I am a writer with a day job.
This is not uncommon. Many writers have jobs that help supplement when book sales are not enough. We teach, we edit, we publish other people’s work, we work for technical companies that need someone to write content and publicity materials. I admire my writer associates who can focus all of their energy on writing, promoting, appearing, and the other responsibilities of a full-time writer. However, at the stage I am in my career, that’s not feasible for me.
So I teach.
The adage “those who do not do … teach” throbs in my brain because I’m like, “but I do! I do all day long!!” Whenever I hear this phrase, I know that I could easily becoming embittered worrying that anyone might think that the reason I am teaching is because I wasn’t good enough to be a “real” writer. I am a real writer. I also need to pay my bills.
However, once I scored an excellent full-time job teaching on a college campus, I found myself one day walking around my new campus and fretting about how busy I was as a teacher and how I haven’t written anything in a while. I thought, “Is this it? Have I given up?” After that, I started to feel a little panicky. I suddenly wondered if I had put myself in a trap. So happy with my steady check, consistent routine, and hilarious students that I have slowly given up being a writer.
So I go home and start spitballing with my husband, what would I need to pull in for me to support myself and call myself a full-time writer? What kind of contract would I need to land? “Just give me a goal. Give me a number?”
My man hates hypotheticals.He is also highly suspect whenever I start walking around the house asking questions about what it would take to quit a job that I had only been doing a short time when I was pretty happy with it that morning. I confessed that I was worried. I was worried that I would never get my novel published and I was one step away from completely abandoning my goals and dreams. I worried that I had given up. He said, “So don’t give up.”
I woke the next morning and started working on a schedule that would open up writing time as well as teaching time. I found these little pockets of time and started writing again – before work, after work, lunch breaks, between class breaks, and more. I also made a plan to relaunch my blog because it gave me accountability to write something every week.
And the more I worked on it, it made me realize that my job did not take me away from my writing, but actually gave me many gifts that would help me be successful. Such as:
Structure. It forced me to be somewhere at a certain time because people were waiting on me. That accountability to teach gave me a scaffolding to hang the rest of my week on. At first, I had scheduled my office hours on a different day than my on campus days. This forced me to be somewhere every day of the week. Doing that helped me develop a routine, but it also made me prioritize teaching over writing. So I moved those office hours to my teaching days and suddenly I had a whole day that I could devote to writing.
Content to write about. Students often teach me. They recommend documentaries to watch, songs to add to my playlist, and podcasts for my commute. They tell me funny stories about their life. They do or say things in person to me that makes me think, “I need a character to say that!”
Further incentive to keep studying words. I have to think about how I can explain how to write in a certain tone, mood, or style. And to do that, I need to search for examples or techniques. Often I will be reading a style book for me and find helpful tips or tricks for students to use and vice versa.
Resources. I am not the only instructor who is a writer. Students are thinking about becoming writers. Universities host writer’s conferences and have literary publications. Also, universities have information. Whether I am using the library databases to research or flagging down a fellow instructor in behavioral psychology for coffee, I would not have this kind of access as a civilian.
The money. I am an indie-author. I don’t have the support of a publishing house; I am the publishing house. Not only am I making all the decisions, I’m also paying all the bills. I am not a business woman; I am a business, woman! And while other people might invest their money in Louis Vuitton bags, I am investing in my book business. Until the business is self-supporting, my day job is providing the seed money.
I have had jobs I hated and every day, just showing up for it, I was filled with a boiling resentment that I was doing that instead of writing. I didn’t want to live in that negative space. I like teaching, but with the wrong attitude even something you like can sour fairly quickly. But being grateful for the gifts it gives me, I can keep that negativity at bay.
These mindset shifts are essential for me to maintain my creativity. I have to tell myself that the time, money, and mental investment is worth it. If you need help working on your creativity blocks, definitely check out my mindset course “This is What A Writer Looks Like”: A creative mindset online course.
Be sure to check it out!
Read Books. Wear Boots.
XOXO,
B.
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