If you could, would you?

Yes.

If someone was willing to pay my mortgage payments, utility bills and other outgoings for that period then yes, definitely. Unfortunately, no one is willing to subsidise me at the moment (dammned selfish people!) so I'm going to have to keep the full-time day job. Or pin my hopes on the National Lottery (damn you, Camelot! Why must you mock me by not letting me win?)

MM

I definitely would...

When you say "let it all go" do you mean stop working completely? Run out of food and starve to death? Be unable to pay rent and tossed out of my apartment? Broke and unable to buy catfood and watch my poor kitties wither away to nothing?

ChaosTitan said:

When you say "let it all go" do you mean stop working completely? Run out of food and starve to death? Be unable to pay rent and tossed out of my apartment? Broke and unable to buy catfood and watch my poor kitties wither away to nothing?

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I think the operative phrase here is "if you could". I took that to mean having the ability to do so without my life and finances falling apart. No?

Let everything go for a few months or just a year? No. I don't think that is enough time to establish yourself in this field, and it is a field difficult to make enough money to "survive" on as it is. Since I am the primary breadwinner in my family, it is important that I provide a stable income. Until writing can provide that, the day job stays. Were circumstances different and my income only secondary in my family, this might be more worth considering. Responsibility must always come first, though, even when it slows down the secondary career process as a whole.




-Michelle

CaroGirl said:

I think the operative phrase here is "if you could". I took that to mean having the ability to do so without my life and finances falling apart. No?

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I interpreted the question sans "without my life and finances falling apart." Because yes, I have the ability to stop working and write for a few months. It wouldn't turn out well, but I could.

Yes. Hell Yes. I would.

Goddess, yes. Assuming you mean - could you do it and survive financially. If I could do it and still eat, pay my mortgage and feed the cats, yes.

But then if I had another source of income I wouldn't be giving up anything I want to keep - my job is very, very dull. However, I would need the income. The last time I was out of work and constantly worried about money I found it very hard to write.

I fantasise about producing thousands of words a week (two books a year? Hah! Four at least!) if I didn't have to work the day job. But - if I didn't have to squeeze my writing around work hours, so that actually getting any done at all feels a little bit like an act of revolutionary defiance, I don't know whether I'd be any more productive. I might be less...

I did.

I wouldn't! Not completely. I need some structure. A "real" job requires me to prioritize my "non"-job activities, and sometimes when I'm the busiest at work is when I'm also the most creative. Whether I can get to a pen in time to take advantage is another issue. If my day was open to all writing, all the time, I can guarantee you I wouldn't BIC as often as I should. I find lots of ways to procrastinate.

Before making a definitive decision, however, I volunteer to try it for a month.

Of course. I simply can't make that work now, so I'm settling for sleep deprivation to get my several thousand words per week. As a temporary solution, it's fine. Good thing I'm raising independent children.

Absolutely. And I am working towards that goal, actually.

I've whittled my expenses down to an absolute bare minimum, and I intend to keep that way and any extra income I get along the way is going into investments/bank until I get enough for an extend period of time (a year) to focus on writing, going back to school, etc.

Yes, I hope to be able to do so someday. I'd have to restructure my life in some other ways (cut down on expenses, arrange some part-time volunteering so I got out of the house, self-imposed schedules, etc.) in order for it to happen, but I'd like to give it a try.

Use Her Name said:

So, Question: Working folks who do not write full time, If you could, would you just let it all go in order to get a solid several months of writing time? How a bout a year?

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Heck no! Where do you think I do my writing?

Actually, no. I wouldn't. I like my life. I like my job (some days.) I like being involved with my kids and soccer and scouts. I like camping and fishing and working on my farm. I wouldn't want to limit myself to a life spent writing.

Not unless I could return to my current job with full benefits at the end of the year. I'm practical for a Pisces. Besides, my job doesn't interfere with my writing 1000 words a day or putting in 2-4 hours a day on revisions, so I'm cool.

yes yes Yes YEs YES!!! I'm working toward it right now, trying to finish revising the Best Damn Novel I Can with plenty of Commercial Possibilities. I'm hoping/dreaming that it will sell and I can quit my job and write full time. I've done a lot of different jobs in my life, and I believe that my true calling is Writing.

allen

Nope. I happen to like my job. If I didn't have some engineering in my life, I'd flip out and start building weird gadgets in my spare time. This scratches the itch.

Just to clarify a bit further, I am in the same boat as Phael. The interruption to my job for a year of writing would be a difficulty when seeking employment again in my field, especially in an uncertain economy such as the current. I don't trust that what is here today will be happily waiting for me tomorrow. And I doubt I would magically become a family-sustaining writer during that year period no matter how much I wrote, so I would need to go back to work. Otherwise, I could take three months off now on what I have saved, possibly more with some budget restructuring. But then what would I have left to draw on in case of an emergency? The publishing industry is slow in every aspect, and there are other things I could do to reschedule my time and gain more writing devotion that would have a far less effect on the financial stability of my family.

I guess I am just not a huge risk-taker no matter how much I want the dream. Stability is too important to my mental well-being. Hopefully my slow and steady plod doesn't slap me upside the head because I can't risk more regardless.




-Michelle

I actually love my job (usually) and the fact that my gigs tend to last 8-9 months with some time off in between is the perfect arrangement for me.

Besides, I've done some of my best writing from the office.

Oh, and did I mention that I get to bring my dog to work??? Yeah, it rocks.

I don't want to make any of you jealous, but...

I'm doing this right now.

Use Her Name said:

So, Question: Working folks who do not write full time, If you could, would you just let it all go in order to get a solid several months of writing time? How a bout a year?

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Good Lord, no. Writing isn't the entire focus of my existence, and I don't work for the money. I need the money, but the real reason I work is because I like working. I've always got a half dozen or more irons in the fire, one of them paying the bills, the rest just side projects.

Right now, I'm taking a short break from paying the bills, and running down some savings - but that's not for writing. It's mostly so I can devote more time to playing GTA4.