Hmm. At the moment, if I had to put a label on it, it'd be more calling than job/work. It's something I have to do, not to make a living, but because some part of me inside pushes me, makes me. I get cranky if I can't write.
I'd love to finish some original fiction and have it do well, but it's not about the money to me. It's more about the sharing of the pieces of myself that I put into it.
because some part of me inside pushes me, makes me. I get cranky if I can't write.
This is entirely true for me too. And I am most cranky when i want to write, have time to write and then it just doesn't happen. I'd rather write crap that I have to fix or toss later than nothing at all.
But I discovered long ago that the more I have to do the more i get done, and two years ago I stated applying that idea to writing. I was about to give birth to my third child, and I knew that if I didn't think more tactically about writing I would give it up and I didn't want that to happen. As a result I started thinking of it more a job, a responsibility than I had before.
I see it as a hobby. I don't earn money and I don't really anticipate earning money... I'm just having fun right now. That may change if I ever finish anything original and do something with it, but even then I'd still have a regular job, so it's really not the same thing. I see it always as being on the side and being fun.
I don't necessarily connect earning money to work. I'm a stay-at-home mom and before that did too much community theatre for that. Although one of the things that brought this idea to the fore is that I got a 'Christmas' job, and I had forgotten how nice it is to interact with people 'professionally', making me think about getting a paying job again and how writing fits into that.
Ah, see now I think there's a difference between work and a job! Maybe that's a bit thin (and I totally don't mean to insinuate anything about not being paid = not being work or anything!). Writing is definitely work in that it's something you *do.* I guess I was just thinking that "job" is more like your title/role and "work" is the activity.
I totally don't mean to insinuate anything about not being paid = not being work or anything!
I didn't think you did. More I was struck by the amount of my life I've not been compensated for my work even outside of my current job at home. And how often I define myself with that non-paying role instead of my other 'job' paid or unpaid. I'm pretty open with people that I write and what I'm working on, which has changed my personal accountability to my writing.
I don't think of it exactly as work but I definitely get cranky when my paying job demands too much of my energy/brain power for me to focus on writing. As far as differences between fic and original work, it's more in the goals I set for myself and how much of myself I put into it. I would love to make a living at it someday, but that's many, many years away if it ever happens :)
I think I kind of draw a line of distinction between the work of writing and writing as work. The work of writing exists because it's writing and requires effort. Writing as work, to me, implies not just the investment of time, but an intention to Do Something with it. That Something may not be earning money for yourself. It could be raising awareness, or offering the story to a non-profit to raise funds, or marketing, or a million other things. But the intention Do Something beyond just writing for the pleasure of writing and finishing a story and sharing it with "your friends" strikes me, personally, as the dividing line.
Writing as work, to me, implies not just the investment of time, but an intention to Do Something with it.
This is very much what I was realizing with the theatre connection. I didn't get paid for much of the theatre work I did over the years but there was a reason to do it, a very real outlet. Writing is easier to so do in a more insulated fashion.
Writing definitely requires work. I agonize sometimes over getting an interaction between characters just right. I don't put that much effort into dinner, for frak's sake.
But I think if I had to Do Something with my writing, I'd get a whole lot less pleasure out of it.
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I'd love to finish some original fiction and have it do well, but it's not about the money to me. It's more about the sharing of the pieces of myself that I put into it.
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This is entirely true for me too. And I am most cranky when i want to write, have time to write and then it just doesn't happen. I'd rather write crap that I have to fix or toss later than nothing at all.
But I discovered long ago that the more I have to do the more i get done, and two years ago I stated applying that idea to writing. I was about to give birth to my third child, and I knew that if I didn't think more tactically about writing I would give it up and I didn't want that to happen. As a result I started thinking of it more a job, a responsibility than I had before.
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I didn't think you did. More I was struck by the amount of my life I've not been compensated for my work even outside of my current job at home. And how often I define myself with that non-paying role instead of my other 'job' paid or unpaid. I'm pretty open with people that I write and what I'm working on, which has changed my personal accountability to my writing.
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This is very much what I was realizing with the theatre connection. I didn't get paid for much of the theatre work I did over the years but there was a reason to do it, a very real outlet. Writing is easier to so do in a more insulated fashion.
Reply
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Writing definitely requires work. I agonize sometimes over getting an interaction between characters just right. I don't put that much effort into dinner, for frak's sake.
But I think if I had to Do Something with my writing, I'd get a whole lot less pleasure out of it.
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