by Linda O Johnston
Do writers ever retire?
Oh, I know what retirement is. I used to be an attorney and practiced law for quite a few years. Most of that time, I was an in-house real estate attorney for Union Oil Company of California, but eventually Unocal wound down, selling off its assets. When I left, I continued to practice real estate law, primarily assisting other attorneys, but I never took on another actual job. And eventually, I allowed my law license to become officially inactive. Retirement of sorts.
I was writing all that time, and even before that. I started my first story as a kid and kept on going. Now, I’m no longer a kid, and I’m a retired attorney. But will I ever retire from writing?
Oh, I’ve slowed down some, but I still have a couple of deadlines to meet. And when I think about stopping, I remind myself that I’ve already been researching a new idea for quite a while and that keeps going. I kind of know where I’m going with it. And yes, it will require—what else?—more writing.
So, retirement? I doubt that will ever be on my schedule. I might get even slower, perhaps. Spend more time researching than writing. But there’s always a computer around, as well as my ideas.
How about you, other writers reading this? Are you slowing down? Will you ever retire?
The Writers in Residence 