Did your dayjob hurt your writing?
I've asked lots of writers that question, most recently in this video interview with National Book Award winner Sherman Alexie and NBA finalist Joshua Ferris.
Sometimes, you just need to leave that dayjob. Jeffrey Yamaguchi has an interview with writer Lilit Marcus about her work on Save the Assistants--a web project that saved her writing career. Check it out:
"In the year since Save the Assistants launched, I've been able to actually make my living as a writer. But no matter what happens, I can never forget what it was like to have a boring, soulless, depressing job. I will never be able to totally let go of the feeling of emptiness I had when I worked there."
Elsewhere in the virtual literary world, Tao Lin takes his signature brand of writer porn to the pages of The Stranger, writing about "the levels of greatness a fiction writer can achieve in america."
Finally, the madcap political reporter, Matt Taibbi, has a few choice words for fledgling writers. Read it and weep:
"What journalism really needs is more people who are reporting who actually know something. Instead of having a bunch of liberal arts grads who’ve read Siddhartha 50 times writing about health care, it would be really nice if some of the people who are writing about health care were doctors." (Thanks, Romenesko)