How a Boring Day Job Can Be a Writer’s Best Friend.
For serious writers, interesting writing jobs are overrated. Here are three reasons why.
After decades of professional writing in literature, entertainment, and advertising in New York City, I’ve come to a conclusion: talent is a limited resource. You only have so much to give. At some point, every working writer has to ask themselves, “Where do I want to spend this energy?”
I’m lucky. Well, I should say, I’m lucky that I’m naturally stubborn. I started out in community college in Kansas City and now I’m an Emmy-nominated writer in New York. You don’t make that journey without a little luck and a lot of tenacity. But I’m lucky in the sense that I’ve accomplished (almost) everything I set out to do as a writer, so I suppose that’s something.
“I put so much personal investment into the writing, I had nothing left in the tank for my own work.”
For the past 15 years or so, I’ve worked drafting content for celebrities and Fortune 500 companies, who I won’t mention here by name. Suffice it to day, they’re all big. Anyway. While writing for those clients, I also worked diligently on my own literary endeavors and what I’ve learned is the less interesting your client work is, the more interesting your personal work becomes.
For example, for many years, I wrote comedy content for a world-famous comedian. My client was a well known cable network with whom the comedian in question had some sort of investment. I basically wrote stuff for him anytime he promoted a movie or a TV show on the network, so it was mutually beneficial.
At the time, my younger cousins were teenagers. They’re like brothers and sisters to me, so when when they lit up with stars in their eyes when I told them that I flew to Hollywood to direct shoots for on-air spots I’d written for someone famous. They even brought their friends over to meet me when I visited.
“In my experience, the more interesting your professional work is, the less interesting your personal work becomes.”
This familial adoration would be the greatest payment I would revive for that work, because the actual pay was crap. Plus, since I put so much personal investment into the writing, I had nothing left in the tank for my own work — which brings me to my point. If your work is less interesting, your personal writing will benefit.
After writing for fascinating and cool celebrities for many years, I moved on to banks and technology companies. The pay was a lot better but the subject matter could not be more boring. I wrote about cars, pharmaceuticals, plastics, and even accounting one time. Awful. But, you know what? These were some of the most productive years for my person writing endeavors.
Here’s why:
Time
If you’re a writer with any kind of job for which there is completion (that is, any writing job worth bragging about) you will have tens of hundreds if not thousands of thirsty writers nipping are your heels in hopes of replacing you. That means you’ll be working around the clock. And that means you’ll have zero time for your own work.
Energy
Now that you’re working around the clock, do you think you’ll have the energy to work on your manuscript on the rare day-off? Not a chance. You’ll be resting and recuperating. Don’t lie to yourself. You need rest. Your body and mind will demand it.
Complacency
When you work around the clock on interesting client writing what comes with that is interesting stories. You’ll think to yourself, “I’m doing great!” But it will be at the expense of your own personal work. There’s nothing wrong with this of course. Getting paid for doing what you love is one of the most admirable things you can do, just note that it will come at the expense of your own work.
If you’re reading this, I’m going to guess you’re not someone who comes from a ton of money and for whom work is not a factor. Those folks are a completely different situation. The bummer of all this is that if you go and look at the financial situation of most of the worlds great writers and thinkers, they’re all rich kids. There’s a very practical reason for that: anyone with the time, energy, and hunger for greatness in writing will probably find it at some level, if the need for work (and therefore income) doesn’t interfere.
The world is unfair. The good news is, if you balance your finances, personal goals, and writing you too can be an impactful writer if your don’t let your work get in the way.
My writing advice is worth what I charge for it (nothing). Click here to read more or follow me on Twitter.
