I am! At least for the next couple of days/weeks as I sort my life out after university. It just occurred to me that I have no other professions or full-time occupation such as being a student to fall back on: at the moment my only job description is as an author. Might only be temporary for now, but it's going to be fun trying it out. Anyone else been full-time?
Do you get paid for your writing? If not I don't think you could call it a job. Perhaps it's become a fulltime hobby for now, a short break before you enter the working world, most of which you'll spend indulging in your passion for writing. Or maybe you do get paid for your writing in which case you could turn it into a fulltime occupation, but I can say, as much fun as that sounds, I think very few authors would be successful enough to eek an income solely from their writing. I've never been a fulltime writer myself. Well maybe for holidays. But I still only ever considered it as one of my pasttimes.
wow, that sounds like a dream, at least for me right now. I would like to be that one day too . Who/what is it that you are writing for? yourself ( as in writing a novel/story for publication) or a newspaper/research or something? It must be interesting. Just not too long ago I thought I could never manage being a full time writer, because I thought I would need a daytime job, that I would need the change it brings from sitting at the table all day, otherwise it would get too boring, but atm I think I would welcome such an idea, if I could live on it.
If you're working full time at writing - then I would say for now you are a full time writer. (paid or not) A lot of writers work for months/years on their passion/hobby/baby before nabbing an agent or a publisher. How many time have you heard a writer or an actor, for that matter, say 'It's taken me twenty years to become a overnight success'? And may I add that those twenty years, more often than not - I guess, have been twenty years hard slog. So good luck with your writing and I hope it proves to be fruitful for you.
I agree with The-Joker. I took a year out of education during the 2009~2010 session and I didn't have a job so I spent the entire time writing. I loved it! But I find that I've more inspiration now that I've started college because I'm always interacting with others and being exposed to new things. Hmm~
I'm writing full-time with the expectation I'll be rewarded for it one day - that's good enough for me to call a job. /terrible lazy person who's not worked too many real days of work in her life
What's it mean to be paid for something anyways? Paid in money or in the reward you get from yourself from finishing a story? Is the payment satisfaction or is it... well yeah. I was just going to BS my way through that. But it's late... or early... so I'm just going to bed. lol Anyways good luck with it.
Well I see you you've found a charming euphemism for 'currently unemployed' I like it. But on a personal note I think it must be awesome to be a fulltime writer. To dedicate your day to excavating your imagination, and weaving worlds and characters, and doing all this not only for your personal indulgence, but because hungry fans demand it and publishers wait with open cheque books for your next release. Now that's a dream I wouldn't mind living in.
^ Everyone's dream, right mate? I like to say that I don't have dreams. I have goals instead. Nevertheless, I'm still studying. But full-time writer sounds darn good, Melzaar!
Every once in a while, I take days off just to write. The first time I did this was many years ago, and I took a week off so I could finish the first draft of my first novel. It was an unbelievable experience: as soon as my wife was off to work and my kids (now grown) were off to school, I sat down and went to work. It allowed me to be focused in a way that's hard to attain under other circumstances. Even now, when I take days to write, it's not quite the same. Too many distractions. So, my advice is to stay with it while you can.
Hi, I couldn't do it. I like writing as and when I want to. I like doing other things too. Making writing a full time career would turn it into a job for me. I have however done it for short periods, a week, two weeks or so. Just taking some leave from work, and devoting myself to finishing off / editing a novel, and I can sustain it for that sort of length of time. More then that - I don't know. Cheers.
The hard part for me is the finding time with no husband and no kids part. (Not that I dislike them--just that they tend to hamper my writing time.)
Heya Mel, I've never been a full-time writer, but I did want to say grats on finishing Uni. It's quite an achievement in and of itself.
I am currently a full-time writer. Or at least that's what I consider myself to be. I am not getting paid for it at the moment, but that is the goal I am working toward. It's an awesome feeling, to be able to do what you love, and I guess we'll both find out if this is what we're cut out to do, lol. Congrats on graduating!
I teach, but I've always worked the summers. I'm looking forward to this summer where writing will be my primary focus. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with writing with all the other day to day distractions, so this summer will be a welcome break.
That is what I have always thought too. that I need my daily meeting other people and getting away from home to come up with things to write about. And I still kind of believe in that, but maybe if I could have a part time day-job and write for a living the rest of my time, now that would be ideal! Melzaar: In that case even I have been a full-time writer, from last summer (august) to this winter (january), And I loved it! I also think I was pretty productive during that period, I wrote the first draft of 3 novels in that time, and right now i'm rewriting the first of those. (I have been writing a second draft of the third one in between.) So I think I might have the discipline it takes to be a fulltime writer, or at least I hope so And it didn't get boring at all, actually I loved it and it almost made me feel like a "fulltime writer" while doing it, even though nobody was paying me anything for it, lol.
No one's paying you for it... yet. It's not like writers are given commissions as standard. Most people have to take their own time on a venture they're not sure is going to pay off, but if the time is set aside - and I've been setting it aside all my life - it's work and investment towards that pay off. Just at the moment with no projects it's not like I have to set aside the time... It's all my time until I find a job.
YAY!!! )) I hope the same thing for you! That one day you will find all the efforts and time spent paying off. I mean, in a more concrete form than just pleasure of writing, which is already a reward. I wish you a happy writing-time. Hopefully by the time you'll find a job you won't need it anymore!
Having a job actually was one of the things that got me into writing, I worked an afternoon shift at a gym where all i had to do was clean equipment or go on the internet. I decided to put that time to use, and now I've been writing daily for a few years now! Wish you luck with your endeavor, set those deadlines for yourself! I look forward to a time when I can do the same thing, just have the whole day to myself to write. Speaking of which... I'm off!
i began full time writing and editing for money, back in the early 80s, as both a not-quite-often-enough paid freelancer and highly-paid writing consultant... i've been writing and editing full time ever since, though i stopped doing it for money in '95... since then, i have been doing for free via email, what clients paid me $150/hour to do 'in the flesh'...
Ever since I left the Army in 2009 I've been a full-time, unpublished writer! Though most of that time was just working to get by, I have been writing constantly even if it was just a paragraph a day or so. Only in the past couple months have I looked at it as an actual career path.
