Never let a crappy day job keep you from writing!

Many writers, especially those of us who dabble in fiction and poetry, aren’t lucky enough to make a living off our writing. Thus we are forced to endure all sorts of day jobs to support our writing habit. The downside to this is obvious; you’re spending your precious time working for someone else, making someone else rich, and that someone else probably doesn’t understand your literary ambitions. The upside, which is much less obvious, is that you can put a roof over your head and food on the table while you pound out the great American novel in your spare time.

Even famous writers endured miserable day jobs

If you find yourself in the unenviable position of having to work a miserable day job to support your writing, you’re not alone! Many famous writers had to put up with the day-to-day drudgery of a nine-to-five job, and work on their masterpiece during off-hours. This is nothing new and seems to be part of the "paying your dues" that many great authors endure.

Thus I have compiled a short list of authors and the day jobs they endured in order to soothe your creative soul. While the literary merits of many of these authors can be questioned, their success as a writer is undeniable:

Stephen King: This prolific writer toiled as a high school English teacher for a few years, and according to his book On Writing (aff link), is when he began to fear becoming an old English teacher who took out that novel manuscript to tinker with it every once in a while. Since then, King has had a wildly successful writing career that was briefly interrupted when he got hit by a car (another event he talks about in his book on writing).

F. Scott Fitzgerald: Having a definite writing talent, Fitzgerald didn’t seem to succeed at much else. He wrote his first book, This Side of Paradise, while he toiled away in the US Army, hoping to be sent overseas to fight in WW1. There was only one problem – Fitzgerald was a horrible soldier. Luckily he was much better at writing. Legend has it that when Fitzgerald was working on his first novel, he would run to the Officer’s club after the day’s drills were finished and sit in the corner of a noisy, smoke-filled room writing his book longhand. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is! By the way, Fitzgerald was discharged from the Army before seeing combat.

John Grisham: Working as a lawyer, Grisham hammered away at his first novel in his spare time (often getting up early in the morning to get some writing done). I have also heard he wrote during recess in court, but I have no way of verifying this information. The point is, if a busy lawyer can find time to write, so can you (unless you’re an even busier lawyer)!

James Joyce: This young chap intended to study medicine in Paris, but never quite made it through the schooling. Afterwards he scraped together a living by reviewing books and teaching.

Robert Louis Stevenson: He was supposed to follow in his father’s footsteps building lighthouses. But he enjoyed dreaming up stories about the exotic coasts he saw while traveling much more than boring engineering and construction. Then he studied to be lawyer (or Scotland’s equivalent of a lawyer), but that didn’t pan out well either. During all this time he practiced his craft and eventually landed on a pretty respectable career as a writer.

Writing while on the clock!
What is a budding writer to do if he/she is stuck in a boring day job already? Why not get your writing done on the clock. During the course of my serious resear ch for this post, I came across an interesting link that claims:

…there is nothing better than writing the words to that novel that may or may not become a bestseller and make you rich and famous while you’re supposed to be on the job.

That’s right, I’m suggesting getting you’re writing done while at your day job! What else are you going to do? Surf the internet all day? One of the biggest benefits to writing while at your day job is that you are actually getting paid while you write. And, as this article points out:

Plus, it should be noted that if you’re writing while on the job, you are technically being paid, albeit in a round-about, subversive way, for writing! That is no small feat. You are probably making more money off of your writing than most published authors.

I’m not sure how well that logic holds up, but it’s good enough for me. Make sure you read the entire article, as there are some good tips on getting a healthy amount of writing done during work. My personal favorite is number 12, only because I think writing can be a lonely endeavor and we all need the support of our peers.

If you feel like posting a comment asking me if I engage in such sneaky behavior at my day job, my only response is that I plead the 5th. What about all of you? What is your crummy day job and when do you get your writing done? I promise not to tell your boss.

How-to Write Your Novel While You’re on the Clock

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