Timothy Egnass: An Up and Coming Freelance Writer in the Greater Grand Rapids Area

By: Amy Holmes and Amy Westrick

The light elevator music filled the air as we sat awaiting the arrival of our interviewee at a local restaurant. As he entered the room, Timothy Egnass casually walked toward our booth with a friendly smile.

Upon first glace, Timothy was your everyday kind of guy: a husband, a father of two, and a football coach. Upon meeting Timothy, we were delighted by his down-to-earth mentality, his sense of humor, and his incredible means of creativity. As we sat down to a few tall glasses of Coca-Cola, we asked Timothy if he could tell us the story of how he came to be a freelance writer, and give us any advice.

What does Timothy do? Timothy recently entered into the world of independent freelance writing. He is currently working on many different projects, including an online magazine, four novels, and submitting numerous articles online.

“What brought about this change?” one might wonder when looking at Timothy. Why leave what was a steady job in finance consulting and start writing? Well, as soon as Timothy started talking with us, it was apparent that his love for writing had been pursuing him for a while. He realized when he was discouraged from writing a proposal with “flowery language,” that he wanted to do just that. “I cannot imagine not being able to write creatively,” said Timothy at one point, matter-of-factly.

What types of genres does Timothy excel in? There is no concrete answer to this question, because Timothy writes in many different arenas. It was very impressive to hear about the many projects he has going on right now all at the same time. Many of his projects are web-based, and he is the editor in chief of an online journal entitled “Abalone Moon.” Timothy contracts editors from all over the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and the United States, in order to find writers to submit to the online journal.

Also online he publishes sports articles, parenting articles, and an online series that is more or less a fictional soap opera in written form. Timothy is also in the process of writing four different novels. His “baby” right now is a creative novel that entails a computer who has its own attitudes and opinions. Timothy implied that he loves this novel because it is “fun.” He gets to create and go wild with the characters and the plot.

What is the typical day like in the life of a writer? When asked about his typical day, Timothy just laughed. There are no typical days in his job.

He is a stay at home dad since his change in profession. His mornings, he says, “Usually consist of Elmo’s World, Sesame Street, and bologna and cheese sandwiches.” His four-year-old daughter’s naptimes are the times that he takes advantage of by spending time on the phone with other editors and other writers. Night, however, is when he writes. He feels creative at night because it is dark and quiet, and there are no interruptions.

What is Timothy’s audience, and what is his style like? At this question, Timothy confessed that he has many different audiences and styles, and that it is a job in itself to keep them straight. Because he writes in so many different genres, he has to make sure that he has the audience straight in his head before writing. He describes his style as unique because he loves to create pictures in the reader’s mind. He loves reading Stephen King, although he has a style that is quite different.

What is Timothy’s writing process like? When asked about his idea source, he explained that there really are no sources for his ideas, and that he could see anything anywhere and start thinking to himself, “That would work!”

Timothy said that one of the most important skills that you could have when writing is bringing the readers into what you are doing, and making them think that the plotline was all planned out from the beginning. Timothy confessed that normally this is not the case in his writing process. “I never know any more than the reader does,” he conveyed.

Timothy’s words of wisdom for future writers are these: “It’s a tough market out there. Everyone wants writers to work for free, and you will have to for a while. You need to think about how fast you need money, and then think about whether or not you can jump into writing as a full-time profession. Also, remember that you’re not established until people are calling you.” This advice is coming from a man who is now becoming an established freelance writer in the Grand Rapids area.

What has Timothy’s greatest struggle been as a creative writer? Timothy expressed that his greatest challenge has been maintaining creativity and developing ideas. It would be extremely hard to know that your profession depended on the fact that you could be creative every single day without fail. He said that “Even when you have the end in site, it’s getting there,” that’s hard. It has been challenging to continue to create pieces that people want to read. Timothy, however, has risen to this challenge, and continues to excel in his writing, and is beginning to make a name for himself in the greater Grand Rapids area.