Don’t Give Up The Day Job
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I was watching Steven Seagal: Lawman the other night. In case you don’t know, Steven Seagal: Lawman is a documentary following Seagal’s exploits as a deputy sheriff in the Jefferson Parish County Sheriff’s Department in Louisiana where he has worked for the past 20 years – that means before and throughout his time as a Hollywood star.
That’s got to be the ultimate bummer for the petty criminal. You’re sneaking out of a house with a TV and there on the sidewalk is Steven Seagal pointing a 9 mil at you. Whaaaaaat? Of course, if you dropped the TV, you could outrun him; a snail could outpace Seagal with the weight he’s put on in recent years. The downside would be him deciding to pull the trigger, because he was shown in the documentary shooting the head off a cotton bud, then one off a match. Smartass. Don’t tell him I said that.
Sorry, this is supposed to be about writing. Okay, my point is that this guy has kept doing a regular job when he didn’t have to. He didn’t give it up when he became successful. As a writer, your goal may be to reach a position where that’s all you have to do to earn a living. It’s probably the ultimate goal for many writers to give up the day job.
However, you need to stop and think if that’s really the best course of action. For one thing, you need to be good at writing. Stating the bleedin’ obvious perhaps, but I’ve spoken before about the delusion that infects so many people involved in the Arts.
Delusion personified
When I was an actor, I agreed to do a read-through of a script in front of gathered TV and film commissioning people. There was no pay, but expenses were covered, so it was a free trip down to London. I could see an old buddy of mine, and perhaps one of the head honchos might take a shine to me whatever the script was like.
I say “whatever the script was like” because I told my agent I would do it even before reading the script. My role was to be the lead part, which I would get if it was made into a film. I went to Liverpool to meet the writer and he showed me around the city, pointing out all the locations where he envisioned the different scenes playing out. He was super-confident. So much so that he had several months before given up his job as an English teacher to concentrate full-time on his writing, and he had spent thousands of pounds of his savings promoting his script, booking a central London meeting place, paying expenses for the whole cast, and generating interest from film and TV companies so their people would show up for the read-through. It was all very exciting.
Then he sent me home with the script and I read it.
It made me laugh, but it wasn’t a comedy. It was the bitter amusement that derives from incredulity that someone could be so terribly deluded. It was a thriller that didn’t thrill. The characters were crap, the dialogue dire and dull, and the plot pointless. What plot there was had so many holes you could have zig-zagged a London bus back and forth through it from start to finish. It was a total disaster and there was zero chance that anyone would ever commit their money to making it. Quite simply, the guy couldn’t write to save his life.
I went down to London, had a great day out, and never heard anything about it again. Of the TV and film people who showed up, all but one left halfway through when we broke for tea and biscuits, and I think she only stayed because she was an ex-RADA friend of mine.
I can only assume that the “writer” went back to teaching.
Greener grass?
Freelance writers work hard for their money. It can be a very lonely job, and there is no holiday pay or health insurance or pension. These are down to you to cover. If you take a vacation, you effectively lose money, and you may even lose existing clients if you can’t help them out at short notice. First of all, of course, you need to get the clients, and that’s not easy with so much competition.
Great as it sounds, working from home can also have its problems. The people you live with may not view your working day as that. You may be interrupted, which is bad when you need to be flowing. And it may not be a working day; it could be a working day and evening and night. Free weekends may disappear. Self-employed people are at the mercy of their clients. You cannot start at 9 and close at 5.
If you are not terribly organised and supremely committed, you will find the life of a freelance writer very difficult. Above all, you must love writing, not just the romantic notion of being a writer, and you must be prepared to have that love tested every day.
If you check out my website, you’ll see a bit of artwork of mine. I paint the odd picture and I’m pretty good, but I couldn’t be a professional artist because I don’t enjoy the process enough. I cannot sit down day after day and paint. It sounds like a dream scenario, but I couldn’t do it. I struggle to complete one picture a year. A few years ago I spent 18 months driving artics (big rigs) around the UK. Incredibly long and solitary hours away from the family I love, but, as jobs go, I really enjoyed it. That’s odd, no?
If you feel you are on the cusp of giving up the day job, take stock. Do you really hate what you do? Would you not miss the people you work with or even the daily routine? Living in Spain, I meet people who came out here to retire. Many of them are working again now. Not for the money; for the activity. They could be painting or writing every day, or indulging any passion they wish, but they are doing the very jobs they thought they hated in the UK – shop work, bar work, driving, cleaning, etc.
It is not my intention to crash your hopes and dreams about writing; that is never my aim. I am, as usual, just offering an alternative take on things. If you are feeling miserable every day because you want to write full-time and you can’t, stop beating yourself up about it. Check the grass under your feet. It may be greener than you think.
About the Author: I have two novels published hardback and paperback by Hodder & Stoughton - The Short Cut and Man On A Murder Cycle. I live on the Murcian coast of Spain with my beautiful wife and daughter. For the past five years I have been working in corporate intelligence for some of the largest companies in the world.
Steve | Jul 4, 2010 | Reply
Mark:
Good post.
On this Fourth of July, a day that signifies freedom here in the United States, this post fuels me futher to push on and succeed.
Steve
Mrinal Bose | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Im sorry to say that the post sounds pretty banal. In the absence of a better topic, you’ve settled on such a hackneyed theme. I understand it’s just natural for someone who has to churn out a column regularly. But it’s inane advice. Whether a writer would work full-time, or continue his day job is entirely his own choice.
Mark | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Thanks Steve. Although my words may sound like they are meant to put people off writing, you have taken them as they were intended. Any negativity that comes from feeling you aren’t where you want to be can be detrimental to a writer, and may even stop the writing completely. I hoped my post might help to defuse those feelings somewhat, drawing the eyes back to what people do have and should be grateful for, and away from what they may perceive they are lacking.
Happy 4th of July!
Mark
Mark | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Hi Mrinal,
I’ve not seen you comment before. Nice you should do so just to be negative. I completely agree that it is a personal choice whether to go full-time or not, and, talking about inanity, I find that comment pretty inane in its obviousness.
Yes, this is a perennial issue, and I was trying not to be hackneyed by suggesting a different mindset. Most writers yearn to go full-time and then can feel all angsty because it doesn’t happen. Such feelings can then start to infect pretty much everything you do, screwing up family time because you feel you should be at your desk writing. I would not presume to tell anyone not to go full time; I am saying that sometimes the idea of what may occur is vastly better than the reality, and thus you should count your current blessings and live in the present and not some fantasy future.
My intention on this blog is to offer a highly personal viewpoint based on a quarter century of professional involvement in acting and writing. I know what these pursuits can do to you, and I always strive to be honest about that. I won’t rose-tint that for anyone.
BTW, congratulations on posting my first openly negative comment. Keep ‘em coming.
Regards
Mark
Steve | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Hi Mark:
Thanks for the nice return comment.
When I “officially” went full-time on January 4 of this year, I decided that sinking or swimming would be my responsibility alone. If things haven’t been happening — and sometimes they haven’t — I know full well why: I haven’t done something, or haven’t done it properly.
I know one of full-time writer who makes (I believe) over $100,000 writinng ONLY for magazines. I know one copywriter who claims you can find — if you follow his plan — self-sufficieny in six months.
Basically stated, there are others who have done and are doing this and surviving and, as the old saying goes, if they can do it, so can I. And how does the other well-known maxim go? If you believe you can do it, you can; and if you believe you can’t, that’s true as well?
I didn’t dive into this prepared to throw in the towel when things got rough. Also, it’s a rarity (if ever) that I long for my “job” back. As Monica knows very well, I was anxious not only to get out of the job, BUT do what I love as well. When you get rid of something you don’t enjoy, you replace it with something that lights you up.
Maybe my grass was green getting a regular check and having taxes and medical taken care of, but my journey of weeding and working on the manicure of my “new” property will be fine.
I can do this.
Thanks again Mark. I always enjoy your posts.
Steve
Mark | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Hey Steve,
An excellent response, and I am glad you are committed and moving forward. It is a big step going full-time, and it can be pretty frightening. The key is to be prepared, financially to plug any shortfall until you’re flying, and mentally for all that this career entails.
Thanks for your comments about my posts, that means a lot.
As a regular reader you know where I’m coming from with my posts. Anyone dipping in may think they’ve arrived at giveupwritingnow.com, but I just dislike all the happy clappy stuff that falsely paints writing as something anyone with half a brain can do, and thus sets many up for a journey into delusion and disappointment.
Writing can always remain a pleasant hobby, but when you go full-time it becomes a profession, requiring a professional attitude and genuine skill. You certainly read like you’ve got the wherewithal and the talent to win through. Good luck, Steve, you go for it.
Regards,
Mark
Christopher Anderson | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Great post and excellent response as well. I’m with Steve though, this just makes me want to try harder. I’m looking at the grass under my feet, nope it’s not very green.
I may not be the best writer in the world but that doesn’t mean I can’t get better. Plus it is something I enjoy and I know it’s my own personal key to my own personal freedom. I look forward to the day when that transition comes.
Oh and I didn’t know that about Steven Seagal. I’ve only seen him in all those movies. Whenever I think of him I become wary of my arms… Please don’t break them!
Jael Strong | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Some individuals may not like it, but it is true. We can’t quit our day jobs until we have a solid replacement income and that may not come to fruition for some time or, unfortunately in some cases, ever. That is why it is so important to have a game plan, a definite strategy to see if freelancing will truly work in a real-world scenario.
Mark | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Hi Chris, thanks for your comments. I am extremely heartened that you are so dedicated and won’t be put off. Anyone who can be knocked off course by the ramblings of a has-been on a blog certainly wouldn’t have what it takes to go the distance. The truly dedicated will never be distracted, and that’s the key to success – perseverance. When I witter on like this in some of my blogs, it’s only my attempt to provide a little perspective when times are hard.
Cheers mate, go for it.
Mark
Mark | Jul 5, 2010 | Reply
Re: Seagal. I could have him.
George Angus | Jul 6, 2010 | Reply
Mark,
Nothing like a good dose of reality to shock the readership awake.
Quitting the security and sanctuary of a day job without having months of solid freelance work scheduled is daft. A great excuse for getting on the government dole perhaps but certainly not a wise life decision.
Kick-ass as usual Mark.
George
Mark | Jul 6, 2010 | Reply
Kick-ass, AKA banal and inane, according to some. Each to their own. Little do our readers know that we can unapprove their comments if they’re insulting. WOO-hoohoohoohoohoo. Not that I would; I like a good scrap.