by Susan Kelley
Member since:
May 15, 2007

Giving up your day job

August 03, 2007 10:28 PM UTC
views: 0 | comments: 11

I think every beginning novelist dreams of being able to write full time. No 9-5 job, sit at the computer anytime you want. Wear old sweat pants around, drink coffee from a big wide mug and send off the next great novel to your agent and wait for the checks to come in the mail. But how many of us can actually do this? Not many. Most of us keep working those OTHER  jobs to pay the bills or as important, keep you health insurance. Being self employed is sometimes about things other than the money. I bet many of us have weighed the option, looked at our finances and wondered if we could make it. So are you one of those I envy, working at writing at home? If you're not, do you think you could be someday? If you are, what about health insurance? Give us poor slobs making that morning commute everyday some hope. How are you doing it?

 www.susankelleyauthor.com

 

Comments: 11

Bundy P Aug 3, 2007, 10:31pm UTC
I'm not a writer, but I'm home...does that count? LOL
Tom M. Aug 3, 2007, 10:38pm UTC
I will be able to stay home this year should I choose to do so, but I intend to keep working at least part time for a couple of reasons. I want to build a down payment for a new home, I love the kids I work with, and I think I will still need to get out of the house some. It is very possible, but every situation is different.
Christina A. Aug 3, 2007, 11:01pm UTC
I don't think I'll ever be able to quit my day job, nor would I want to. I love my job and I too, would need to get out of the house sometimes. A lot of my inspiration for characters comes from the different people I see at work everyday. At this point my writing is a hobby. I love it and will continue to do it and who knows, maybe someday I'll get lucky and sell one of my books! Ask me again then. ;)
Erica M. Aug 3, 2007, 11:10pm UTC
It would be really hard for me to quit my job. Flex hours, PTO, insurance, even though we are small, better than nothing. My hubby is the self employed, I have to keep the day job for steady income. A tleast I have found a job I like, I hope for you, your dreams will come true!
I'm afraid I quit the day job prior to being able to make a living from my writing or anything else. Hubby has to keep us afloat for the time being. But you never know, right?
Randy- Being true to myself Aug 3, 2007, 11:38pm UTC
Not a writer, but definitely home
arlene (no shame in my game) w. Aug 4, 2007, 12:22am UTC
I am too close to retirement to even think about quitting. Not to mention the insurance. Besides, I couldn't make a living writing.
J. G. Weddle Aug 4, 2007, 10:24am UTC
I like to think my work will someday carry my financial burden. I have the drive, imagination, and the outlines of books that I will someday write and publish. Right now I work, with two kids in college, I must. I guess my hope is to write enough to add to my retirement, and write full time once I quit punching the time clock.
Charlotte P. Aug 4, 2007, 7:46pm UTC
I was sitting around one night, mad about something at work. My hubby asked me, "If you quit, what would be your dream job?" I told him I always wanted to be a writer, but that was such a silly dream, I'd given up on it. He said, then go in tomorrow and quit. I quit my day job on August 6, 1996. Let me tell you, it's not what it's cut out to be. At first it's wonderful. You can sleep in. You can set your own schedule. Then one day you wake up and think, "Dang, I'm alone. Hubby is at work. Dog is out with his doggy friends. All my friends work. I miss the people at the old job." Then I sat down and started to make up friends. They turned into novels. So now I write. My first book, Fugue Macabre: Ghost Dance will be released in October. I have a deadline for the second book of the trilogy: October 31. Guess what? Writing is a job. It's not just a day job either. You write day and night some times.
Trish A. Aug 6, 2007, 7:51pm UTC
I absolutely agree with Charlotte, writing is a full-time job. You have to take it serious. You have to create deadlines and meet them. You have to do research and boy oh boy you get to have some great fun.

Kerry, thanks for the reminder about your group. I had forgotten.
Mark M. Aug 11, 2007, 4:15am UTC
It takes drive and ambition to make writing your career. I know 'successful' writers and they have those qualities in spades. But it depends on how you define successful. Some writers have monetary success - those are the driven ones who have studied marketing and they are constantly selling themselves their projects within the industry. If you are a writer who has a book burning within you, you just need to write it. There are plenty of options from there (Print On Demand, Vanity Presses, etc.) Or shop it to an agent (you are much more likely to be published when represented than by submitting an unsolicited manuscript to a publishing house's slush pile. You've got to really believe in yourself. But if you just want to put it out there and hope it reaches your audience, then write. The Universe might just conspire to get you out there. Good luck.

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