Taking a less demanding job for my writing (Request for Commiseration/Anecdotes?)

Have you had any thing published/received payment for your writing? If not, to quit your job without any guarantee of being published (good books can still fail to sell) seems like pissing in the wind. Writing is great, but being poor is shit.

I would have maybe decided to get up an hour earlier in the morning to write before work, and then left the evenings free for the school work, and if there was time I would do some writing then. Yes, waitressing or shop work might seem less demanding, but you still end up wrecked and too tired to write some nights.

If it's the right decision, it should be the right decision whether or not it's for the purposes of writing. What are the other benefits of your choice? I agree with gothicangel that you've made a very big decision in an unforgiving business. Sometimes you've got to be bold, but then again you've got to watch your own back. I'm of the type who waits to have a bird in the hand before letting the two in the bush go, but I'll trust that you already know your options and have made the right decision for you.

People thought I was crazy, at midcareer, to leave a job that paid way better than I needed, that I was building up good street cred in, I would have moved into my boss' position in just a few months when he retired, and that I could have had for as long as I wanted. The problem? I didn't want the job. I wanted to expand the range of projects I was involved in, have a greater impact, and just as importantly work internationally. So, I took a calculated risk to join the Peace Corps and live overseas for two years. It's been great! I'm getting overseas experience, learning the work skills I came here to learn, and helping people in the meantime. I'm also making incredible contacts and building a reputation for post-Peace Corps employment. As for writing, in two years here I've finished two novels and am halfway through the third. Plus the experiences will be fodder for more works once I get home and I begin to process the experience.

But my decisions were based on other things than writing, even though my writing has benefited immensely. Also, I don't have any children or family depending on me, so aside from missing big life events, nobody is going to have to do without because of my decision. I hope the overall outcome of your decision will be as productive as mine.

ArcticFox, I wish you all the best as you navigate this choice; you have my support and my commiseration.

This is not anything on the order of practical advice, but it is on point, and just appeared in my inbox this morning. It is a short YouTube, Secret Spells of the English Language.

I keep thinking about this and never quite having the nerve to do it. Some part time job that I can forget about as soon as I leave and is just five minutes away would be my dream. I've got it worked out how much in the way of royalties I'd have to have coming in steadily to cut down to four days at work, then three, then two, etc. The problem with royalties is of course, they aren't steady! They go up and down. Different publishers pay them at different intervals. If you're used to a fixed salary every month that can be pretty stressful!

I've seen it said that to give up other work entirely and try to become a full time writer you either need a cushion of two years salary in the bank, or a spouse/partner who is earning enough to keep you both. I know a few friends who have the latter (lucky devils!)

Aside from the absolute top of the ladder people, even quite well known writers may not be able to live entirely on earnings from their books and many of the famous ones will also do journalism, or academic teaching, and of course can charge fees for appearances.

Well, to be honest, I can't imagine quitting a teaching job after one year. I taught 35 years, and yes, the first ten to twenty were tough, but I can think of no other job where you get two months off each year. (I had July and August; June we taught nearly to the end of the month.)

I also had Christmas, a week; February, another week; April, another week. My hours were 7:30 AM to 2:00 PM. An hour commute - thirty minutes each way. I also had three children, one of whom is severely disabled.

I wrote from 5:00 to 6:00 AM most mornings. I also wrote on weekends and vacations. Sometimes at night, but I am a morning person.

Would I have sold more had I left teaching? Perhaps. But my paycheck was needed so I worked. I also need to say I wasn't an English teacher, but I had labs to set up and clean up after almost every day. (Yes, I was a damn middle school science teacher, one who made her students 'do something' every day. We did complex stuff, too. And I didn't have lab assistants, not at that age.) And I made them write. Lab reports, research papers. Sometimes I was correcting more papers than my English-teaching colleagues. On average, I was responsible for 120 students each academic year.

Anyhow, I found teaching to be exhilarating, and not everyone feels that way, I know. I loved the enthusiasm of the kids, and the fact that they never grew older. Every year, new kids, new energy, new ideas. I also got many of my writing ideas from them.

However, your situation might be drastically different than mine, and if you can make a go of writing, then do it.

(I bet your starting salary was better than mine. Mine was 6K a year. And even the year I was hired that was considered poverty wage.)

Well, I'm a former teacher as well, and one who came to the very tough conclusion that in order to be the kind of teacher I wanted to be, I'd have to give up too many of the other things I wanted for my life (and I'm not talking monetary things -- I got paid well when I was teaching). So yeah, I understand. Teaching is such a demanding, time-consuming, all-encompassing job, and there's such a learning curve for new teachers that yes, it does get easier, but you have to be willing to put in the 5 or 10 or 20 years until it does. For me, I decided that my priorities were elsewhere, but I have so much more respect now for people that can tough it out past those early years. Veteran teachers rock.

I have not quit my job, but I have passed up the opportunity to take a more demanding, considerably higher paying job primarily because I thought that job would not leave me time for writing.

It was the right decision for me because I need to keep writing, and I didn't need the money. Sure, the money would have been nice, but my family is doing fine, so why give up something I love just for more money?

I would never quit to focus on my writing unless I had a stream of income I could count on, or unless my salary was not needed to support my family.

I'm in the process of obtaining my education degree, and I firmly believe it's one of those jobs you have to love to do. If you aren't passionate about it, or enthused to be there, the students can tell. I can't imagine not teaching. My time with my students is the light of my week. I wake up every day excited to be with them and see them grow.

If you feel about writing as I do about teaching, then yes, you made the right decision. As I don't know your circumstances, I cannot say if it was rash for you to do so without having a new job lined up, but I hope you can find one that allows you to pursue your writing.

I don't think it should have anything to do with writing. If you're in a job you hate, then quit. Life is too short to spend it doing something you hate. A few years ago, we had five teachers in our family. Two quit and found completely unrelated to teaching jobs. They now love what they do. Two others left the public school system and found jobs at a small private school where they get twice the money for about a third of the work. The fourth is a high school English teacher in the public school system. She's been at it for about six years, and she's already burnt out, and casting around for a different kind of work.

Time did not make it easier for any of them, it made everything worse.

We all need to make a living, but I see no reason that we should do so by doing something we hate.

If you can afford to do so, spend six months or a year absolutely writing your butt off, and see what happens. If you can't afford to do nothing but write for six months to a year, find the least stressful job around, and still write your butt off. Maybe even a part time job.

But whatever you do, take advantage of no longer teaching, and write.

My only question would be, do you have another job lined up? In this economy, even if you loath your job, quitting without already having another job lined up is foolhardy.

I mean, I completely understand dreading getting up each morning to go to a job you can't stand. (Although quitting a job you've made a dedicated career choice for after only one year is odd.) You did mention "for a less demanding job" so I hope you do have something to fall back on.

But I don't know. Summers off!

Shadow_Ferret said:

My only question would be, do you have another job lined up? In this economy, even if you loath your job, quitting without already having another job lined up is foolhardy.

I mean, I completely understand dreading getting up each morning to go to a job you can't stand. (Although quitting a job you've made a dedicated career choice for after only one year is odd.) You did mention "for a less demanding job" so I hope you do have something to fall back on.

But I don't know. Summers off!

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Has there ever been a time when someone didn't say "in this economy"? I've heard this phrase pretty much every year since I was old enough to read. Usually each and every time the subject of jobs came up.

It's never foolhardy to quit something you hate, if you believe in yourself. If you believe in yourself, you sometimes have to follow Ray Bradbury's advice, whatever the economy. First you jump off the cliff and you build wings on the way down.

Those afraid to do this will probably get old long, long before they get happy.

Those willing to take chances on themselves most often learn there wasn't anything to be afraid of, anyway. Really, what's the worst that could happen to someone young enough to be a first year teacher?

Those "summers off" aren't quite all they're cracked up to be, either. Many states are going to year round school. Mine has.

And as one of the teachers in my family said, that time off is a complete illusion. When she added up the hours she worked after the school day was over, she put in well over two months each year after she got home from school. And when she divided her income by hours worked, she was making a buck and a half over minimum wage. And this didn't count commute time, of course, or even weekend time, and there was a lot of weekend time.

As for only being a teacher for a year, how long does it take to learn you hate something? I can't remember hearing a teacher say it got any better the second year, or the fifth year. or the tenth year.

I suspect teaching is something you love, or something you hate. If you hate it, jump off the cliff and build your wings on the way down.

What the heck, you're just going to bounce, even if you do hit bottom.

I opted for a job that's demanding while I'm at it, but which puts no after-work obligations on me. That's worked out fine. I put in the hours, then I'm free.

As long as big money and prestige aren't your goals (unless earned via your writing, of course!), a day job that's strictly day and that pays enough in salary and benefits to keep you self-sufficient, there's a sweet option.

Jamesaritchie said:

Has there ever been a time when someone didn't say "in this economy"? I've heard this phrase pretty much every year since I was old enough to read. Usually each and every time the subject of jobs came up.

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The late 90s. Apparently people were having high-paying jobs thrown at them, though none ever landed on me. Wrong place at the time, maybe, or entered the workforce a couple of years to early...

However less demanding jobs are a lot harder to find than one might think. If it isn't the job itself, it's the politics or some other thing, it seems.

Phaeal said:

I opted for a job that's demanding while I'm at it, but which puts no after-work obligations on me. That's worked out fine. I put in the hours, then I'm free.

As long as big money and prestige aren't your goals (unless earned via your writing, of course!), a day job that's strictly day and that pays enough in salary and benefits to keep you self-sufficient, there's a sweet option.

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This is what I do. I'm not too fond of my job, but for the most part the hours keep me content because I can do what I please. That additional time keeps me at the job, while my dream job requires breaking in to it. I'm working on it, but until then I have something that pays bills.

Jamesaritchie said:

Has there ever been a time when someone didn't say "in this economy"? I've heard this phrase pretty much every year since I was old enough to read. Usually each and every time the subject of jobs came up .

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Yes, there have been lots of times where the economy wasn't in the dumper. We've had minor blips, recessions, stagnation, but since 2009, thus economy really has gone south. I was unemployed for 2 years and had to go back with a significant wage cut. We're still trying to get back on track.

So for me, "in this economy" isn't some empty platitude, its a "nearly lost my house and everything" reality that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

Shadow_Ferret said:

Yes, there have been lots of times where the economy wasn't in the dumper. We've had minor blips, recessions, stagnation, but since 2009, thus economy really has gone south. I was unemployed for 2 years and had to go back with a significant wage cut. We're still trying to get back on track.

So for me, "in this economy" isn't some empty platitude, its a "nearly lost my house and everything" reality that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

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Maybe, but there's never been a time when someone didn't complain about the economy being in the dumpster. Nor a time when many didn't go two or three or five years without finding a good job. It happens.

Even now, what, 93% of all working age people have a job? I'll take those odds. Especially when five percent of all working age people are considered unemployable.

But the point is not to let the economy make you keep a job you hate because of fear. There's always money out there, always work, always success, if you're willing to believe in yourself, and take a chance.

People even became rich and wildly successful in the middle of the great depression.

The OP is young, and has a college degree, and a first year teacher's salary is not hard to replace.

What is this less demanding job?

Jamesaritchie said:

Even now, what, 93% of all working age people have a job? I'll take those odds. Especially when five percent of all working age people are considered unemployable.

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Where did you come up with 93% are employed? A 7% unemployment rate doesn't mean 93% are working. Unemployment only counts people ACTIVELY seeking work and on the UI rolls. If you run out if unemployment insurance, but don't have a job yet, you aren't counted in the 7%. So everyone who has given up LOOKING for work is no longer counted at unemployed. Therefore you can't take the 7% and extrapolate that to mean 93% are working. It doesn't calculate that way.

And conventional wisdom, given by any job expert, is to have a new job lined up before you quit your old one. Just jumping blindly off the cliff isn't conducive to success, no matter who you quote about sprouting wings. Its a nice thought to think we'll all bounce, but many of us don't. We break a hip.

Indeed, if only to assure that the job you get is in fact less demanding. For example I found jobs with more manual labor actually made me more brain dead at the end of the day than jobs that required a lot of mental calculation.

Little Anonymous Me said:

I'm in the process of obtaining my education degree, and I firmly believe it's one of those jobs you have to love to do. If you aren't passionate about it, or enthused to be there, the students can tell. I can't imagine not teaching. My time with my students is the light of my week. I wake up every day excited to be with them and see them grow.

If you feel about writing as I do about teaching, then yes, you made the right decision. As I don't know your circumstances, I cannot say if it was rash for you to do so without having a new job lined up, but I hope you can find one that allows you to pursue your writing.

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I just want to expand on this and say it does depend on the job. I LOVE teaching. Adore it. I've had many times when I am excited to go to class, I enjoy it, and it's incredibly rewarding and satisfying. One place I work at right now is this type of class. Going to them just puts me in a good mood because the classes are so much fun.

The other place I work, though, seems to become more of a cesspit with every new class. Lack of support from the higher ups, students who put in no effort, who don't want to be there, and who are confrontational about getting poor grades. The fact that I get paid so little that I don't get summers off in spite of having two jobs doesn't help. And I'm not someone who is a spender, either. We've already done all the little "how to save money" tricks, I don't have credit cards, etc. I just get paid that little. Really sucks when I'm still trying to pay back those student loans from getting the masters degree I needed to land this incredibly low paying job. (seriously. I'd get paid more if I was a secretary).

Having a passion for teaching is a must, but so much depends on what you're teaching, and where, and who, and so on. I hope I never have to quit teaching the classes I'm in love with. The others I'm counting down the days until I can finally cut back because it's soul crushing.

Shadow_Ferret said:

And conventional wisdom, given by any job expert, is to have a new job lined up before you quit your old one. Just jumping blindly off the cliff isn't conducive to success, no matter who you quote about sprouting wings. Its a nice thought to think we'll all bounce, but many of us don't. We break a hip.

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I don't what the rules are in the US, but in the UK if you resign from your job you can't claim unemployment benefits for 6 months (maybe more?) I've just been unemployed for 5 months, and have hardly written a thing because I was so stressed. Only now that I am starting back at work next week have I got my game on again (figures.)

Personally, as a graduate of three years I'm sick of low paid, temporary work (highest wage I've found is £13,000 a year.) I have no security. I'm actually thinking the other way, training to become and English teacher. What I want to do is teach Adult Education/literacy, but from what I gather I think I need a few years of teaching GCSE and A-level in a school, then take another course.

And Veinglory is right. I've worked in hospitality/catering, retail and sales and after an eight hours shift (including up to an hour commute each way), I normally end up flaking out on the sofa.

In America, if you resign, you can't claim UI benefits at all. Although that might be a state by state issue. I know in my state you can't claim them.

kaitie said:

I just want to expand on this and say it does depend on the job. I LOVE teaching. Adore it. I've had many times when I am excited to go to class, I enjoy it, and it's incredibly rewarding and satisfying. One place I work at right now is this type of class. Going to them just puts me in a good mood because the classes are so much fun.

The other place I work, though, seems to become more of a cesspit with every new class. Lack of support from the higher ups, students who put in no effort, who don't want to be there, and who are confrontational about getting poor grades. The fact that I get paid so little that I don't get summers off in spite of having two jobs doesn't help. And I'm not someone who is a spender, either. We've already done all the little "how to save money" tricks, I don't have credit cards, etc. I just get paid that little. Really sucks when I'm still trying to pay back those student loans from getting the masters degree I needed to land this incredibly low paying job. (seriously. I'd get paid more if I was a secretary).

Having a passion for teaching is a must, but so much depends on what you're teaching, and where, and who, and so on. I hope I never have to quit teaching the classes I'm in love with. The others I'm counting down the days until I can finally cut back because it's soul crushing.

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Oh yes. I went to one of those high schools. To put it in perspective: someone set part of the building on fire. During the school day. And there was virtually no reaction beyond 'put it out' because it was so normal for things on that level to happen. I've known teachers who were maced, assaulted, etc. There are some shit places to teach. But to me, OP's dislike of the job seemed more to do with the work and hours than 'I have students who've failed grade 9 three times,' though I may be absolutely wrong. Regardless, I'd never encourage someone to pursue something they've found makes them unhappy.

I'm sorry you're having such a rotten time with some of your classes. Bad administration is the worst thing to fight with.

In one of his books on writing John Gardner ranked teaching low in terms of a conducive job for writers to have. So you are in good company. Gardner's, "Grendel" is considered a classic !