I came to the realization a few weeks ago that I’ve been treating writing as a hobby.
A hobby, as defined by the dictionary, is “an activity or interest pursued for pleasure or relaxation and not as a main occupation.”
Oh.
Writing is something I pursue for pleasure. I wouldn’t have a blog if not! It’s something I love doing. It’s something that fulfills me. It doesn’t exactly relax me, but it is something like therapy for me. I feel the most honest when I’m writing. This is where I can say everything on my mind and it doesn’t get jumbled. It doesn’t feel forced or fake or overwhelming. When I’m writing, I am at my happiest.
It’s the second part of that definition that struck me: pursued for pleasure… not as a main occupation.
I wrote a few months ago about how I want to make a living from my writing – either as a published novelist or a full-time freelancer or both. Somehow and in some way, I am going to quit the 9-to-5 world to make writing my day job. It’s not going to happen suddenly and it’s not going to happen without hard work.
I read a post awhile back where the author questioned if she would actually enjoy full-time writing; if making it work, would it become less of something she enjoyed? And I completely understood her point and it made me take a step back and decide for myself: do I want writing to become work for me? Would full-time writing simply burn me out and make me less excited about writing?
I’m not sure. I can’t say yes and I can’t say no until I try it out for myself. All I know is that when I wrote for NaNoWriMo in November, where I was writing around 2,400 words a day as well as maintaining three posts a week on my blog, all I wanted to do was write more. Every day, I was excited to come back to my computer and continue my story or write a blog post or send a long email to a friend. I was so in love with the writing life!
I want to pursue this dream of mine. I have let so many dreams crash and burn because I didn’t put the effort and discipline into achieving them. I made the decision to make writing more than a hobby for me. It’s become something to do if I get around to it. Blog posts are put together sloppily with little thought, guest posts are submitted at the last minute, and that freelancing career I need to get started on? I haven’t even started it. Not even a little bit.
From this moment forward (well, actually from the moment I decided on this which was last Friday), I’m treating writing as my side job. It is my second job, my other occupation. I’m not making money from it (yet), but it is still just as important to me as my regular full-time job. (Well, with a little more flexibility.) I need to put time, effort, and maybe even some money into carving out a creative writing life.
It means waking up on Saturday and spending hours at Starbucks to write. It means more thoughtful and meaningful blog posts, where I spend time editing and proofreading. It means taking my guest posts more seriously and sticking to the deadlines I set. It means reaching out to other bloggers and pitching ideas to post on their blogs to continue my guest posting goal. It means signing up for freelancing websites and scouring the web for different places to submit my writing, even if it gets rejected. It means signing up for e-courses on copywriting, online marketing, and publishing. (And possibly crying every time I find a kick-ass e-course on Media Bistro and then seeing the price tag.) It means actually writing fiction and not just daydreaming about it. Doing research.
Ever since I graduated from college, I’ve spent my weekends doing things for myself. Sleeping in, lazing around, reading, shopping, lunches out, pedicures, and adventures to Orlando. It’s been nice. After spending all of my life in school where weekends meant my one time to catch up on homework and studying, I let myself go for a little while. I didn’t want to spend my weekends doing any kind of work. And once I accepted my full-time position, it was even more of a release for me to have the downtime I craved.
But it’s time to get back to work.
If I want to one day quit my full-time job to make a living from my writing, I have to start putting in the work now. I’m not going to have people clamoring for my writing if I’m not hustling to get my work read now. I don’t want writing to be a hobby for me. I want it to be work. I know this isn’t a sentiment some people share and that’s okay. For me, I need to look at it as work so then I’ll be forced to treat it more seriously. Stop letting laziness and my fear of not being good enough hold me back from what I’m meant to be doing.
I know I write better at home than in a coffee shop, but I’m more focused on finding freelance work and replying to emails in a busy setting. I know I write my best in the afternoon, and I need to take breaks between writing sessions to give my mind a break. I know I am easily distracted and need complete silence when I’m writing.
And I also know this: I was born to write. My life would be empty if I didn’t have somewhere to flesh out my thoughts and writing is where I feel completely at peace with myself. It may take a long time for me to get to a place where I am making a living from my writing, but this has always been my dream. Even when I was a little girl, all I could imagine myself doing was writing.
Writing is ingrained so deep into my bones, it is so essentially who I am, that without it… I am lost.
So while I still intend on filling my weekends up with much-needed downtime (and pool days because summer!), I also intend on becoming more serious and dedicated about pursuing a writing life.
I wish you luck as you pursue this passion of yours! I do think it is important to carve out time for passions that require work – like this one. It’s totally different than the CFA, but there are some parallels as I have had to carve out a lot of time for it. I’ve given up sleeping in, said no to brunches, and have made a serious commitment to it. It’s not easy to carve out time for something on top of a full time job, but it’s so worth it if it’s something you really want! I’m looking forward to seeing you progress towards this goal!
I love writing but am choosing not to make a living writing because I have some internal fears, doubts and I need a lot of structure when it comes to making money. However, I think I feel the same way you feel about making a life of writing with cooking. Culinary Arts is one of those skills in which chefs are advised to have another passion, so writing has become quite the backup. I think you can totally make writing as a living work and I admire your discipline.
I totally feel the same way – except about being a wife / StepMom / soon-to-be Mom. I want to be that wife who is always filling the house with smells of baked goods and who always has clean, non-wrinkled sheets on all the beds. It’s not hard – I just have to pull myself away from HGTV marathons and get my butt in gear! … You can do it, just make yourself! But remember to take time to do the things you love – like reading, pedicures and lunches with friends. Those things are equally as important!!
Can’t wait to see where this re-commitment (made up word) takes you! Sometimes hobbies turn into work (in a good way) and this sounds like one of those hobbies that you can take to the next level and see some awesome results from it. Excited for you =)
I wish you the best with this. I know the feeling. I don’t think that I was born to pursue any specific occupation, but I have many serious side projects. I can’t imagine devoting weekends to doing “fun” stuff. I’ve always used my weekends to volunteer, study, or work (despite having a full time job). To me, that’s what they’re for.
Okay. THIS is the post I needed today. I have been avoiding any kind of writing for so long (all right, I’ve written pages and pages of possible things, but I’ve also been sloughing them off as “not counting.” I should stop doing that, too). I want to write. I am going to favourite this and then I am going to re-read and re-re-read it.
Good luck, hon! 🙂 Keep us updated – you are an inspiration and one heckuva writer! 🙂
Oh man. You KNOW I feel you here. I signed up for a full-blown writing degree and I’m still not seeing it as more than a dream. I needed this swift kick in the rear end. You have accomplished a lot with your writing and I think you’re on the right track! Hang in there and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I’m here. 🙂
As someone who was/is a professional writer, I will say that hobby writing and job writing can be very different. Most assignments are not thoughtful, express yourself types of writing. They are research-filled, quote-supported and point-making posts that can take a lot of energy and organization. They might not really feel like therapy! Of course, sometimes you can score a personal essay type of article, which is great, but most professional writers, unless they are memoirists, don’t do that. It’s just something to keep in mind.
Another place you should consider doing ecourses from is Gotham Writer’s Workshop. Most are in-person here in NYC, but they do some online courses as well.
It sounds like you know you love it and you know the best structure for you to get your best writing out (geesh, I could work on MY words a bit, no!). Go for it, girl! 🙂
I think this is a great perspective to have. I LOVE writing as well and was making a fairly significant side income from freelancing at one point but I burnt out on it a bit (maybe because I was balancing it with full-time work) and at this point it’s become more of a hobby for me. Which probably isn’t a terrible thing either!
Excited to see where this takes you!
Yes, yes, yes!!! I was going to say “I want to do this too” until I realized hey, I totally do this with Confront Magazine. And honestly Steph? It doesn’t get boring, EVER. I always want to write more. I’m always excited, after a long day of work, to come home, and write about something I love.
Might I also suggest starting up a LinkedIn profile, sprucing it up to reflect the kind of job you want, and add EVERYONE YOU CAN FIND that works in the industry you’re interested in. I’ve been working on my profile for the last 2 months and have gotten a few requests through my page. I’ve also gained 300 new contacts. It’s a really neat place to put yourself out there, because that’s what it’s made for! You can also search up companies and whatnot on there too.
I love this post, Stephany. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about which direction I want my life to go and a big part of it is writing. I pursued a journalism degree because I like writing. I realized I don’t exactly like journalism itself, but I still love writing. My biggest problem is setting time aside for writing. You’ve inspired me to start setting aside time for writing and treating it seriously. It’s not just a silly blog, it’s a passion and if it’s ever going to get off the ground, it’s going to take work. Good luck with your goals!
This is so smart, & YOU are so smart. Honestly, after meeting Simone of the blog SkinnyDip.ca in Vegas last week, I’ve been feeling similarly, reminded that I don’t want to just have a little blog on the side. I want to Be a Writer. Caps, you know? As a title. I’ve always liked my job(s), but I think I, too, need to figure out next steps & what realizing those goals would look like for me.
Good luck to you!
I think it’s great you are going to start working on your dream of becoming a writer! I’m sure the journey is going to be a lot of hard work, sweat, and tears, but it’ll be so worth it once you get there. 🙂
This is so great, and I’ve had the same exact feelings about writing lately. I’ve even thought about closing comments on my blog because of it, which is something I plan on posting about next week. I just feel like I’ve lost a lot of that wonderment for the world in the last year that I used to have that would make me want to write. I use to find pleasure in walking outside on campus to a random bench, tucking my knees up as a prop for myself, and writing for hours. I miss that feeling I had for writing, and desperately want it back. So, I know exactly how you feel on this.
Good luck! I love writing but I sometimes have my ups and downs and if I was being pressured due to having to earn my living from writing, it make have a different feeling. I don’t know. Actually at my current job I do a lot of writing, but it is all research and fact based. I am actually writing a lot less in my personal life because of it. So I am not sure if I would enjoy doing it full time or not.