Don't quit your day job

I'm a finishing carpenter. I think in the States we're called Trim Carpenters. I'm one of a handful of women in Calgary. I've been told there are other women but I've never actually met any, so I think there are maybe ten? I love my job. I used to be a secretary but got laid off when they moved the company to the Bahamas. I fell into carpentry and I've never looked back. Money is good, job is awesome, and right now the housing market is booming so I have more work than I can handle.

Would I give it up to write full-time? Only if i had lots of money to fall back on. I like getting out of the house and working. After a few days off I get antsy and I want to go back to building stuff.

I'm a copy editor. This means I am physically incapable of turning off my internal editor.

They've been trimming my magazine down lately, though, so I've had more time to sit here and write...

Now that I am disabled I write most of the day, or do something that contributes to my writing, such as researching the climate of the early holocene in the fertile crescent (but I won't go there again )

Before I got sick though I was a nurse and going to school to become a biologist. When I got sick and was told I couldn't be around sick people (the irony still makes me laugh) I got a job in an animal lab at my college and helped with first year bio labs. (note: I did not work in the lab that tested on animals) My favorite job! But eventually I just became too sick to work.

I guess you can say I am a house wife too, since I cook and do everything physically possible in the house.

I'm still hanging on tooth and nail to my little landscaping company, that is suffering along with the housing industry where I live. I also work part-time as a cashier/bakery at a local grocery store. I write between the two jobs. I'd love to earn enough money to be a full-time writer though.

I'm a stay-at-home mama. The pay sucks, but the perks can be good.

I work for Lulu.

I'm a web programmer during the day.

Straka, why not combine your loves? Bioware is hiring writers. If it wasn't in Austin, I'd be applying!

I was unemployed for a stretch the other summer, and I found that it was murder on my creativity. It helps to have deadlines, and it helps even more to have something else you ought to be doing--I get my best work done when I should be working on something else.

Full-time student here, training to be a librarian. That ought to keep me in the books and give ample time for writing besides, and it involves less correcting of horrific essays than my old job as a college writing instructor.

Exec Asst at the Pentagon.

I'm a full-time student. It's boring.

I'm sort of struggling right now. I wrote my first book in the corner, at work (I own my own business.) Now, though, the additional demands of being a successful writer make it hard to do both things.

I have speaking engagements, meetings, etc and the best I can do is be at work half-time. And I still have to write the next books.

So I'm finding myself trying to fade into the background at work, and it's hard to do. Keeping it all together can be tough.

nevada said:

I'm a finishing carpenter. I think in the States we're called Trim Carpenters. I'm one of a handful of women in Calgary.

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i was doing carpentry in mississippi not too long ago (mostly renovations and cabinets). a female friend of mine who'd recently gotten an architecture degree wanted to do carpentry for a while. she is a tough, talented, hard-working lady. i asked some of the contractors i knew about hiring her. they all laughed, even the nice ones. bastards. i'm glad to hear about your success, though. cheers.

i didn't take to carpentry as much as the craftspeople i admire. but i still dabble in it for mold making. cast concrete counter tops and furniture (very heavy furniture). it still pays the occasional bill and comes in handy around the house.

now i'm in journalism school, working at the university museum, writing their newsletters among other things. i make and sell pieces of pottery once and a while. and i'm still slogging away at unpublished fiction.

joetrain said:

i was doing carpentry in mississippi not too long ago (mostly renovations and cabinets). a female friend of mine who'd recently gotten an architecture degree wanted to do carpentry for a while. she is a tough, talented, hard-working lady. i asked some of the contractors i knew about hiring her. they all laughed, even the nice ones. bastards.

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If she has a degree in architecture and wants to be a carpenter, she might think about doing historic restoration work. That's much more gender-diverse.

"Finishing carpenter" CAN = "finish carpenter" US.

Tech Writer/Editor and part time web designer. I work for a DoD contractor.

I work at WalMart. But I'm studying to become a librarian.

joetrain said:

i was doing carpentry in mississippi not too long ago (mostly renovations and cabinets). a female friend of mine who'd recently gotten an architecture degree wanted to do carpentry for a while. she is a tough, talented, hard-working lady. i asked some of the contractors i knew about hiring her. they all laughed, even the nice ones. bastards. i'm glad to hear about your success, though. cheers.

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I guess I've been lucky. Nobody ever laughed at me, nobody ever treated me badly, i was never a victim of sexism. I do the job, I do it well, and I guess that's good enough for them.

I'm in high school.

That's a day job I can't wait to quit.

Part-time social worker and full time mom to my 3 year old.

My time is divided roughly thus:

50% Novelist - working on my own stuff.

30% Stay at home wife (housework and cooking are a challenge for me... I'm not good at either - plus my husband works LONG hours so I do all of it)

20% Writer/Editor - working for 2 travel companies on my own schedule.

I also spend a lot of my time wasting time here at AW.

University administrator. Great benefits, consistent hours and pension.

I'm a Combat Secretary.

I'm a Chemical Officer by training, and a Military Intelligence Officer by assignment -- but I'm currently working as an Adjutant, which is a fancy word for 'personal assistant' to my Brigade Commander.

*sigh*

At least I spend 90% of my time parked in front of the computer, so I get a good bit of writing done in my downtime.

I wire big machines. Nine hour days, eight-hour weekends.

allen

this is really interesting, such diverse backgrounds and training!

i'm a jack of all trades -- i've been into marketing, pr, photography, interior design, self-employed for a number of years... even retired for about three that didnt last did it... anyway the list is too long... currently working as a regional sales manager in the middle east, selling contract furniture to large developments, mostly hotels.

i've always enjoyed what i was doing at the time, but right now what i wish for most is to be able to write full-time... i have no life don't even own a tv anymore coz it would rob me of writing-time.