Sunday
Jul252010
4 Ways to Be a Writer While Not Being a Writer
Sunday, July 25, 2010 at 12:35AM
So, I've been thinking a lot for the past ten minutes about all the fellowships and residencies and all the stuff I didn't get, year after year. On the one hand, hey that kind of sucks. Nobody likes not being picked for dodgeball. But at the same time, from where I'm sitting right now, I don't think I was the person who *needed* that. I just needed to be a little more, well, creative. So, in that spirit, I'm celebrating all the ways you can write without needing a residency, fellowship, or time allocated specifically for writing.
1. Be a freelance writer.
Hey! You work from home! You're on your computer all the time! You're even sharpening your writing skills and getting your name out there! This sounds perfect!
I don't disagree, except there is little money and less security in it. But it's an option.
2. Be a secretary for a quiet place.
Most places like this you can sneak in some time on the DL to write, with or without your boss' knowledge. Score!
Total score, because it comes with benefits and salary and air conditioning, but might not offer you the most consistent time to write. Bonus, however--weekends off will mean you can have a Writing Saturday or Writing Sunday, which I'm particularly fond of.
3. Work overnights!
You know those people who go to school and then work overnights? They can do it because often, there's downtime on an overnight to get stuff done of your own, and less bossmen looking over your shoulder at what your doing.
If you can hack the hours, TOTAL SCORE!! WOOT!
4. Be something where you can't help but write.
Travel writer! Airline attendant! Florist! Okay, maybe those are not your all time most inspiring jobs, but for me they totally would be. Fun places! Grumpy people! Beautiful flowers! It's all about keeping inspiration alive, no matter how you do it.
Because at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you're writing. It's like walking. You need at least thirty minutes a day to not die, and you can get it however you want--five minutes here, five minutes there, or the whole thing all at once. How you do it doesn't matter. Just get it done.
Or you'll die.
An inky, inky death.
Yeah.
1. Be a freelance writer.
Hey! You work from home! You're on your computer all the time! You're even sharpening your writing skills and getting your name out there! This sounds perfect!
I don't disagree, except there is little money and less security in it. But it's an option.
2. Be a secretary for a quiet place.
Most places like this you can sneak in some time on the DL to write, with or without your boss' knowledge. Score!
Total score, because it comes with benefits and salary and air conditioning, but might not offer you the most consistent time to write. Bonus, however--weekends off will mean you can have a Writing Saturday or Writing Sunday, which I'm particularly fond of.
3. Work overnights!
You know those people who go to school and then work overnights? They can do it because often, there's downtime on an overnight to get stuff done of your own, and less bossmen looking over your shoulder at what your doing.
If you can hack the hours, TOTAL SCORE!! WOOT!
4. Be something where you can't help but write.
Travel writer! Airline attendant! Florist! Okay, maybe those are not your all time most inspiring jobs, but for me they totally would be. Fun places! Grumpy people! Beautiful flowers! It's all about keeping inspiration alive, no matter how you do it.
Because at the end of the day, the most important thing is that you're writing. It's like walking. You need at least thirty minutes a day to not die, and you can get it however you want--five minutes here, five minutes there, or the whole thing all at once. How you do it doesn't matter. Just get it done.
Or you'll die.
An inky, inky death.
Yeah.
tagged benefits, day job, moonlighting, overnights, salary, writer in Work, Writing
benefits, day job, moonlighting, overnights, salary, writer in Work, Writing
Reader Comments (1)
"Just do it in your spare time while you have a normal job". Only very successful writers can really finance their lives through writing, and until then, holding jobs is what people do. I (successfully) do NaNoWriMo while I am employed so it's entirely possible to output a lot of quantity on the side. Plus that steady paycheck and the freedom that money gives are really nice.
As an aside, airline industry jobs are always recommended for someone who likes to travel because you get good discounts on tickets, hotels, and so on. But airlines are an industry in constant crisis, so it may not only be hard to get in there, it's probably also not a very secure job once you have it.