Crap, I just realized there were responses!
@Writer_Girl, yes your spatter was helpful! I am in the middle of trying to diversify my writing income as we speak. I work with one publisher, and they've been great (my work with them accounts for pretty much all of my writing income thus far), but I want to find new/more readers so I'm working with a new publisher as well to try to get my name out in front of a different audience. I also make small amounts on Patreon, and with merchandising, etc.
I'm still grinding away at my day job, and I had set a goal of reaching $300K net worth and then re-assessing whether I should go to PT at my law job and write FT. But, I realize that house value/equity doesn't really mean much if you aren't going to move, so to be more conservative, I might chance my goals to: 1) saving up $250K stache, 2) paying off all debt, including mortgage, and 3) saving up $50K in cash, all while keeping my writing business growing for the next 2-3 years. That would have us at around $500K net worth ($250K investments, $200K house, $50K cash). And so we wouldn't be rich, we might be stable enough, with reduced expenses (no mortgage), to let me chase the FT writer dream.
@RoadRunner, I'm not sure that I'm cut out for technical writing. I mean, I write plenty in my law job, and I sorta enjoy writing briefs, etc., but I don't think I'd enjoy writing engineering stuff. And really I want to pursue purely creative/fiction work, meaning that I write stories that pop into my head. That's where I get the rush, writing what I want when I want how I want (while still considering market forces, etc., obviously).
@FreelanceToFreedom, Much like with above, I'm not sure how much I would enjoy writing on spec. Who knows, maybe I'd enjoy it? I'd like writing about law issues, and travel, and personal finance, things that interest me. Maybe it's something to look into down the road. For now, I feel like I have too much to do just juggling full time law and part time writing. 60 hours per week is all I can work and still enjoy my life. Now would I eventually like to shift to PT law work?? Absolutely! That's sorta my plan; to flip flop my time from 2/3 law, 1/3 writing, to 1/3 law, 2/3 writing. But I need to save up a lot more money before doing that (see above).