Writing as a Hobby

The truth is, very few people get to do what they love for a living. It's more common to hear, "I hate my job" than "I love my job." Even fewer people can make enough money as a full-time, stay-at-home author who gets to write all the live long day (sounds great, doesn't it? but unfortunately, health insurance is very, very expensive). That's where hobbies come in. I think that you should obsessively, utterly, and completely love your hobby(ies) - especially if you don't like your job. Your hobby should make you feel good about who you are and who you want to be. Your job shouldn't define you, but I think your hobby can. Plus, a lot of us can't be in charge of our destiny in a corporate environment. I hope that by working my butt off, I can be in charge of my writing destiny.

I read this interesting post today about quitting your job to be a writer. I think it's a very smart, realistic point-of-view. If you ever dreamed about being a full-time writer, I think you should read it!

I especially enjoyed the part about practice (writing is like any hobby - to be good at something, you'll need thousands of hours of practice) and about rejection (agents/editors won't know about your work if you just leave it on your hard drive ... do not be so fearful of rejection that you don't send that ms).

I do disagree with what the author of the blog says about talent though. She believes that there's no such thing as talent. I disagree with her because I wholeheartedly believe that some people are born with natural gifts. I don't believe that talented people are better than people who have to try and work harder ...

And that's where hobbies come in. I mean, if you're lucky enough to be uber talented (or perhaps just plain lucky), you'd write bestseller after bestseller and get to be that full-time, stay-at-author who gets to write all the live long day. But for us non-magical-genius writers, it should be our hobby to write and to write and to write.

On an end note: I am desperately trying to catch up on my blog reading. I've also added two more blogs this week: Agent Nadia Cornier and Words on Words by Maggie Stiefvater. Read and enrich yourselves fellow aspwriters (aspiring writers)!