Comments on: Have your say: day jobs for authors

By: Anna Camara

Anna Camara — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:49:04 +0000

Not because I am of Portuguese heritage, but house cleaning might work for me.
I am fascinated by the details of how and where people live. I have never done it
professionally, but years ago a friend and I traded house cleaning services.
It is so much more fun to clean someone else’s place! My first choice, however,
would be to work in a book store or library. I think I would find it inspiring. I do not
recommend doing other kinds of writing for a living. Corporate communications,
I know, can suck the creative life out of you.

By: Don

Don — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:31:27 +0000

Well, it’s no wonder I’m getting nowhere. In my competitive hi-tech industry, I fall behind by not being aggressively on top of everything at all times. I haven’t the interest to do that, so constantly struggle (and work too many hours), yet must remain employed. When at home I’m too tired and distracted to produce. I can’t tell my family to go support themselves … yet. Maybe I’ll do that anyway. OK, enough whining. I like the bookstore idea, so long as no one I know finds me.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:30:23 +0000

I’m a technical writer by trade who works on contract only. This way, I can earn enough money to take time off
between each contract. It’s the only way I can get any creative writing done. I make notes, jot ideas, and consider
aspects of stories, poems, and other pieces, but it’s not until I have downtime in large chunks that I can actually
put it together.

I’ve tried part-time gigs; one at a talent agency was particularly helpful because of the creativity of the clients,
but the one as a meat-wrapper at a local chain grocery store was awful.

For me, the time between contracts is what makes slogging in a corporate environment less painful.

Maybe John Tomasi is right. Maybe we have to steal time from jobs we hate to make time for our work.
If that’s the case … on to the next unfulfilling gig!

By: linda cole

linda cole — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:39:54 +0000

So many people have a different opinion of what works for them; what works for me is babysitting in my own home, being around kids and seeing the way they see the world opens up my creative mind. Playing with them allows me to test out my ideas and theories. It’s like getting the futures outlook on your writing and at the same time inspires new writers to open up their creative minds.

By: Claire

Claire — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 01:05:44 +0000

Honestly, I suggest substitute teaching. Unlike regular teaching, as mentioned by a previous poster…When you work as a substitute, lesson plans are provided for you, and you are not responsible for marking students work, etc.

You should have ample time to hone your craft.

By: Rob in Victoria

Rob in Victoria — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:29:39 +0000

I agree with the idea of giving your days’ best energies to your writing — for me, that means rising at 3.45, and being at the desk by 4.30. The day’s writing is generally done by 7 or 7.30, leaving plenty of time for (an occasionally stumbled-through) day job. It comes down to personal rhythms — for me, the pre-dawn hours are the best. A night job would definitely interfere with that.

By: Shaun Smith

Shaun Smith — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:26:44 +0000

In my opinion, the best day job for a writer is a night job. Shyam Selvadurai actually told me this many years ago when I asked him how he managed to finish his first novel. He said he worked at Book City at night and wrote during the day. I adopted the same strategy not long after, going to work nights at two bookstores, and it allowed me to have my days free to finish a novel. (Which might actually get published some day.) The best thing about this strategy is that it allows you to use your freshest energies each day for your own work. The worst thing is that your social life goes down the crapper.

By: Vigilante

Vigilante — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:57:40 +0000

Law. And the practice of legal representation in particular. Why? Because if you find human habits to be interesting you’ll find no shortage of human interest in a courthouse. Fodder and folly, free for the picking.

That and the copious amounts of free time I find I’m able to spend on the computer goofing off. It looks like I’m working. I’m not actually working. I’m not BILLING, but I’m not working. I could be writing, doing something productive, I guess. Maybe I will someday.

Narf. Who am I kidding? I don’t have the conviction. Or the attention span.

Is there going to be a test on this? Oooh! My wine glass is empty…

By: Zachariah Wells

Zachariah Wells — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 01:31:22 +0000

I’ve been working in the transportation sector for the past twelve years. The various jobs I’ve done have upsides and downsides for writers.

For parts of five years, I worked as a cargo-handler and in-flight loadmaster for an airline in the Eastern Arctic. It was hard to get much writing done while I was working, because I basically worked every day for six weeks straight. The occasional long flights I’d take as loadmaster, however, were great for reading and writing. And the reward for my 6 weeks of labour was 3 weeks of leisure. Big chunks of time off, I’ve found, are far more useful than weekends or evenings.

When I transferred further north to become a cargo load-control agent, it got better. My workload was quite light most of the year, I had my laptop in my warehouse, and my rotation schedule went from 6&3 to 4&4.

Now I work onboard the train for Via Rail. Again, I don’t get much if any writing work done while I’m on shift (although one-day layovers in a hotel room have been quite productive), and my shift is 6 days long. But then I have 6 days off. And until I accrue more seniority, I get laid off for several months a year.

All of these jobs have been good, too, because they’re not intellectually oriented. This frees up the mental resources required to get writing done. And it keeps me in touch with a reality outside the writing life, which I think has been extremely beneficial. My cargo work and Arctic travels also provided a ton of fodder, which translated into the content of my first book.

By: Bryan Arndt

Bryan Arndt — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:37:51 +0000

I actually took a year off & started writing 3 books. I’ve been back at my ‘job’ for about 6 weeks & have been managing/balancing the writing/creating with not only the job, but regular day-to-day errands as well.
Book #1 will be ready to go to the printers/recording studio by the start of 2008. Tons of research & a great headstart on book #2 – that will be out Q3, 2008 and the third book will be out early 2009. So far – so good. I think what helps me do this too is the fact that I am very good at what I do re: the job – but the idea is to transition to writing/creating full-time within the next 14 months.