Well, this was quite a long time ago... I was in IT related work, but I was always good at writing, so I went to several temp agencies and let them know I'd gladly take short term gigs as a technical writer... and the taught myself all the basics of technical writing in a week. It was a good field... most companies don't actually want to have a tech writer on staff... don't need it enough, but there was demand for someone willing to work as a contractor. So I did that for a while... started to get a few referrals, then struck out on my own... writing anything from online help systems to radio advertising scripts.
Now, what needs to be told with this story is that I accepted (and incorporated into my life) that it would been a 70% pay cut, for a while... which mean moving from a house in the burbs to a 1-bedroom apartment and other cost cutting measures. But it's hard to put a dollar number on independence and peace of mind.