So, Would You Give Up The Day Job?

Like a shot!

Hmm, maybe I'd still do a couple of shifts at the pub (my second job). You see such a lot of people, get so much material...

Would I quit the low-paying, physical job that I have right now for a substantial contract? In a heartbeat.

Would I stay a full-time writer? Not on your life. Or mine for that matter.

Staying at home is the fastest way to dry up my creativity. I need to get out, be among adults and get out of my own little world to function normally. I also need structure to my day, as I'm unable to give it to myself. Some kind of outside-the-house obligation will do that.

I wouldn't necessarily get another job, mind you. I might do volunteer work or something along that line, as long as I had the money well invested and planned out so I didn't need to work.

I'm not currently working another job, but if I were... I'd give it up. I have plenty of stuff to fill my time, and I'd like to go back to university and to pursue a masters and PhD. I had to stop at degree level due to finances, so I'd be back like a shot if I had the money.

I'd quit, definitely. But I'd also find something to volunteer to do, otherwise I'd never get out of the house and interact with, yanno, people!

From the many comments in threads about day jobs, I think I may be in the minority. But over the course of the career I've developed in my day job, it has given to me a level of the joy of accomplishment that dwarfs the joy writing fiction has provided. This doesn't minimize the joy I derive from writing, nor does it limit my desire to continue to write, but given a huge success in writing, there is no way I'd give up the day job for full time writing. Why should I? I have the best of both worlds--I can do both of the things I love. This isn't marriage, where polygamy is illegal--the creativity equivalent of soul mate doesn't have to be singular.

NeuroFizz said:

From the many comments in threads about day jobs, I think I may be in the minority. But over the course of the career I've developed in my day job, it has given to me a level of the joy of accomplishment that dwarfs the joy writing fiction has provided. This doesn't minimize the joy I derive from writing, nor does it limit my desire to continue to write, but given a huge success in writing, there is no way I'd give up the day job for full time writing. Why should I? I have the best of both worlds--I can do both of the things I love. This isn't marriage, where polygamy is illegal--the creativity equivalent of soul mate doesn't have to be singular.

Click to expand...

I actually LOVE the work that I do, but not the job I have (if you get the distinction). With a cool mil in the bank (or, well, 60% of a mil, after taxes!), I'd definitely quit the current job. But the type of work I do is mostly being offshored, hence I'd volunteer (possibly doing the same type of work for a charity or something like that) rather than try to find another job.

Since my day job is a work-from-home job, I would probably quit it and get something part time OUTSIDE of the house just so I could get out and around people a little more. Even if it was working one or two days in retail of all things, I'd prefer that to staying home so much! Maybe Santa will bring us all $1 million contracts in our stockings this year...

If I was offered a contract or deal that gave me a comfortable living without doing a 9-5, I'd quit. I don't need millions, just enough to make a living and be free to write full time.

No.

My "day job" is living a simple bush life and writing about it. Nobody could ever give me enough money to change my way of life, even if the market for wilderness stories suddenly dried up.

Nope. I'm a Fed, and my husband owns his own business. Our health insurance is great, and our retirement benefits are decent. We need my job for that, if nothing else.

I would still work, maybe not my current job, but at something.

I don't know. I'd love to be able to quit and be a stay at home mom while writing, but I think the practical side of me would rebel and keep working. My husband works in a factory and you know how fickle those jobs are now days.

So if we ignore the fact that I'm a complete security freak who knows that a mill can dry up; would I?

You bet I'd would. My job provides intellectual stimulation, but it's nothing good books and writing couldn't provide. I have absolutely no emotional relation to my job at all, and socially I prefer deviants like myself to the kind of normal people I meet through work.

You know how Bob Dylan defined success? 'A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to.' That pretty much defines what I would like to achieve.

ohthatmomagain said:

the practical side of me would rebel and keep working.

Click to expand...

Rebelling: You're doing it wrong.

I would quit my current day job, but I'd still have a day job of some sort. I like to work. I'd go crazy if I did nothing but write.

Yep.
do lot nu do lot nam hang hieu bo cho be cac loai chan vay cong so nu thoi trang cong so gia re chup anh cho be

I wouldn't quit my current dayjob--it satisfies a different part of my brain than writing does--but if I could, I'd cut back to working three days a week instead of five.

Otoh, if I suddenly became independently wealthy, I'd quit the dayjob completely and do more traveling.

oh hell yes....

I would quit my current and look for something I would enjoy doing better. I currently work retail at Walmart. I would probably do volunteer work like in a museum or something a few days a week. Mostly stay home and take care of the baby while writing.

Not immediately.

To answer in the spirit of the question, if I had a secure income from writing then I would want to step away from the management structures around my work but not from the work itself. I'd find a way to work for a charity or organisation involved in mental health work instead of the NHS. Having the flexibility of another income would allow me to do that on my terms without worrying about money.

Practically, With one big paycheck i'd cut down my hours to allow more time to write but i'd want to see a regular income over a few years before i'd risk giving up my salary and pension plan.

Craig

Craig

I'd quit for a £million but not for $million (its only about £500,000 ).

Seriously, I'd sort of semi quit... Having been given a contract to complete a novel I'd want to spend as much time as I could completing it and also complete the next one and the one after that because, clearly, 'gothicangel press' has a lot of confidence in my work and wants to make it a best seller and therefore will expect sequels. That is easier to do full time.

However, I might still take on tutoring students and may do a few hours a week teaching... which is more or less what I do now, save in this fantasy where gothicangel press is paying me a million I won't be getting calls from credit card companies (who have made a mistake, I have to add...).

I think if you have a job you enjoy you will still do some of it, even if only a little to keep your hand in.

If the day job is the dream job, the, obviously, no one would give it up. But few people have day jobs they love, and even many who do like the job hate being told what to do, or hate having to get up and nine to five it, sometimes with a long commute thrown in.

A million dollars? I gave up my day job the same day the check for my first sale arrive, and is was a whopping $450.

Now, back then, $450 was just over a month's minimum wage, but still not a heck of a lot of money. It remains the best decision I ever made.

In a heartbeat. I have a good job that I enjoy, as day-jobs go, but I'd much rather write fiction for a living. And with a quarter-century of adult life experience behind me, I don't think I need the stimulation of work as an input.

Besides, the majority of my job (web programming) isn't exactly sociable - if anything, it limits my day-to-day experience to a very narrow sector of society. It would be far more useful to me to be able to pursue some activities more closely related to my writing!