Don’t Let Your Day Job Kill Your Writing

Although (or maybe because) I have yet to succumb to the Twitter craze, I’ve been following Jane Friedman’s “Best Tweets for Writers” selections for several weeks now, and last week one of the links that Friedman highlighted really hit home for me.

It brought me to an article on “How to Keep Your Day Job from Killing Your Writing Career.” Boy, do I need advice on that one.

In addition to the suggestions within the article, I’d love to hear about any strategies my own wise readers have found helpful!

7 thoughts on “Don’t Let Your Day Job Kill Your Writing

  1. Dory Adams says:

    Erika, thanks for posting the link to this article. I also lead the double life described, as I suspect most writers do. I am going to take the "bookending" advice. I already get up early to write before going to my job, but this post has inspired me to claim even more of the day as mine. (My mantra will be "I am not too tired!")

  2. C Riede says:

    What a great article, and just what I needed to read today! This is an issue I've been struggling with myself for years. I really like the advice to "take daily action toward your goal." Little bits of daily action do tend to add up, I'm finding.

    Thanks!

  3. jmberrygirl says:

    I really enjoyed the article! Thanks!

  4. Erika D. says:

    Seems like this article really resonates!

  5. Anonymous says:

    Thanks for a great post, Erika. I needed that article on writing and the day job, too.

    And thank you for your blog!
    — Mimi

  6. Sherra says:

    Thanks for the article, Erika. I think that having a day job, especially one unrelated to the kind of writing that one does, actually helps. Mine keeps me in touch with the "real world" and generates material, so that not all of my writing is about what is happening in my interior life. And I'm sure that all our writing is richer by its reaching beyond the academic/publishing/literati world in which many writers feel at home.

  7. Erika D. says:

    Good point, Sherra.

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