“Don’t quit your day job until you have contracts to support
you for the next 2 years…” or “Don’t quit your day job period.” I’ve heard variations of this advice – applicable to
musicians, dancers, and visual artists as well as writers – many times over the
years. But what is a day job and which one should you choose?
Assuming you are serious about a writing career, a day job
is a source of reliable income that does
not impair your ability to write. Some of us come to writing with an
established occupation; others, especially young writers, are beginning both
their writing careers and their other occupations at the same time. Some begin
writing once they have retired, for one reason or another, from their previous
occupations. All face the uncomfortable reality that very few writers, even
seasoned professionals, can support themselves, let alone their families, on
their writing income alone.
Of course, some writers can and do. Some get up in the
morning and churn out words for 8 to 10 hours a day. They write three or four novels a year. Others have
attracted such enthusiastic readers that even one or two novels a year generate
enough sales (or sufficient advances, if sold on contract) to pay the bills.
Although once upon a time, it was possible to earn a meager living with short
fiction (a story a week, with lots of markets), I know of no writer today who
can do that.
So the reality is that, one way or another, you are going to
need a second source of income, whether you are starting out or you’ve been
doing this for decades. What sort of work should you look for, assuming you
have a choice? There is no one answer that is right for everyone.
The most import characteristics of a writer’s day job are
that it generate sufficient minimal income, which will vary from person to
person and the cost of living in various areas, plus whatever other resources
the writer has; and that it leave sufficient time and creative energy so that
the writer can actually write.
