Don't Quit Your Day Job
On Twitter today, Rachelle Gardner posted this link to an article on famous writers and their day jobs. It made me think about writers who work other jobs vs. writers who primarily write. While I'm sure not having a "day job" provides us with the focus we need to really get after our writing as a job, I think there are some real benefits to having another job while also writing.
This is just my experience, of course, so feel free to disagree with me, but I'm interested to hear what you think.
1) Most of my best ideas (either for short stories or for novels) have come from my real-life experiences. My short story that won the Merrilees was based on a dream I had that my grandmother had passed away. Because it was such a difficult thing for me to consider, I decided to write a story about how I would handle it if it ever happened. Good thing I did. :-)
2) If the ideas themselves don't come directly from my personal experience, many of the specific details of my characters do. For instance, the main character in my current wip (Sean, for all my CPs, haha) is loosely based on an ex-boyfriend who was a firefighter. The habit that he has of imagining the worst possible scenario and getting caught up in the negative details... that is my Ex to a T. Of course, not all of Sean is Ex-based, but some of the details are based on others, as well.
3) I have noticed that one of the main differences between having a consistent job (like I used to have) and a self-motivated job (like I have now) is that part of the pressure of only having certain times to write made me take better advantage of the time I had. Of course, that doesn't mean that I can't be more intentional about my writing time. And I've definitely been getting better at this. But not having deadlines (because I don't have a publishing contract yet) makes it harder for me to get motivated when I "don't feel like it". When I do have deadlines, I feel much more comfortable.
4) On the flip-side, having a schedule at my own discretion makes me super-focused at times. Like yesterday, I spent about twelve hours in a row just reading entries for a contest I volunteered to help judge. And every entry I judge, every mistake I catch, every great piece of writing I notice makes me a better writer.
So I'm interested to know what you think, on two fronts.
First, what do you think of the famous authors and their jobs? Any surprises? Second, what do you think about your own day job? Does it bother you when people say writing isn't a "real job"? Do you work during the day and wish you didn't? Or not work and wish you did? No agenda here, just wondering what you think.
10 comments:
Hi Rebecca,
Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I have a three book contract and I can't write full time. I'm a SAHM and have to write around the kids. On the one hand it does help me to take better advantage of the time I have, but on the other, I feel like I'm always working at one thing or another!
I think the struggle always makes for better writers. Struggling at work. Struggling at love. Struggling to make ends meet.
Thanks, Jody. Loved your blog! And I've been looking at your book, too. It sounds very cool. I'm glad you brought up being a SAHM, because sometimes people look at that as "not having a job"... and I want to say to them, "you've obviously never had to take care of children all day long. They are more needy than a coffee shop full of yuppies, and they demand all your attention. It's very hard to pay attention to anything else when there are kids in the house.
Good luck with all your writing! Looking forward to following your blog.
Clint, I think you make a good point. The struggle definitely makes everything feel more alive and real.
During my 20's I enjoyed the challenge of writing and working another full-time job. Now that I'm on the last leg of my 30's, frankly, I'm quite tired of it.
This year I finally have 2 book contracts. Now I'm adding deadlines and promotion to my writing, critiquing, researching, etc. I'm mother of a special needs child. I feel guilty when I write, guilty when I don't write, guilty when I work on promotion. There is no end to it all and I can't help but keep thinking, if I could only get those 40 hrs per week back from my job, I'd have the time and energy to do what I need to do. Then I feel guilty for thinking that way and keep trying to remind myself that I'm blessed to have my job.
I think part of it is that my heart is no longer in my day career, but God hasn't opened the door for me to quit--yet.
Thanks for stopping by, Jennifer. I have so much respect for people who write and have children in their house. I used to nanny and write at the same time, and even that was hard. I would always be feeling guilty when I would be thinking about my plotlines when I was with Iain, or if I would be reading while he was playing instead of playing with him. I can't imagine how y'all do it, and all I can say is: mad props.
Oh, and I'm *very* excited for your book to come out in May. It looks like it's right up my alley!! :-)
I would love to have more time to designate just to writing, my job doesn't give me any inspiration. My actual goal is to work on getting my book published and then finding a job that fits my personality, I love the freedom aspect but I know I would get bored so having even a part time job would be nice!! Just full time is a bit overwhelming and gets in the way!
Great post!
Jen, that sounds perfect. I do some leadership consulting, and that's what I try to encourage everyone to do: find a job that inspires you. That's more than half the battle! :-)
Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks for stopping by Putting Pen To Paper. Come back by soon. I am posting sporadically, because I am preparing to query agents so that is tops on the list right now. I usually post regularly though.
That said, I home-school and so writing for me is difficult to say the least. But I carve time out to write. I rise at 5:00 AM and pray, exercise, and then write before school starts at 9:00. Then after school, I write a couple more hours. We live on a horse farm, so there are always chores the kids can be doing. Plus, I do love me some earplugs. *grin*
Thanks for stopping by, Robyn. I love the look of your blog, so I'll definitely be beack.
One of the pieces of having a demanding schedule that I definitely miss is having that sense of "I have to do this now" that I feel from people who have another job in addition to writing. I've tried enforcing schedules on myself, and it works for the most part, but it doesn't work across the board. :-) I miss having a job for that reason, definitely.
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