It's been one of those days where time just hasn't slowed down enough to let me get done everything I need to. GAH! In the midst of my editing, article-writing, letter-typing and post-officing exploits, I wondered: how on earth would I do all this if I had a full-time job?I am in awe of writers who have all-consuming jobs like teaching. I've blogged before how teaching pretty much drained me of my energy and (remaining) sanity. But I know I'd find even a regular, 9-to-5 gig challenging to fit around my writing life. I need the mental space.
On the flip side, lots of writers don't give up their day jobs even if they can, citing the importance of separating writing from income.
So I ask you: are you a full-time writer? Would you be, if you had the option? Why or why not?
(Fellow Prospera writer Nicky Schmidt has revved up her blogging efforts over at Naked in Knightsbridge. She's hilarious -- check her out if you get a chance. )
(I'm doing a guest post on my travel series over at author Nik Perring's blog today. Stop by if you can!)
I'd love to be a full-time writer, because then I wouldn't have to be constantly figuring out ways to make time for my writing. I'm still teaching, and so I know what you mean about how teaching can be energy and sanity-draining. I spend so much time teaching classes, holding office hours, making lesson plans, grading papers, etc., etc. Not to mention I have to work other part-time jobs plus complete my graduate work, so sighhh...unfortunately, it doesn't leave me much time for the one thing I'd do for the rest of my life even if I never got paid or published.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be a full-time writer too. Having said that, I'm in a good position, as I only work part-time and I don't have any dependants. I too am in awe of people I know who have all-consuming jobs, and children, and elderly relatives, and still manage to be writers AND have a life - I don't know how they do it!
ReplyDeletealas, i am not, and still have my 9-5. i wish i could be a full-time writer, but if i were, i suspect i'd also want a bit of a change-up occasionally.
ReplyDeletemaybe working half-time would work for me.
BIG DREAMS, HUH?
hehe
I would love to be a full time writer - but am still in a 9-5 world at the moment. Have a feeling I just need to take a leap of faith but it's hard to say no to clothes from Anthropologie, goodies from Hotel Chocolat, and weekends in Paris that I wouldn't be able to afford otherwise! As Dr Phil (not me! ha ha) says, there's always a payoff! One day, one day, I will be brave and take that plunge.
ReplyDeleteNO. I've had a taste of what being a full-time writer is like, over the last year while I've been hurt and on worker's comp.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those people who needs order and activity every day in order to thrive. If I only have 5 hours in which to do everything, I'm way more efficient than when I have 15 hours. I probably write even MORE during those hours than I do all day.
I can't wait to be a full-time writer again! But won't chuck the day job just yet. I am lucky with it really as it gives me time to do other things around it, and gawd knows it is more steady then when I was freelancing. :)
ReplyDeleteI have a 9-5 (or 9-5.30, to be exact) and it is so hard to find time to write! My commute is an hour each way, and when you take into account showering, eating (and I'm blessed in that my OH does most of the cooking), tidying the flat, and spending some time with people I like, it's so easy for writing to slip. I really don't know how anyone writes, works full-time and raises a family.
ReplyDeleteIf I could, I would write full-time in a second.
Oh, I have no idea! I'm a 9-fiver. Well, 7-4er is more like it.
ReplyDeleteI might still work. IDK. I notice if I have days off, I tend NOT to write. I fill my time up with other silly things. So I wonder, if I was home full-time writing, would I actually write? Maybe I should take a 6 week vaca to figure it out. Yeah, in my dreams!
Ask me again when I'm published. That might be in a decade or so, though. Lol
~JD
"Post-officing exploits"?!?! Methinks we should be told!!
ReplyDeleteI've just been to Nik Perring's blog and love your big pic - LOL!
As for the question... I'm a (two)bit part writer with a full time job. :-)
Take care
x
Even if I get an agent and start writing for big sums of money, I'll still always teach flute and play music. But that's more because it's another love for me.
ReplyDeleteThanks, all, for weighing in! It's so interesting to hear what people would do if they actually had the choice. It *is* hard to be productive sometimes at home, but I do find now that my actualy 'writing' is limited more now anyway, on top of all the other stuff like promotion, etc.
ReplyDeleteOld Kitty - hehe, I know, the photo is huge! :)
I'd love to be able to support myself with my writing. As it is, I do so much of it at work I'll probably be fired. Like now, I'm in my office, listening intently for the sound of my boss walking by...
ReplyDeleteI currently work as afull time nurse, which gives me little time for writing.
ReplyDeleteBut if someone told me to quit my job to be a full time writer I'd do it without hesitating
I suppose I am but I also manage two flats which brings in more money than my writing does!
ReplyDeleteI work half-time so that I have time (and energy!) to write. I wish I made more money but I appreciate the room I've created in my life for writing. Sometimes I get resentful of my paying work, but other times I really appreciate using a different part of my brain and how it forces me to use my writing time (semi) efficiently.
ReplyDeleteI work part time as a librarian and have three children - I'm always longing for more time to write - my ideal would be 9-5 writing.
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of artists and writers, often women, have to (or choose to) compromise the time they spend at their craft. Often sacrifice their writing/art ... or are even pulled away from it. It takes a lot of guts, i think, to give up work and write fulltime so well done!
I write most of the time, being without an outside job. It's often a matter of balance, I think, and finding a way to give sufficiently to all the interests in our lives :)
ReplyDeleteI'd love to be a full time writer, but can't really complain (although I do) as I only work 27.5 hrs a week.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of anything nicer than not having to do hair/makeup etc to go to work. Then again, I'd probably end up looking a complete mess all of the time if I didn't have to dress up a bit.
Personally I'd love to write full time, it is my goal. I currently work part time, have an 18month old to entertain the rest of the time, and I do a lot of unpaid writing, mainly for the Literary Project, which has been known to take me off to Nottingham, Beverley, or even London.
ReplyDeleteI'm probably busier now than I ever have been, and sometimes my fiction writing slips because of other commitments, but to be honest I like the pressure of deadlines, even if they are self imposed, and I am a fairly solitary worker anyway. having said that, I'd be loathe to leave my current job because I get on so well with the staff and I quite enjoy the time with othjer adults.
So, um, I guess that answer is that i don't know, after all!
I'm not sure. I'm a student right now, aspiring to be a doctor. And while that will leave very little time for writing, I don't think I can give that up (when I have a job) for full-time writing. I like a stable job.
ReplyDeleteAnd, like Justine, I tend to waste the free time I have.
It's my dream to work part-time as a doctor (after paying back the debt :)) and write.
I would love to be a full time writer--or at least cut back to part-time work, but it's not feasible right now. Darn economy.
ReplyDeleteI would LOVE to be a full-time writing. This summer, between visiting families and watching my children, I'm going come as close as I can.
ReplyDeleteAnd after spending a few days in Paris, I decided it would be nice to write there full-time.
If I had the option - Yes, most definitely I would write full-time. Am working on a plan to try and achieve that. ;) I'm currently working full-time so its definitely challenging time-wise but I find that it also gives me the drive to write and blog whenever I can. ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm home all day with a 5year old and writing full time isn't as easy and lovely as it sounds. Monster Baby and I share the same space office/playroom. Right now in the background "Mulan" is singing her heart out. Thank God I've heard it 4000 times already, I can tune it out. The problem is when she talks. Then I have to break my chain of thought and answer her.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Summer. When you have all kinds of time, you procrastinate and don't spend nearly enough time on your writing. When I was working, weekends were mine and I could get 20K in. Now I'm lucky to get 2k a day.
I have a real job and a fancy one at nights (don't think anything strange, I mean writing), but if I could I would just write. I'm finding it a bit difficult to fit everything in but I've discovered that the less time I've got available, the more organized I get and the more tasks I get done.
ReplyDeleteI am not a full-time writer but yes, I would be if I could. I think I would still have a part-time job though at a bookstore or something...for the discount. :) And the stories from working there. I don't think I could just stay at home all day.
ReplyDeleteWell, I definitely would. But, I just don't know how I'd do it. My full-time job is taking care of my children and while it may seem like there's time to write, there definitely is no uninterrupted time to write. I'd love for someone to share the secret of balance. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel like I have a full time job. I home-school my son and do the accounting for my husband's company but I feel lucky not to have to work outside the home. I can focus on my writing.
ReplyDeleteCD
Great post Talli! As usual! I'd love to be a full-time writer, more or less because my best ideas happen between 6am-11am and those are hours I must work. It isn't convienent but I know that life is part of the struggles. Eventually I'll snag myself a full-time writing gig but until then I'll have to juggle both my full-time job and my writing time.
ReplyDeleteLOL! How to answer...
ReplyDeleteI've not had a J-O-B for eleven years. However, I am a business owner, so that sucks up a tremendous amount of time. Toss the business of being an author and being a speaker on top of it, and the result is utter chaos and the desperate need for a 40 hour day.
I'm also boggled by those who balance it all with kids, too. Wow. I don't know when those people sleep.
Would I work and write? I don't know, maybe part-time. I tend to be very one-thing focused. lol.
ReplyDeleteI really don't know how some people work a full-time job, have a family and write (or in my case edit) full time. As Diane said, it is very time-consuming owning your own company.
ReplyDeleteMany people have no choice BUT to also work outside the home. I truly credit them with their ability to accomplish all they do. It's my choice to stay home and focus on building my business, because I truly love what I do the way I never loved any of my (as I call them) "just a job" jobs.
It's not easy, and takes a lot of discipline. But for me anyway, it's so worth it!
It would be great to be a full-time writer, but for now, my part-time from home work helps pays the bills. It always takes priority over my not-yet-paid writing. :)
ReplyDeleteStill, something to dream about.
Talli, Reading your posts never takes much time but then I read the comments... So interesting to get all the viewpoints. I'm home all day but can't write all day because of other commitments. But it's disturbing how much time I waste.
ReplyDeleteHi Talli,
ReplyDeleteI am a full time writer during the day, but not as an author. Reaching a balance with writing is difficult...if not impossible sometimes.
Hopefully someday I'll catch the dream and be able to focus on my fiction 100% of the time.
Hm, seems part-time might be the right way to go! If I ever had to go back to 'work' (besides writing), I would hope to do it part-time for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks for weighing in, everyone!
I do have a full-time job... writing is manageable so long as the day job doesn't extend into evenings and weekends, but these last couple of months, for instance, I've hardly been able to write a single word and missed out on two antho deadlines I thought I could have written things perfectly suited for. Bah.
ReplyDeleteIdeally I'd love to work maybe four days a week, but my line of work doesn't accommodate that, and the only other option is less-than-half-time contracts that wouldn't leave me enough to live on. (Or to become a kept woman, I suppose. But there aren't even many vacancies for those left.)
On the other hand, Mark Charan Newton has managed to stay working 9-to-5 and still write one of the best received fantasy series in the last few years (and blog proper essays about fantasy and publishing three or four times a week).... although that doesn't say much about financial prospects for authors. Eek.
Talli, thats an interesting topic.
ReplyDeleteI am writing from home while raising my 2 kids and I would love to transfer it into an income.
But I wonder if I would write better if I was back in an office situation surrounded by people all day.
My fantasy solution would be to write a newspaper article every week that pays real money and spend the rest of the time on more literary work.
I was a stay-at-home mom before I was a writer, and, thankfully, my husband and I both prefer it that way. So I'm lucky enough to be a mom first, then a stay-at-home writer. Like you, I'm in awe of those who have a 9-5 job and write - those people have way more energy than I do. :)
ReplyDeleteI would if I could. Maybe you should get a writer with full time job to come on here and tell us how they do it?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I think my perfect scenario is to have a part time job (like working in a bookstore or something) so that I can get out of the house and interact with real humans (otherwise I'd hermit myself in with my cat and never talk to ANYONE. Ever.) But I'd have a hard time with the 9-5, being a college student is hard enough! :-P
ReplyDeleteTalli, I have a sign in my kitchen that reads, I'm so far behind that I thought I was first. Girl, it is the story of my LIFE! I juggle motherhood, writing, and doing the books for our business on a daily basis. Some days it works, but most of the time I'm playing catch up.
ReplyDeleteHave done both. Working at a fulltime job does provide income & characters. Working at home as a writer motivates you to write because you have to -- it's your income. It also requires a lot of discipline because you can get caught up watching videos & stuff! :)
ReplyDeleteOh, yes! I'd love to stay home and write full time. It really wouldn't take that much, so it is a possibility someday. But for right now we need the security of a regular paycheck!
ReplyDeleteI don't have a "job" outside the home, but when my Darling Daughter goes to college, I may look for a part time job just to get out and be around people. At the same time, I LOVE the freedom of writing whenever I want and I am pretty self-disciplined so I know I don't need to have a paycheck to write. So getting one would be a bonus.
ReplyDeleteYes ... and no! I do stay at home with two little ones, and I do a fair amount of freelance writing and editing. Fiction, sadly, comes last. But I try to make every second count! :-)
ReplyDeleteA job consumes a lot of time. It's a struggle to make time for writing.
ReplyDeleteYour job is so fascinating to me. i think you are extremely lucky to be able to do what you do.
ReplyDeleteGreat question - and a hard one for me to answer.
ReplyDeleteI love my job - I'm a teacher. Love my job. But... I'm always tired. Well, make that exhausted. The job is increcibly draining, but I can't imagine not teaching.
On the other hand, I desperately want more time for my writing. I usually can't provide much brain power to my wip during the week, so it mostly waits until the weekend.
I guess given the choice, I would work part time - maybe just teach Literacy. :)
oh I don't know! I never know the answer to this and I guess I don't have too. My ? is would I write full time if I could afford to and I think - uh...probably not. I like to go back and forth - city, country, busy, lazy, with folks, on my own. I think I've got it cushy. I'm my own boss as a psychotherapist and can work my own hours. I'd like more hours at it because I would like more money on the other hand keeping my clientelle down allows me a fair amount of time to write and garden and learn the accordion. OK maybe not that but in my dreams!
ReplyDeleteI'm a wife and mom and a writer...I taught for 17 years and it was more than a full time job. I loved it until I didn't. I still love my kiddos, but not administrators and paperwork. I don't know how people manage to write and have full time jobs...
ReplyDeleteGod, I would love to write full-time! But the only way I would is if the income I take in is enough to live at least a comfortable middle-class life. Otherwise, I'd want another job.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely in the still-have-a-day-job stage of writing. But if I could afford to be a full-time writer? Heck yes!
ReplyDeleteI always say that I'd love to stay home and write full-time but some little part of me thinks I might miss my job. I have a day job I love so it would be hard to give it up totally.
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ReplyDeleteI say I do, but I think I would probably go a little bananas.
ReplyDeleteMy full time gig drains the life out of my some days. I would love to be a full time writer, but probably would never quit my job unless I was a paid full time writer. I'm easily paranoid about things like... money. :)
ReplyDeleteI sometimes wonder if I have the attention span to write full-time. Plus I've got sixteen million other things to do besides my mama day job.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely would be a full time writer if I had the option. Working full time and following my compulsion to write is exhausting. However, it is nice to have a steady income. Life is all about balance :) xo
ReplyDeleteI am currently a full time writer and have been for the past 12 months, however, it does my head in sometimes!!! Many hard hours slogging away for very little finacial return, but OK, that's not really why I do it, I do it because it's in my blood, but even so, I do get fed up of seeing an empty bank account and asking hubby for more cash! But I have worked and cointinued to write, and you'd be amazed where you find the time. I wrote the first book while working and squeezed hours in all over the place, and that's when Parka was a baby, so it's possible. Saying that, I am going back to work in the next couple of weeks, so looks like I'll be squeezing time again!!!! xxx
ReplyDeleteI'm constantly thinking about this Talli! I work half-time, which works for me right now. Still have time for small daughter, errands, appointments, and theoretically writing. ;)
ReplyDeleteGood luck!
Interesting blog post Talli! As somebody who works full time and spends my remaining few hours a day reading, writing, reviewing, blogging, looking after two young puppies, trying to grab a bit of time with my boyfriend etc etc I can tell you whole-heartedly I would give absolutely anything to write full-time. I genuinely can't understand people who want to work full time, run a house and try to find time to write. Nightmare! What I'd give to have one day where I have absolutely nothing to do!
ReplyDeleteI'm a teacher by day and writer by night :-). I'd like to write full time but it's not paying the bills right now!
ReplyDeleteI think I'd leap at the chance to be a full-time writer. I'd only do it if it meant being financially stable (ish), obviously, but it's something I would love, love, love. I know writing sometimes loses its charm if it's all about 'work', but I find it hard to imagine myself being truly passionate about any other job (except maybe something in theatre).
ReplyDeleteI've got a full time job... have to. I am the main wage-earner in my family--more earning potential than the hubby, who was laid off almost 2 years ago and so is now in school.
ReplyDeleteIn my dream world I would make enough writing that I could give up the other, but the reality is, I probably can't give up the day job until my husband finishes school and can take over insurance and the like--writing pays well enough to be income #2, but it's RARE it pays well enough to be income #1.
I do what I have to--it's a good thing I love it.
I've had many jobs in my life and writing has never been the only thing I do. Still, when I first started taking writing seriously, I found time. I'm actually more productive when I have other responsibilities, so no, I probably wouldn't want to write full time. Yet. If I ever become an established writer I'm sure I would want to. Because other people depend on my production, not just myself.
ReplyDeleteGreat question! Have a great day, Talli!
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ReplyDeleteThanks so much for weighing in, everyone. What a great discussion!
ReplyDeleteNo, full-time teacher, but also full-time thinker about writing and what to write next. Teaching gives plenty of inspiration ...
ReplyDeleteI would love to only work part-time and write for the rest of the time if I could. I don't know if I'd ever go completely just writing, only because I tend to need a job to bore me into writing.
ReplyDeleteOkay. That doesn't sound right, but it's kinda' true. It kicks me out of saying, "I'll write tomorrow." Hm. Weird.