I have often debated with myself whether I want to find a career in writing. If I write five days a week on a nine-to-five schedule, will I begin to despise the craft I have come to love? Will writing for a job just ruin it for me?
I’ve always known that I liked to write, well, at least since middle school. I found myself wanting to write essays instead of taking tests. I took creative writing classes for my electives. In eighth grade I decided to go to college and get my degree in journalism.
From then on I started writing my own short stories, I excelled in all of my English and journalism classes, and I graduated with my degree in journalism with a focus on creative advertising. I have had two creative internships and freelance work writing articles for web magazines and copywriting for ad agencies. I have enjoyed it all.
But none of it was full-time work, not even the internships. Bits and pieces here and there is great, but how would I feel after being told what to write for 40 hours a week, every week, for years?
I’ve decided that creating and telling stories is what is appealing to me. Writing technical copy would just bore me to death, but writing for creative advertising campaigns would probably be fun. I don’t think a journalistic job, telling the stories of others, would be all that exciting, but I would be willing to give it a shot.
I am looking for work now, and most of my efforts are focused on finding a job in writing. If I get a job where I type up words all day long and it turns out to be just what I was looking for, then fucking hell yeah! If the job starts taking away the enjoyment I get from writing, then I will kick it to the curb and find something else.
I want to be a novelist. I want to write these blogs. I’m not going to let a job get in the way of what I want to do in life. There are plenty of others areas of life that I appreciate, and perhaps one of them will lead to a fulfilling career. In the mean time, I’ll just keep writing.
