Quitting Your Job to Write Full Time
A few years ago I wrote a
blog called, “Why I Will Probably Never Be a Full Time Writer,” Before you jump to conclusions, let me say it had nothing to do with sucking.
The realization came to me
that when I had a routine, and somewhat
of a “morning deadline,” I would be far more motivated to get things done. When
I knew that I had all day, I’d have greater tendency to procrastinate, dink
around, and wait until I got too tired to do it. Moreover, forcing myself
into social settings is a lot of work into itself, and having a place where I
am obligated to get out of the house and talk to be people saves me from being
stir crazy and talking to myself.
Even if I did have the
time and money to be a full time writer, would I really want it?
Well, yeah.
But I bring this up due to
the interesting dependence being a writer has on being full-time. Many
beginning authors want to know, “When can I quit my day job?”
I overheard a girl
complaining about her boyfriend quitting his job (without telling her) to write
his novel, claiming that he would sell it and be in the big bucks soon. Her
bigger concern seemed to be how he stole all his ideas from her and then coldly
reply with, “Writers draw from life!” whenever she pointed it out. She bemoaned
how he would lie about her being the source at times, how he copied a character
she’d proudly written in college, and even if he did admit it to her, he’d lie
to his friends. He demanded that she read through it for content and copy
editing, so it made it impossible for her to just ignore it.
When she threatened to
break it off with him, he yelled at the that he was SO CLOSE to the big time.
Online, I had a discussion
with someone who wanted to know how to find an editor. He wasn’t sure if he
wanted to go into self-publishing or traditional publishing, but the truth was he just “simply didn’t have the time” to
edit it himself. He wanted to get the book out there so he could make some
money to quit his job and therefore write more.
When I pointed out that
self-publishing takes a lot of effort and
money and traditional publication requires you to do a lot of edits
yourself (outside of the ones you should be doing before you get accepted) he
said, “I didn’t know that!” He ended up deciding on hiring an editor and going
the traditional route.
Back when Dean Koontz was
first starting out, he and his wife made a deal. She gave him a deadline in
which she would support him financially giving him time to make a career out of
writing. He did it.
A friend of mine complains
when her aspiring writer of a husband asks for alone time to go write, sticking
her with the baby for an extra hour after her shift. When she approaches him,
he’s online looking at Youtube. I said, “Well, to be fair, that’s what writing
looks like for me too.”
Authors are approached by
hordes of people claiming, “You know, I want to be a writer, but I just don’t
have the time. When I retire, I’ll get around to it!” and then find ourselves
in writers groups with sixty-year-olds who will only offer the same first three
pages every meeting.
How much of us actually
need the time to write? Most of us don’t
need more of it, we need to use what
we have better. We need dedication. We need will power, motivation, diligence.
I try to write five pages a day. If I don’t get it done, I have to make up for it later. My own caveat, however, is that if I genuinely did not have any time to do it, I can exempt myself from the daily dose. I have only exempted myself on four occasions in the last six years. One was for a holiday because I told myself to ease up more. Another was when I lost a day when I moved to Australia. Another was an entire day dedicated to collaborating with a musician for a musical with only one lunch break out of the waking hours.
I don’t recommend being
this strict on yourself. Sometimes it is more detrimental than good (other
days, it works very well) and I think forgiveness and flexibility is key to
achieving your goals. My point is, more so, that when I have a day that I
didn’t write, there were a lot of times I could have been writing.
I know people who have
several children, a full time job, and still manage to get in some work. I
know times where I had all the hours of the day assigned to nothing… and
nothing is exactly what I did.
Quitting our jobs to write
full time is a great castle in the sky. Sometimes it’s just an excuse. Sometimes
it’s exactly what you need. Sometimes it’s the goal the continues you forward
even when you’re more interested in sending the manuscript and the computer
it’s attached to through the window.
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