What kind of careers are available for writers?

Esopha said:

So, my question is this: What kind of careers should I look in to as an aspiring writer? Should I look into careers that are writing-based, or can I get a secondary (or primary) degree in another subject that I'm interested in and get a day job in that field? Am I overthinking this? Am I blowing things out of proportion? Have my recent PSAT scores inflicted much damage upon my brain cells?

Click to expand...

The latter.

I can only speak from personal experience, but I found that "mindless" jobs completely unrelated to writing freed my mind to wander during those hours when I had to earn $$ to pay the rent. I think if I'd had to write for eight hours, coming home to more writing would not have been a good thing, at least for me.

Of course, to do the mindless sort of work I'm talking about means that others may consider that you're wasting time and energy when you could be building a "real" career. Until you're published, few will take that aspiration seriously.

And you do need to think carefully about it, because it could take years to even sell a book, far less get established as a writer and possibly support yourself on writing alone. (A tiny, tiny percentage of writers in the US are able to live on their writing income alone.) It could also never happen, and you could find yourself waiting tables when you're thirty.

Not that I want to scare you, but it is something to think about. For most writers, it isn't just a job it's a vocation, so consider carefully before you commit your life -- and your livelihood -- to writing.

Establishing another career first, one you could see yourself continuing in whether writing works out for you, might be the best way to go. It's the choice many writers have made, starting their writing careers later in life.

No right or wrong, just what works best for you.

Well, I want to be a novelist, but since I'm not counting on cashing in on that right away, I want to be an editor. I've discovered that I like to help other people improve their writing! Maybe that's an option you could consider.

There is journalism, public relations, publishing, editor, English teacher, business writer and copy writer. That's all I can think of for now.

Do something you enjoy. You're gonna be a novelist in your spare time anyway. Get yourself a dayjob you like. Seek out as many different experiences as you can. These will help you in your writing.

I can speak to this a little, although I in no way have a definitive answer.
While I was in college, I had a mindless (but paying) job and a variety of overlapping internships. Among other things, I was a teaching assistant, an editorial assistant for the university PR department, and an editorial assistant for a literary magazine.

Now, the PR internship and the teaching internship were exhausting. They made it hard to write because it felt like I had already used up all my energy on the daily tasks required by the jobs. The PR internship was especially bad because it involved writing articles and reviews, conducting interviews, and producing a lot of filler copy for university publications. My day-job, on the other hand, was kind of neutral/kind of good. It took up a lot of my time, but that didn't stop me from thinking about various writing projects while I was at work, and something about the more repetitive parts of the job actually seemed to jumpstart the story-generating function of my brain.

However, the best job was the editorial position. I did manuscript screening, proofreading, copy- and line-editing, typesetting—you name it. But I didn't have to write. I spent all day thinking about the mechanics of writing, looking at other people's stories and deciding whether or not they belonged in the magazine, or what it would take to get them in shape if they weren't ready, but I didn't have to write anything myself. By the time I got home, I'd have so many ideas about how to streamline my own work that I couldn't wait to get started.

It's going to be different for everyone, but I'm with Megan on this. Editing had the largest positive effect on my writing and it's something I enjoy a great deal for its own sake. Of course, I love reading slush too, so maybe I'm just weird that way.

Get a job you like. Thats the best advice I can offer you. I worked in a number of mindless soul sucking jobs and it didn't help my writing becuase I was so tired and pissed off at the end of the day all I wanted was a hot shower and bed.

That's just my take on it though.

I'd get an unrelated day job. The above reasons aside, I've seen plenty of artists take jobs related to their art, who then end up miserable because the job has sucked the love right out of it.

Let's see, I want to be a novelist so I work at a daycare which is only one of my many mindless side jobs through the years. Personally, I seem to benefit from mindless side jobs that pay the bills because when I get up every morning and dread work, I tend to visualize myself in a different life. I can't tell you how many plots I've come up with just because I was pretending to be someplace else, doing anything else.

On the flip side, when I try to do jobs that relate to what I want to do...it does suck all the love and life out of my creativity; but maybe that's just me.

I thrive in suffering...

The other advantage of getting an unrelated day job is that you'll learn about things that don't seem directly connected to writing, but are very helpful down the line, like business or computers or even customer service. I think there's a distinct value to having a variety of kinds of work experience, and not doing just one thing all the time.

Writing.

Esopha said:

Alright, my days of happy fun childhood are over. I'm a junior in high school next year, and college is glaring at me from three years away. I'd really love to be a novelist - the only problem is that I need to have money so I don't starve to death in the mean time.

So, my question is this: What kind of careers should I look in to as an aspiring writer? Should I look into careers that are writing-based, or can I get a secondary (or primary) degree in another subject that I'm interested in and get a day job in that field? Am I overthinking this? Am I blowing things out of proportion? Have my recent PSAT scores inflicted much damage upon my brain cells?

Help.

Click to expand...

You should look at doing anything you believe you would love doing. The best career is always the one you most enjoy.

As for what jobs out there are available to writers, remember this: Anything you've read has to have been written. That includes ad copy (yes, someone paid someone to write those little blurbs in the catalogues that clutter your snail mailbox), instruction manuals (insert Tab A into Slot B while standing on your head and sticking out your tongue), websites, magazine articles, greeting cards, and so on.

An old story, but it bears repeating: One of the first pieces I had published was a calendar of upcoming events for a regional magazine. I had a NF article in the same magazine. My mother was telling me she enjoyed the NF article. I asked, "What about the other piece?"

"What other piece?"

"The calendar of upcoming events."

"You wrote that? I didn't realize anyone wrote those!"

Yes, Mom. Words and everything.



Repeat after me: Anything you read has to have been written.

When you go to college, major in something that is going to make you some money.

English ain't it, probably.

I wish somebody would have given me that advice. As finch said above, you don't want to do something/study something that's going to suck the love out of writing.

I'd recommend getting into a field that will pay. Write on the side.

I struggled mercilessly with money issues all through my teens and twenties until I wrote a publishable novel. It would have been much easier had I been able to do something that, you know, paid well. Many times I thought of giving up writing to try and do somethign that would bring my family money.

I have had a career that I enjoyed. I went into a field in which I had a real interest and enthusiasm and I loved it. And it paid the bills nicely so I could write. And I *did* write! And I still looked forward to getting up every day and going to work.

Now that I could retire, I find myself still involved in work that I enjoy (and I like all the $$$) and with even more time/$$$/life experience with which to write.

I say find a career you will love and have a dual career with that and writing. There's no rule that says you can only do one thing at a time. The rule is that you should only do things you find interesting and rewarding.

And if you can't find a career you enjoy, you can also find plenty of material in a career you hate (warning: make sure it pays well enough to be worth the trouble, and don't do it long-term). The tricky part is keeping up your energy and self-esteem in such a situation so you can continue writing. Good luck!

One suggestion that I have not seen among the responses so far is to find a job doing something you enjoy, and that provides writing opportunity as a perhiperal benefit.

For example, I manage a European auto service and restoration business, and I write magazine articles about what we do. It's not part of my job to write articles but the job provides the raw material that made the writing possible.

Good luck with your choice, whatever it proves to be

Get a job in a used bookstore. Mostly, because it's fun to work in a bookstore, but in the back of your mind, you're going to notice people and how they react to books. There are some wonderful books that people won't buy "cause they just got bored by page five," or "it's too damn wordy" or whatever.

It's a fun experience.

Plus, they don't generally mind if you drink tea while you're working.

But mostly, as everyone else said, get a job you like, 'cause writing is about as financially useful as scrabbling in a beanfield. And for Pete's sake, if you're in college, stay in college! One of the biggest regrets of my life was that when I was young, I figured I'd be writing full-time by the time I was twenty, and so I gave up on college. That's a very silly idea. Don't do that.

Chiming in with the others who are saying, do something you like that also pays well.

I've had a very successful career in marketing (still do). It not only pays the bills, it taught me a lot about writing (even though I was never on the creative side of any agency), but more importantly it taught me about how business and people work. Both useful for a writer.

No matter what, listen to PeeDee and stay in college. Today you need that college degree to get a good job. And a good job that you enjoy (at least most of the time) will mean that you don't have to worry about putting food on the table during the available writing time you might have.

I'm not a personal fan of the mindless jobs. I find that I write better, in fact, do everything better, when my mind is challenged and when I have things to DO. Everyone's different -- pay attention to how you work best and create best, and try to find a blending of the two.

JeanneTGC said:

No matter what, listen to PeeDee and stay in college. Today you need that college degree to get a good job. And a good job that you enjoy (at least most of the time) will mean that you don't have to worry about putting food on the table during the available writing time you might have.

Click to expand...

Although there's always the old saying "A college degree and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee."

PeeDee said:

Although there's always the old saying "A college degree and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee."

Click to expand...

Yes, but the new saying that goes along with that is, "A High School diploma and a dollar will allow you to serve coffee and also ask if someone wants an Egg McMuffin with that."

JeanneTGC said:

Yes, but the new saying that goes along with that is, "A High School diploma and a dollar will allow you to serve coffee and also ask if someone wants an Egg McMuffin with that."

Click to expand...

It's true. And so...stay in school kids!

(this public service announcement brought to you by PHENTERMINE)

If all else fails, get a degree as a librarian and go get a job with interesting and mostly cool people at your local library. The pay is decent (is better than McDonald's) and it's fun, and they let you drink tea.