I'm a writer. I write technical manuals for a living, and prose (essays, blog entries, fiction) as an avocation. I know how to separate writing for pay and writing for the love of it.

I also write code, so I do know how intellectually intertwined coding and writing as pursuits can be; I also know that doing anything for pay can not and should not _ever_ be compared to creating a child. It's just offensive to everyone involved.

That said, here's the real takeaway from all this: I know my work (whether it's a UINavigationController or a chapter on configuring a firewall for port forwarding) is not a part of me; it's a gig.

I've known people who have quit their job because the company they worked for was dropping their manual from the documentation set. I mean, they were _so_ enamored with their work, they were willing to part ways over it. There are some I work with who refuse to write documentation for other products in other areas of their company, simply because they've "got a good thing going with that development team". I say, "who cares?"

If you can't (or won't) distance your emotions from the work you do for people, it's time to just do it all for yourself. Become a solopreneur working on solutions to problems and inefficiencies you see in the marketplace, like patio11 did in the bingo card industry. That'll be the only way you'll be truly free of self-confliction.

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