The Benefits of Having a Day Job
By Margaret Dilloway | March 10, 2017 |
photo by Harold Meerveld
Last year, I confided in a former colleague that I was thinking of getting a regular job instead of writing full-time. See, I’d taught creative writing part-time at a middle school, and I liked many aspects of having a job outside the house.
They expressed that I’d burst their bubble about the writing life. Wouldn’t that be giving up? At this, I felt slightly ashamed, as if going back to work would indeed equal throwing up the white flag. Indeed, at other times, people have asked if writing’s the “only thing I do.” When I reply yes, they give an approving cluck and say something like, “Good for you.” But the truth is, I’ve only really been able to write because my husband works and is willing to support us—every writing check I’ve earned has gone to some put-off familial necessity.
This notion of writing full-time is usually seen as the Holy Grail for those fantasizing about publishing. If you give up your day job, the myth goes, you have it made. Yet I find myself having a lot of hours to fill once I’m done with my work. And giving an anxiety-prone writer too much free time can be bad. Some people, like Border Collies, need to keep their hours filled. If you leave a Border Collie home alone with nothing to do, expect a (proverbial) couch to get shredded.
Over the years, there have been a few posts about day jobs here at Writer Unboxed. I decided to ask a few writer friends with day jobs how they juggle writing and the 9 to 5.
Fiscal Freedom
One thing that many newbies are surprised by is the vagaries of income in the publishing world. Advances are paid out in increments; author royalties are generally paid just twice a year. Bestselling author Cheryl Strayed was upfront about this in a Vulture interview, noting that while she was on tour for her book Wild, her rent check bounced. She didn’t receive her first royalty check for nearly a year.
Sometimes payments get held up by contract negotiations. Sometimes the publisher actually just forgets. The constant anxiety of not knowing when or how much your next paycheck takes toll. How can you be creative if you’re worried about your next meal?
A steady paycheck does away with these anxieties. Extra income may also you to attend more writer conferences and classes, and therefore advance your career more quickly. Also, having a day job could allow you to use any book advance you get toward publicizing your book.
If a publisher wants you to substantially change your book and you need that money, chances are you’ll change the book to get that green. Another income gives you the freedom to say no, because you’re not dependent on that income.
photo by Dimitrios Zampelis
Filling the Well
Another benefit of having a day job is getting out of the writer cave. Writers need experiences to write about. They need to hear how people speak, and catch snippets of stories to inspire their fiction.
Middle grade author Casey Lyall wrote Howard Wallace, PI, and works as a branch assistant at her local library. “First of all, I get to work with kids of all ages which is always a blast. It’s an opportunity for me to chat with my target audience and hear what they’re interested in,” she says. “I also get to check out the latest titles as they come in so I’m keeping on top of what’s new in the wording world. And, last but not least, it gets me out of the house. It would be way too easy for me to be a total hermit and stay inside with my laptop all the time. Fresh air is good for the brain!”
Julie Wu, author of The Third Son, says she chose to go to medical school instead of getting an MFA. Though she no longer practices medicine, she says that time was necessary for her writing life.
I actually went to medical school after I reached an impasse in my writing and realized how narrow my life experience was. I’d had a happy childhood in a wealthy Boston suburb, majored in literature at Harvard, and was studying opera. I considered getting an MFA, but thought doing so would keep me in the same insulated, rarefied environment I’d always been in. Being a doctor took me out of that and gave me an intimate relationship with people of all ages and walks of life, at crucial junctures of their lives. It gave me a broader perspective. Maybe if I’d done an MFA my prose would have been absolutely fabulous, but I’d have far less to say. I’d rather be bursting with ideas and convey them slightly less elegantly.
Author Brooks Benjamin (My Seventh Grade Life in Tights) teaches 5th grade in Tennessee, and finds inspiration in his job. “Teaching has always been rewarding, but ever since I began writing, I have discovered that it also guides the voices of my characters in so many ways. My students inspire and motivate me to push for depth, individuality, and complexity with my own characters. Each child is so unique that I can’t help but use them as creative fodder for my projects.”
Forced Focus
When you have very limited hours to tackle writing every day, time becomes precious. Benjamin says, “My writing schedule has adapted tremendously to allow me some time in the morning and at night to work. Since the bulk of my day is spent teaching, I have discovered I tend to approach these writing moments the same way I approach writing toward a deadline. The need to focus on the story is heightened and my time wasters tend to get ignored a little more.”
Satisfaction
Publishing moves at grandfather turtle speed, as one of my teachers used to say. Sell a book today and often it won’t come out for two years. It can be frustrating to watch the progress, or lack thereof. The life of an author is filled with short times with lots of work, and times with nothing at all to do.
Having a job with quicker deadlines satisfies the need to see completed projects.
Sharpening Writing Skills
Some jobs lend themselves to making your writing generally better. “As a freelance editor I’ve realized I’m a much better editor than writer. This has been so helpful because it has freed me up to write bad first drafts in the sure knowledge that I can put on my editing head and fix everything later,” says Amanda Conran, author of The Lost Celt, book seller and freelance editor. “As a book talker, it’s fascinating to talk about books and see when a character, or an idea really engages my kid audiences. You can hear the gasps of interest.”
Janet Sumner Johnson (The Last Great Adventure of the PB&J Society) says, “My day job is as a French translator. My job has a lot of overlap with writing because I’m taking someone else’s words and rewriting it while trying to maintain the feel of their words and their voice (vs. taking it over and saying things the way I would want to.). This is a huge help when I work to establish a voice of a character, instead of just saying things the way I would say them. I also think it makes me more aware of how one’s culture can really affect one’s language.”
Do you have a day job? Do you think it helps or inhibits your writing? Would you quit?
[coffee]
Margaret Dilloway is the author of the new middle grade series MOMOTARO: XANDER AND THE LOST ISLAND OF MONSTERS (Disney Hyperion) and three women’s fiction novels. She lives in San Diego with her family and a big Goldendoodle named Gatsby. She teaches creative writing to middle schoolers and does developmental editing.
Editor needed for headline. On a writing site. Cardinal sin.
Michael,
All Writer Unboxed contributors and editors work on a strictly volunteer basis, so the occasional typo does slip by unnoticed. Thank you for pointing out the error, which has been corrected.
Best wishes,
Kim Bullock
Good advice here, Margaret!
My 30 years as an engineer helped my creative writing–yes, by forcing me out of my writer cave–but also by forcing me to write to a deadline. Even more importantly, I learned to manage transitions, provide consistency (a logical progression of ideas), and describe technical concepts for a non-technical audience. This last is particularly helpful during the revision pass where I try to evaluate my WIP from the reader’s POV, e.g., identify where s/he might get lost or confused.
I also write poetry, which I think makes for a good combination of skills. I hope readers agree.
My day job provides all the benefits you describe. The most valuable to me is “forced focus.”
I don’t struggle with writing. For me it’s not angst ridden. Every hour I grab to write is a gift. It’s my reward and recreation. I make the most of it.
There’s another benefit to having day job, too. I’m okay at it, and that reminds me I’m competent. I approach writing in that spirit: it’s something I can do, maybe even master.
Fiction writing is complicated but so is my job, parenting, marriage and picking an outfit to wear in the morning. If I can do those things, I can do this.
This is a wonderful attitude, Benjamin. I’m going to try to adopt it.
:)
Dee
Yes! I think feeling competent every day is so important. Publishing takes so long that there’s lots of negative space in which to question that– hence the border collie analogy :)
Hmm, Margaret, I tend to whine about my day job… in writing circles, that is, and notice the pings of jealousy over authors who get to write full time. You’ve made me think of the other side, the bright side, of what I sponge from working a full time job that isn’t writing. And how to appreciate the snippets of time I do get. Thank you for that.
Dee Willson
Author of A Keeper’s Truth and GOT (Gift of Travel)
Margaret, there’s a great book called “Scratch” by Manjula Martin that interviews a lot of writers, many of them well-known, about their relationships with their writing work, money, and other work and income sources. (Cheryl Strayed is one of them, and her money issues about royalties and advances are even more tangled than you allude to here.)
Anyway, Scratch talks about a number of the good things you delve into here. Check it out:
https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Scratch/Manjula-Martin/9781501134579
My day job(s) are all about writing, so at least I keep the keyboard warm when I turn to fiction, which I’ve turned away from lately, because I’ve been a gloom-monster. But writing essays, travel pieces, business copy and editing books at least keeps writing foremost.
Glad you liked Scratch, Tom! It’s sitting on my shelf, but I haven’t started reading it yet. :-)
Alisha, it’s fascinating. And confirms the suspicion that making a living as a writer has some unsurprising and many-flavored weirdnesses.
“You should never quit your day job, but your ultimate goal should be to quit your day job!” Love it!
Every time I read advice articles on how writers can squeeze minutes out of days filled with children, spouses, and day jobs, I think how lucky I am to be old–retired, widowed, children all grown. Lots of undisturbed time to write–or to fritter away.
But Ms. Dilloway is so right when she discusses the importance of experiences outside the house. I live in the country, far from decent jobs, but I’ve considered part time fast food or feed store work in the nearby little farm town just to hear the voices of the people I write about.
Great post, Margaret. I have to say, the border collie analogy had me chuckling in recognition! Thankfully, I have yet to shred a couch.
More to the point, though, I really relate to that pressure not to “give up” by seeking some form of day job, while also sensing that the additional structure and income might serve me (and my supportive husband) well. Surely there’s some happy medium–when I worked full-time I found I didn’t do a good job of conserving enough mental or physical energy for writing. I think I really had to make the commitment for a while to claiming that the writing IS my work, period. Now that I’ve spent a few years getting into that groove and addressing my own learning curves on the writing/work front, I’m looking back toward finding ways to add some external work to the equation.
It’s always helpful to see how others solve this dilemma–and to consider the pros and cons without too much Inner Critic interference! Thanks again.
Thank You for your post Margaret.
Having just signed with an agent, I’ve been asked whether or not I’ll quit my day job. I’m a farmer, and I’ve found that the work is actually helpful in my writing. When you spend twelve or fourteen hours a day on a tractor, you’d be surprised how much constructive thinking time you have. I can’t ignore what I’m doing, but the alone time (and no Internet) helps a lot.
I have a day job as a book buyer, and after sitting (or standing) in front of the computer most of the day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is open my laptop. I don’t write by hand, because my handwriting is illegible, so it’s the computer for me. Some mornings, I’m able to drag myself from bed early to write, starting my day with the most important task, which boosts my mood tremendously. But maintaining that habit is a challenge for me at this time.
So I fit fiction writing in on the weekends. Hard to keep my mind in the story that way, but at least I’m making some progress!
As a fiction writer, I can see how having a day job helps in all the ways you mentioned. For me, I need a part-time job so I have the mental power to write part-time.
As a copywriter, I think it would be easier for me to cut the strings on my day job, which would force me to get more clients–a huge motivator. The copywriting would then become my day job, leaving weekends, once again, for fiction writing. Sigh.
Great topic, Margaret! While I think I’d probably ditch the day job if I ever start earning big bucks from my fiction, that would really be something I’d do as an indulgence, not an artistic requirement. The reality is that even when I do have the free time to write (like during weekends or vacations), I could never write fiction all day long – the most I ever manage is a few hours in a row. So I can’t really make the argument that I *need* to have my days entirely free to write.
Plus, for the past 20 years, my day job has been as a writer: first as a technical writer (yes, writing computer manuals – hey, don’t knock it – that’s what Sara Gruen used to do), then writing sales proposals and RFP responses, then writing marketing copy for Office Depot, and now doing corporate speeches, PowerPoints, video scripts, policy memos and the like. I’m a firm believer that having a writing-related day job can really help you keep your tools sharp, and also keeps you in the mindset of writing being a *job* – something that needs to get DONE.
The often Dilbertian nature of corporate life does make me long for the freedom to just write whatever I like, but given the way my country treats health care as a luxury rather than a right, I draw a tremendous amount of security from having both a steady and predictable income and decent health benefits. So I don’t plan to tell anybody to “take this job and shove it” anytime soon. Thanks for bringing up a real-world topic that affects so many of us!
Exactly! I never spend more than a few hours on writing fiction either. too much free time for me to spend fretting :)
Mr. K. Cronin: Have just received my 600 page computer manual. What happened to ON and OFF?
I can recommend retirement, as long as you have a sufficient pension of course.
Not only do you have the time (though that can tempt you into reading newsletters and blogs on writing instead of actually doing it), but a lifetime of dealing with life, job, husband, children and so on and on can provide an insight into the human condition. And endless anecdotes.
Such a great perspective, Margaret. My day job is running my copywriting business, and i wouldn’t give it up for the world. Aside from all the reasons you mention, I find it helps keep my writing life balanced. If I had 8 full hours a day to write fiction, I still wouldn’t be able to clock in more than 2, since it’s often so emotionally draining. By copywriting full-time, I’m still exercising my writing muscles and paying bills. Double win! :)
When I ended my marriage, there went a big portion of my income – POOF! I flailed about, worried, angsted, etc etc etc – but, if I wanted to keep my Lil Log House and eat and pay my bills, I needed to pull in some income. Fortunately for me, so far, I’ve been able to work from home doing freelance editing and some website work. My royalties, twice a year, I just consider as “extra” and not a dependable income source.
But, often, I do miss the luxury I had of writing all day. It’s just not that way anymore – so I have to carve out slices of time here and there.
Love this post.
As for me, I couldn’t care less about having a day job. As a self-published author, I make a pretax income of around $250,000 a year by working one or two hours a day. These words of wisdom resonate with me big time:
“All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind.”
— Aristotle
“It is no measure of health to be well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
“Workaholism is an addiction, and like all addictions, it blocks creative energy.”
— Julia Cameron, writing in “The Artist’s Way”
“The really efficient laborer will be found not to crowd his day with work, but will saunter to his task surrounded by a wide halo of ease and leisure.”
— Henry David Thoreau
“Leisure is the time for doing something useful. This leisure the diligent person will obtain, the lazy one never.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“The morality of work is the morality of slaves, and the modern world has no need of slavery.”
— Bertrand Russell
“Men of lofty genius are most active when they are doing the least work.”
— Leonardo da Vinci
“If your success is not on your
own terms, if it looks good to the world but does not feel good in your heart, it is not success at all.”
— Anna Quindlan
“Getting a job and trading your time for money may seem like a good idea. There’s only one problem with it. It’s stupid! It’s the stupidest way you can possibly generate income! This is truly income for dummies.”
— Steve Pavlina, Author of “Personal Development for Smart People”
“I’d rather live precariously in my own office than comfortably in somebody else’s.”
— Peter Mayle
I had a day job, and there were times when it was great for me and my writing, and times when it wasn’t.
My ideal situation lasted for about a year, in which I was basically a part-time secretary. I had a modest income, health benefits, coworkers that I loved, and best of all: time to write, both at home and at the office.
But as the company grew, so did their needs, and at a certain point, they wanted more out of the position than I wanted to give, so I left (with the support of my husband as well). Now I love the freedom and flexibility of not having a day job, but it puts a lot of pressure on the writing, while simultaneously removing the structure that helped me stay productive on a daily basis. I’m still working on that… :P
Also, I recognize that it’s a luxury to be in my position, and it might not be the right thing for everyone, nor even necessarily the right thing for me in the future. We’ll see!