careers (what do you do?)

not sure if this is the proper place to post please let me know if i should move this thread/resubmit it elsewhere!

anyway, what do you all do career-wise? is writing your full-time career, or do you want it to be? is it feasible?

as of right now i'm just a creative writing student :l about to graduate in a semester or two. i'm juggling with whether or not to pursue a bachelors (and if so, in what) or to just try and land somewhere in the writing industry..

 

I'm a Data Analyst/Account Manager for a reverse Logistics company.

I don't have any inclination to make writing my full-time career; I'm not nearly prolific or disciplined enough to make any real money at it. I've done the starving artist thing once, and while it was fun at the time, I'm not lining up for that again.

 

I write books. Although I'm thinking of going to university (again) to study English Literature, just to, y'know, go full writer!

I'd like to make it my full-time career, but that's almost impossible unless you are either very lucky, very good, or more usually, both.

 

that sounds pretty cool! i have almost 0% an idea what that entails, but it sounds very professional lol

that's a good point most of the writers that i've seen (super successful ones) are so dedicated to their craft...whether it's reading daily or writing daily. admirable, but hard as hell.

how did you get into your current field? and when you were doing the whole "starving artist" thing, in what way was it fun? just for the title or experience of it? or, if writing was ever you dream, was it because you were fulfilling that?

 

that's awesome!!! what kind of books do you write? how long have you been at it?
and yes, lol! to become ever MORE the writer that would be super useful, i bet, and studying/learning is always fun. plus you could no doubt use that degree to become "the authority" when it comes to english/lit in your friend groups LOL
that's true, though. i guess it must be a combination things as you said, but at the very least, the main drive behind both of those things must be tenacity no way to become really good w/out effort, and no way to even run across your chance without trying! i feel like the level of self-discipline required (as laurin was saying) might just be very rare..

 

I write all sorts really. My main focus is on epics that tend to combine a lot of genres. Literary-speculative fiction. That said, I do have some other prime genres, such as fantasy, and romance. As for how long? Well, since I was about eight. But professionally, only about five years.

And yes, you have to be tenacious. There's a lot of learning by doing. And learning by reading an awful lot, especially outside your favoured genres. Every book you read will improve your verbal arsenal. You'll gain an almost instinctive idea for what works well, and what works less well. But you'll never be great at the beginning. You'll fall off the bicycle a lot before you get your balance. You have to stick with it. But it is rewarding, if you do.

 

I'm a homemaker/house husband. I write for fun I guess. I worry becoming a pro writer would be way too stressful. Plus the strict genres of the American novel market feel really suffocating. I usually end up in like 10 genres lol, or I break a major genre rule like tragic ending in romance. Would I turn down a publishing deal though? Probably not. I just know I'm not ready yet. I've never actually seen a novel through to the end because I learn so much that I'm ready to start over or at least restart the current project. Either that or setting aside a project that has parts outside my skill level for the time being.

 

I've held a series of office jobs in corporate America since I graduated from college in 1994 (yes, I am old), in industries like advertising, software, manufacturing and now logistics. Almost all of it has been crunching numbers, managing customer relationships, working with elaborate spreadsheets and putting together business presentations in Powerpoint. It's super nerdy stuff, but I'm very good at it and really enjoy the work.

My "starving artist" phase was when I quit my day job to be a professional Belly Dancer full time for three years. I had a lot of amazing gigs, students and experiences, but eventually I burned out by making something I enjoyed into a job. It eventually sucked all the fun out of it, and now I don't even dance as a hobby. I really want to make sure I don't do that with writing; it's the one thing I get to decide what, when and how to do.

 

I work in construction in London.
Some of the more known sites that has my blood, sweat and stuff on them;

The Shard (tallest building in the EU).

The Gherkin (a cool/iconic building to be in if you're a Londoner).


British Science Museum


(had to work nights here, had my whole 'Night At The Museum fill', the Mayor of London/Sadiq Khan attended some £2, 000.00 plate party they had one night which meant I had to get paid to wait 4 hours before I could start work from 6 pm to 10 pm.

Sky Sports News
All night, had to wait until 1 am before I could begin my work though here.




Facebook
(turns out that's where Instagram is too)..

Abbey Road Studios


Craven Cottage (Fulham F.C.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bl7tcmUFPgh/

I was back in Soho last summer; back in Soho, doing my job there, first time back since 2016 really, even if I have bought guitars and worked since 2016, that's on the other side of Soho, my part of Soho. and, I was in a place on the other side of Soho that I know making it alien to me and feeling dirty when I found out. In a place I love, making it boring, and, that was the only time I've ever felt dirty in Soho, was rebuilding it, and losing my bearings for two days because of it. I knew I was in Soho, but it looked so different, I thought I found a new part of Soho... I didn't.

 

I've had 3 jobs in my life. all of them dishwasher. Would I like to be a writer professionally? yes, of course. The idea of earning a living doing something I love sounds great. Is it feasible? Well, I generally think everything is possible. That being said, my current feelings are a bit negative.

"I wanna live. I wanna love. But it's a long hard road out of hell." - Marilyn Manson. Long Hard Road Out Of Hell.

 

I'm a swedish clockmaker.. I eat chocolate and make clocks.. That's why my timing is so good.

Rimshot

 

I suppose technically at the moment I am a mentor. Or a glorified mentor anyway. However this is just an inbetween job, almost all my working exprerience so far has been with history and museums. I also have a degree in history and sociology (I do not have the paper yet (that will come on the 10 of April during the ceremony) but I have done everything else)

 

All the jobs I've had in order.

1) Worked as a shop front assistant as a part time job on weekends when I was at primary school, company was A303 Optical Services.
2) Sang for a few years, in the end I began making money with this and intended to actually sing for a living but developed a problem with my throat so have now stopped.
3) Daycare assistant. I'm now working in my village's daycare nursery looking after the children during the day, it doesn't pay the best but it keeps me afloat and that's all that matters.

Out of all my jobs my singing was defos my fave! It felt amazing that I was able to perform for my village, especially the show I did for Christmas one year. If my throat hasn't got a serious problem and can be fixed then I'll definitely return to singing, it was a great job and I really enjoyed doing it. Sadly, that seems so very far away at the moment. I'm still waiting for a hospital appointment.

 

I'm a writer. Mostly short stories. I supplement this with random odd jobs that usually involve driving. Sometimes security. Occasionally I even get research missions from people who don't think they'd be able to survive Canada's Northern Hinterland.

 

That's a lot of jobs! Which one was your fave? When I was a little girl I always dreamed of being a teacher, but when I found my love of music and writing I scrapped that idea as I figured both of those are what I truly want to do.

 

My brother is a pro photographer, he took my profile picture for me. I think he's done a few weddings as well (I think!).

 

That's great, I'm glad they were all a part of you.

I'm glad you enjoy writing most of all! I love my writing - I preferred the singing - but I do love creating stories, characters and writing about them! I find it very relaxing and rewarding