Writing & Working

Even if I was making way more money than I need from my writing, I'd still keep a part-time day job. I'm too much of a hermit anyway and tend to get depressed if I'm home for too long. I need to get out and be around people, see things happening, listen, etc. Not only does it keep me balanced, but it's inspiring (even when it's infuriating).

ebbrown said:

No, I would not continue working another job if I could make a living as a writer. I would even take a slight pay decrease to stay home as a writer. Unfortunately, I am accustomed to taking care of my family on the salary of an RN, and it is difficult to pare back once you have a house to keep paying for. I like to think I would work one or two days a month to keep up my license, but probably not.

Disadvantages to having a job? I can't focus on my day job when I have a story in my head I want to write. I get frustrated and crabby when the job keeps me from writing. It just makes me grouchy when the job takes up my time.

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Agree on all points. I would dearly love to give up work, and not because I don't enjoy my job and it's not a good job. There is so much I want to do creatively - writing and making music - and there simply aren't enough hours in the day. I have to be pretty disciplined to make the most of the hours I do get - and I don't skive off work to write - so the chance to see what I could achieve without those other pressures would be amazing.

I might hate it. I might crave human contact. If anyone's willing to pay my mortgage for a year, I'll give it a go and let you know. But in the meantime, I'm not going to stop writing.

ETA: I am fortunate to live in a country where giving up my job wouldn't mean losing access to healthcare or other services. I appreciate that the situation is not the same elsewhere.

If I could come anywhere near replacing my income as a financial analyst with writing, I'd do it in a heartbeat.

The social thing? I don't have contact with people in my day job. At least with writing, there are other people who WANT to talk about what I do. Talking about my day job is a sure way to send people running in the other direction.

The experience thing? As long as I'm writing fantasy, I'll never "experience" what my characters are going through anyway. In fact, without the day job getting in the way, I'd have more opportunity to observe and read about people and their quirks to get the human reactions to the fantastical things that happen more accurate.

In other words, if I didn't need to pay bills with my day job, I'd be a full time writer in a heartbeat.

I also work full time and it is tough to find time to write my novel. But I need the pay, the benefits and to be out in the real world.

And I agree with Diana_Rajchel about writers being poor workers. A few times when the office was quiet, I did work on my book. Not the best idea, but there wasn't anything for me to do and they were quiet work days anyway. But I wouldn't make a habit out of it.

If I made enough from the writing to give up the day job then I'd do it in a hot second. Hey, it would be my civic duty - why should I keep a job I don't need when someone else could have it?

And while the isolation of a writer's life is an issue, I think I would actually have a better social life as a full time writer, because I'd have only one full time job, not a full time one and a part time one to fill my evenings and weekends. I'd be able to get out more, with people I actually choose to be around, as opposed to the work colleagues I'm stuck with.

I don't get the whole writers being poor workers. If I am at work and I have done everything I need to do and made everything is order, I am not being a poor worker by typing a way a bit. I'm not interfering or hindering my job in anyway. I am filling empty time that would likely be spent dicking around. If I need to do something it isn't difficult to immediately drop my writing and go to my next task.

As for working and writing I love it, even when it stresses me out. I enjoy working and writing. Keeps me busy.

Diana_Rajchel said:

I concur with Mutive. Writing gets lonely. I do do it full time.
Also, I suspect that writers make lousy employees. This is based purely on a highly inaccurate sample: a was on a panel at a conference back in 2009 (?) where we all talked about making our living as writers. Every single other person on the panel had at least a part-time job, and every other person openly admitted to working on writing projects during work time. When I was working full time... I did the exact same thing.

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I disagree.

While all the writers I know do some of their writing during work time, it tends to be on times when they would have been doing something unproductive anyway. In most jobs, there's some amount of down time that would have been spent surfing the Internet, or goofing off around the water cooler. Writers just spend that time typing instead.

Also, writers have to be able to self-motivate. There's no one standing over our shoulders saying "Write! Write! Write!" Writing is difficult and time-consuming, and often unrewarding, and we continue to do it anyway. That kind of self-regulated discipline can translate well to any profession.

I'd say writers CAN make lousy employees, but just because someone works on writing during company time doesn't necessarily make them any less productive than the next person.

I was reminded earlier today of an old saying -- "if you want something to get done, give it to a busy person." That's been pretty true for me, as I've written best when my life was hectic. I wanted to get the plot bunnies out of my head and onto paper, so I made the time for it.

If writing could replace my full-time job's income, though, I'd quit in a heartbeat.

If I could pay the bills with writing, I would have no problems doing it full time. Sitting in front of a computer all day and getting the stories out of my head doesn't bother me. I'm already a loner, I have no kids/spouse, my living expenses are pretty low, and housing is still at recession levels. The only major problem I run into with not having steady work is health insurance. I do need it and without it I always have to be vigilant about my health.

The problem with a more permanent job is fixed hours. Temp changes and my fibro don't go well with each other. Sometimes I'm stuck in bed for days, but writing gives me the ability to keep working anyways. Another problem with part/full time jobs is that my immune system bites. One week among a group of people and I'm taking home some sort of plague. The last bug I picked up took two and half months to go away.

If I could pay the bills just by writing alone...heck yes I'd do it. But I think your situation is a little bit different. In your case I'd choose to do both the MFA and the weekly piece. I did an MFA and I could have fit in a weekly article quite easily. Congratulations on getting the MFA stipend thingy btw, that's pretty cool!!

If I were ever that lucky to make enough money from writing to give up my day job, (which seems akin to hitting lotto), I'd trade my day job for volunteer work in a heartbeat.

I'm not sure what exactly I'd choose - but I'm sure it would have something to do with helping dogs or their owners. I'd get out to see actual people, I'd feel as if I was making a difference, and I'd probably end up with more material since I write about dogs anyway.

I would keep my day job (which pays pretty good despite deep pay cuts during the depression) until I was really, really sure that take-home writing income would more than replace my take-home salary.

That's my plan for the next 4 years, 8 months, and 10 days.

It's always been my dream to write full time, but sometimes I wonder how well I'd be able to handle it. Just like a lot of people here, I'd lose a huge portion of my daily social interaction. Plus being at work and focusing on what needs to get done there can sometimes get my mind off of writing for awhile, and when I get home I can dive back in with a fresher perspective.

For those of you who write during slow times at work, please do it on your own equipment and software. This is for your safety. Many companies not only take issue with company resources used for outside work, they might even have legal grounds to claim that work. I have seen hiring contracts which contained clauses to that effect.

Every writer is different. For me my job was wonderful, all 40+ years of it. Most of the time I worked on projects which once were sci-fi: deep-space explorers, fighter jets, laser weapons, etc.

I also met some impressive people, scientists, engineers, administrators, soldiers, pilots, a couple of astronauts. I got to know their human as well as professional side, the joys and sorrows that most of us share. That is the core of all stories: people.

In the process I learned skills and disciplines, big and small, that I use every day as a writer. There was no writing on the job: my work was as fascinating and engaging as the stories I created in the evenings and weekends. It was because I could and did commit myself fully to my day job that I learned how to do the same at my new day job: full-time writer.

So instead of grumbling about your day job, embrace it. Volunteer for tasks which will serve you as a writer, get to know a wide range of people, and make sure you sock away pensions and investments to help you in the first lean years when you finally do get that dream job: full-time writer.

... nope. Writing full-time would be enough of a job for me.
And really. What is going on with this?
Any other job you work full-time it would be odd to ask, "do you want another?"
But with writing that question is always asked.
Is writing not a real job or something?

gettingby said:

I posed this question to see what people thought about a part time writing job while being an MFA student,

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... that's fine. Seriously fine.
If I ever get the chance to write full-time, I probably would do similar and go back to school. Just a class a semester. Probably mathematics. Might go for an MA in that. (I was kinda being dramatic in my post above. Not entirely, b/c it does seem at times that people don't consider writing as much a career as others even when the writer is earning good pay and making a living at it and whatnot. But as far as what a writer chooses to do that's entirely up to them as long as they can handle it. G'luck.)