myself, I’m young and bloody-minded. But I’ve met many people – often younger than me – who won’t even start because they just say “What if I fail?” It makes me sad they’d rather tolerate a lifetime of disappointment because of the possibility of failure.