Day Jobs

I'm employed somewhere that has good pay and good benefits. LOL, I can't be picky! I do enjoy having a bit of thinking time whilst plunking away at the keyboard doing data entry. I'm also lucky enough to work in an office that has no problem with iPod's or random note taking. All in all, I guess I would fit under the entry-level category, with a sub-category of "fairly boring"

I spent a long time as a serial job-hopper, in a desperate quest to find a day job that would pay the bills and let me be creative.

But ultimately, what I want to do is write novels, and that doesn't pay at all (at least not until I start getting them published).

So now I have resigned myself to the fact that the writing and the day job must remain separate entities. In my day job, I am a Personal Assistant. It's not in the least creative, but I am good at it, and it pays reasonably well. And at the end of the day, I can leave the job behind and go home to my writing.

I work in London, and have over an hour's commute. I actually quite like that time. I don't do any writing during it - the train's too crowded for that. But it gives me thinking and note-making time, and more importantly, time to read. If not for the journey into work, I wouldn't get nearly enough time to read.

Shara

I had a horrible job, now I am unemployed and looking for another. "Looking" has taken a back seat to finishing my novel for a while. It is the first time I have had a break for 10 years and I am mining it for every ounce of "real work" that I can get. I'm actually thinking of moving to Iowa City and sending in my application to the Iowa Writer's Workshop. That's the plan. I am already in Iowa, so I will get instate tuition if I am accepted. Sweet. So I am working my heart out on my 50 pages of writing.

I'm a lawyer and have been in private practice for the last 30 years and yes, it pays the bills.

My commute is a whole 5 minutes and so I take an hour and a half for lunch, go home and write.

In terms of providing grist for the writer's mill, it is a great job especially since my practice includes estates. The bereaved seem compelled to tell my all about their lives and that of the deceased. I listen attentively of course.

Some of it is fairly horrific in the event that dear old Dad was physically or mentally abusive. The stuff some of these people went through as children would make you weep. With luck I can change the names and places and make readers weep!

Last week a client told me that his father used to discipline him with a staple gun. Yes, that's right, he shot staples into his little kid's arms.

In terms of physical abuse, I thought I'd heard it all but the depths of human perfidity remain unplumbed.

I'm a technical writer, which can work both for and against you. I've put together major books, so I kind of know what the mechanics of that are, but at the end of the day sometimes I'm so SICK of writing that I want to do something else. I guess I love to write anything - I can't help it! - which is what got me into this field for my "day job" as well.

I'm a teacher, and while it does provide me with an excuse to read YA literature, it is a very emotionally draining job.

Summer vacation is nice, though. Very nice.

--Q

I'm a forensic anthropologist/archaeologist/professor. My day job keeps me sane and keeps me writing. I actually find when I've got too much time on my hands (like a week off or the like) I don't get much writing in, when I've set that time aside for that task.

The day job thing also keeps a roof over my head, so I can't complain.

As for adding to my writing? I never would have though of majoring in anthropology as an undergrad if it weren't for one of my favorite authors saying how much her anthro degree helped her out as a writer.

scheherazade said:

- Pays good money, gives you pride in your work, but drains your energy and demands overtime; or is an executive-level position with minimal responsibility, that lets you work flexible hours or part-time, lets you work in an atmosphere that is fun/spirit-inspiring/outdoorsy/artistic/with animals/whatever your soul needs, but which doesn't give you a huge paycheck, or which you constantly have to defend to people around you who keep asking when you're going to get a "real job"?

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Fixed

I know people who make under $25k and work their arses off all day every day. I know people who make $250k and are ignorant, incompetent, and lazy sexual-harassment suits waiting to happen. It's not what you know, it's what you kiss.

Me, though, I'm happy with my career. It doesn't give me a lot of time to write, but nobody ever said being a time-travelling vampire hunter was easy.

A job? For better or for worse, I'm currently working four jobs. My primary job is as an alternative/ adult high school teacher. I love the job. It can be draining at times, but overall, it's a great place to work-- both the kids and staff. I have an unfortunate split shift in that I work 5 hours in the morning then 5 hours at night with about that many hours in between. I live 20 minutes away, so it sucks to make the trip repeatedly, but it's far too long between classes to stay in town.

My other jobs are parttime, flexible, and sporadic. But they pay real money, so I do it. I need the money.

I would love to be able to work less and write more. But, there are bills to pay. The electric company doesn't care that I love their service, they just want their money.

Chris Grey said:

I know people who make under $25k and work their arses off all day every day. I know people who make $250k and are ignorant, incompetent, and lazy sexual-harassment suits waiting to happen.

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Oddly, I know several people who are exactly the opposite...

Chris Grey said:

I know people who make under $25k and work their arses off all day every day.

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I am one of these people.

I work at McDonalds. I have at least made manager, but still . . . it ain't exactly conducive to my writing career. Then again, neither would being homeless and starving, I suppose.

Go ahead. Laugh. I am. (Laughing, that is.)

Mike Martyn said:

Last week a client told me that his father used to discipline him with a staple gun. Yes, that's right, he shot staples into his little kid's arms.

In terms of physical abuse, I thought I'd heard it all but the depths of human perfidity remain unplumbed.

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SHUT UP.

That's horrific. Of course, I have heard of worse things, but there is something creepy about the fact that this person told you first-hand. Seems to me your job would be filled with story lines.

Great job you have, though. At one point, I thought I would make a good lawyer. My husband will tell you I'd make a great one.

Of course, I have no idea what he's talking about.

My income is supplemental to my husband's. I am a professional pet sitter and I own my own business. I can honestly tell you, I LOVE my job. The only work I would love better is earning a living with my writing.

I meet so many people (not to mention pets) that I have a rich pot of character to drawn from. And the emotions are right there. Animal people don't use much of a front with other animal people. It's cool.

There have been a handful of interesting experiences that I have had just from the technical aspects of the job - I have crawled through windows, been cornered by impossibly aggressive CATS (laugh if you will, but cats can be much scarier than dogs) and pulled deceased dogs from swimming pools (on Thanksgiving). I have cradled beloved pets for their owners as they passed from one life to the next, held crystal food dishes up for discriminating dogs, and as time passes, watch families grow up, pets grow old and new pets brought home.

I have watched over exotic species such as pythons, macaws, hedgehogs, iguanas, ferrets, potibellied pigs, tarantulas and walking sticks. I am often out late at night to tuck pets in and give them one last potty break, so night visits can be interesting in unfamiliar residences.

I'm proud of the fact that I am pretty handy with alarm systems and I am trying not to break my perfect record of not meeting the boys in blue up close and personal.

All of it is fodder for stories, but I haven't been able to use much of it yet for some reason. It could be because I usually write suspense. Suspense with pet sitting, if written well, typically comes out funny. If it's written less than well, it's just cheesy. I honestly haven't run into a bonafide intense pet sitting thriller yet.

I work at Staples with six different positions-copy and printer center associate, computer salesperson, cashier, furniture associate, customer service associate, and lately inventory control specialist. In my spare time I'm a web designer as well as a writer. And I play house too.

Like my writing, I try and do everything at once. And am I ashamed of working at Staples? Not at all. There are plenty of worst jobs out there, fast food being the foremost. There are also better jobs I could get, but I will apply for them when I stop being happy where I am now.

My day job? I have several titles I could put here. I'm a stay at home mom, so I hardly get anything done during the day writing wise. With my kid, the house, and my husband to take care of, writing happens at nap time (or it did up until I got pregnant and now I find myself taking naps too) and at night time (which not as much because night time is when my morning sickness really kicks in).

So I was getting productive a month ago, not so much now. It sucks when the only time you really have to write you feel like crap. Ah, the life of being pregnant.

Prior to this I was a manager for a major electronic retail store. I enjoyed it, I was good at it, but I never had the energy to write. I think getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened cause I got Unemployment, so essentially was being paid to write. Woohoo!

But now I don't get paid at all! Unless love counts.

I work from home refurbishing computers. I love it because the whole business is done online, I never have to talk with people face to face or leave the house except to go to the post office. This means I never really have to come out of my fantasy world. With gas over $4.00 a gallon I couldn't afford to drive to a job anyway.

I used to work in an office (real estate). The one important lesson I learned is that I absolutely cannot work in an office with other people. People suck. I'm very content spending my life alone with my computers (be it fixing them or writing on them).

ChristaCarol13 said:

My day job? I have several titles I could put here. I'm a stay at home mom, so I hardly get anything done during the day writing wise. With my kid, the house, and my husband to take care of, writing happens at nap time (or it did up until I got pregnant and now I find myself taking naps too) and at night time (which not as much because night time is when my morning sickness really kicks in).

So I was getting productive a month ago, not so much now. It sucks when the only time you really have to write you feel like crap. Ah, the life of being pregnant.

Prior to this I was a manager for a major electronic retail store. I enjoyed it, I was good at it, but I never had the energy to write. I think getting laid off was the best thing that ever happened cause I got Unemployment, so essentially was being paid to write. Woohoo!

But now I don't get paid at all! Unless love counts.

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Oh yeah...I hear ya, sistah. I have four kids as well as my business. Right now, everyone is either swimming or out and I am back here hiding...and trying to get an article done while hangin' out at AW.

I don't have a 9-5 day job.. however I have 3 jobs.

Writing a weekly column
Taking minutes for Town Officials
Work for Weight Watchers

I used to teach English. While I loved it, it didn't give me a lot of free time for writing. Now I'm trying my hand at freelance writing so I can work from home. But it still cuts into my novel writing time.

However, since I'm going to grad school next year to become a professor that's going to cut into my writing time even more heavily. Oh well.

Thankfully I no longer work outside the home but I completed the majority of my first novel while working as a conveyancing paralegal in an extremely busy law firm. I didn't look for a job that complimented my writing in any way or was close to home, I looked for a job that was interesting and challenging. I got it - in spades. The job paid well, demanded my full attention and involved a tremendous amount of overtime during the summer months. I thrived on the pressure and deadlines. I was very satisfied with my job and I think that's what enabled me to keep writing despite the long hours. A boring job would have frustrated me and I wouldn't write. A job within the publishing business would have sucked my creativity and I wouldn't write. My choice was perfect for me.
Linnea

Office manager, bookkeeper...not terribly exciting, but not terribly boring either.