7 Comments

I agree with so much of this! For me, my full-time job as a 911 dispatcher (for more than twenty years now) has often provided the financial peace of mind to be able to write. I’m not one of those writers who thrives when stressed about the finances. If failure to get published meant being unable to pay the rent/mortgage, I’d be paralyzed. The only downside (as you mentioned) is being able to easily make time to write. Especially that I’m now in my early fifties, it’s getting harder to find time when I’m not too tired from work. My days off are when I hit the keyboard extra hard.

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Thank you for your service, Bill. I don't know any writers who thrive when stressed about finances, though I suppose there may be some. I hear you when you say you are tired. I'm in my 70s now, and these days there's no way that I could run at the pace I did then. Best of luck to you.

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I adored this post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on this topic, Cinda.

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What a great message - thanks for this 📚

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I love this so much. Whenever kids ask me what to study if they want to be a writer, I say, "Something that keeps you interested and curious, and something that earns you a paycheck while you try your hand at writing." I worked in finance for almost 20 years while I was trying to make my own dream come true.

Publishing is always hard. The day job makes it so much LESS hard.

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I really love this piece, particularly the bit about the real imposters (so... many... Of them) and the line "One benefit of having a day job is that you don’t fall into the trap of judging your writing by its ability to support you financially."

I have had to have a day job, and now, I'm happy to have one. I'm lucky that my field (taxes) is seasonal - no life and no writing for four months of the year, and plenty of time for both in the remaining eight months.

But I'm a slow writer, and don't want to be in the position I overheard a NYT-bestselling author once say, "If I don't publish a book this year, I don't eat." I'd rather eat now and publish in another year or two.

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For real. Writing is stressful enough, right? Sounds like you've made a good plan.

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