It’s been pretty crazy at the day job and I’m finding it challenge to fit my time in for writing. Times like these I muse about how my life would be if I could just dedicate all my time to writing.
But of course, I need to eat. And currently fiction doesn’t feed me.
I read this blog post Writing for a Living last week at The Kill Zone by guest blogger Mark Terry.
Through his experiences, he poses some sobering conclusions about making a living from writing:
“1. Just because a writer gets published doesn’t mean they make a living as a writer.
2. Many writers who write full-time as novelists have:
A well-paid, supportive spouse
Retired from a job and are on pensions and social security
Made a lot of money somewhere along the line and are now living on it
Write more than one novel a year
Supplement their novel-writing with other types of writing
Are lying
Are Top 10 bestselling authors
3. Just because their books says “bestselling author” does not mean they’re making tons of money.
4. There’s money to be made, but it’s not very reliable.”
I do know of some writers who make a living from their words but it’s very few.
The realistic point as a writer, you may never make your primary income from your words alone. But I think this is where you must write because you cannot write. You are doing it for more than just the money.
During these hectic times, I do wish there was more time to dedicate to my novel, but also during these times I feel blessed to have a job that sustains me financially.
What do you think? Is it naive to want to write for a living? Or should you think of writing as supplemental income?
Karen, I think many writers dream of doing it full-time, but it does seem like it’s almost impossible these days. I have to say that I don’t think I could write full-time; spending so much time alone would drive me a little batty. That’s why I love teaching - though it isn’t exactly a get-rich-quick kind of job, it gives me a chance to interact with other people and to talk about writing all I want.
I suppose there are all kinds of writing you can do to write for a living. For a while, I worked at home writing educational materials, but it was basically supplemental income to my husband’s salary. I don’t do so much of it anymore, in part because I have a salaried job. It’s nice to dream that one day, I could stay home and work on writing novels, though. But I think it’s mostly a dream.
Anna: I think one of the reasons I like my day job is because I like the work and the people I work with — although it can be extremely crazy at times, I find that it makes me focus more on writing in those designated times.
Andrea: For a few years, I was a technical writer and it actually helped me write more concise. It was a little draining at times though writing all day and then writing later on the novel at night. But now since I’m not making any money from creative writing at all — I too think of mostly as a dream. But you never know what could happen in the future.
Well, I do write for a living as a copywriter, and I think I would like my published works (one day, I hope!) to be more of a supplemental income. Of course it would be great if I could just write my own creative things and get paid enough to live, but for now, I’ll be happy with the fact that I can write all day for money, and then write for pleasure at night.
What you plan for and what you hope for don’t have to be the same thing. You plan to have alternate income sources and you hope that some day you won’t need them.
Tiana: I’m a night owl by nature, so even if I didn’t have a job, I probably wouldn’t start until like 9pm anyway so I might well do something with my day. Cool that you are a copywriter — that probably helps you a lot during the revision phase.
Carl: This is so true. My grandma always told me to have a Plan B — and I think most artists do. Those artists who don’t have Plan Bs or other income streams probably didn’t start out that way — unless they were already independently wealthy.
It’s fun to dream. But along with dreams, it’s wise to be realistic. I’ll go as far as the journey takes me.