The Day Jobs Of Famous Authors
A friend and coworker of mine, Jon Acuff, recently wrote a book called Quitter. The book has done incredible on Amazon and even reached The Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list for business/nonfiction.
The gist of the book is this: Everyone tells you to quit your job if you want to follow your dream. But Jon took a different, more sane approach. He worked on his dream on the side while he kept his day job to pay the bills. Now, years later, he’s in his dream job as a speaker and author.
He asks the question, “What if you could blow up your dream without blowing up your life? What if you could go for broke without going broke?” Quitter is a powerful book.
And, interestingly enough, many famous authors took Jon’s approach. Publishers Weekly recently posted an article about the day jobs of famous authors--the stuff they did to pay the bills while they were writing their novels.
Kurt Vonnegut sold cars. He managed a Saab dealership in Cape Cod.
John Steinbeck was a tour guide at a fish hatchery.
Sylvia Plath worked as a receptionist at a psychiatric hospital.
Harper Lee was a ticket agent for Eastern Airlines.
And, perhaps most painful of all, Ken Kesey made extra money as a test subject in a CIA-sponsored drug experiment.
Read more about famous authors’ day jobs over at Publishers Weekly.
To me, that only makes sense. If you quit your job to, say, write a novel, then you put a massive amount of pressure on yourself to write a perfect novel. Sometimes it takes years to get a great story published–look at The Help, for example. Kathryn Stockett was rejected 60 times before her novel was finally accepted!
So, without a doubt, follow your dream. But keep your head at the same time. Don’t plunge in the water headfirst without a plan. That’s what these authors did, that’s what Jon Acuff says to do, and I totally agree.
So what’s your dream? And do you have a “day job” that is helping you pay the bills to get there?
Not me. But my daughter, who works as a writer and teacher, paints in her spare time as a hobby. She paints because she needs to and other artists have admired her work. But she has never made it a life dream. So a different question is where/when/why does hobby become life dream? I’ll bet there are many guitarists, writers, cooks, woodworkers, etc. who do the same.
60 times?!?!
Yep. 60 times by agents. Here’s a link to an article she wrote that talks about it: http://yhoo.it/nEtxuP
I think it makes sense to keep your day job while you work on your novel. I was even considering using my vacation time to just stay home a write for a full week. Then you’re on paid leave and you can dedicate your time to writing.
Will check out the Publishers Weekly article now.
Rejection stories like that both depress me and give me hope. I’ll have to remember her article to simply not give up on what I know is a good idea. My day job is writing – but it’s report writing – it pays well but takes up time, time, time and I wonder when I’ll ever make the time to really commit to my own writing. But like Stockett says, the only sure way to not succeed is to give up on it. (And I just saw the movie The Help, and I’m glad she didn’t give up on the book.)
Kathryn Stockett’s story is astonishing. I like her tenacity, but I can’t get over her beauty. God it must be hard being American – I’m guessing here. In the UK we spend a lot less time looking great, and that alone gives us all more time to potter in sheds, write in secret and weep over rejection letters. Your article Robert – thank you, you keep on pulling out fascinating stuff – has just added a piece of steel to my self will, which I hope will pay off. Even after the 60th rejection. Some stories just are the stories you must write.
Exactly! Even if you just write for yourself and no one else ever sees it. Keep writing!
This is a very inspiring and motivating post, thank you!
Love this. I’ve always liked to think of chasing your dreams as jumping out of an airplane. You can give up and not jump at all. You can jump out into the void and BELIEVE that you’ll be able to fly. Or you can jump with a parachute. I’m all for taking a leap, but taking steps to make sure you won’t hit the ground harder than you can handle.
Exactly. There’s a certain romanticism in saying I’ll just quit my job and pursue my dream. But pursuing your dream WHILE you are paying the bills is so much smarter. And, ultimately, more effective I think.
Yes, yes, yes. The timing of this piece is perfect, since one of my friends and I have recently been going back and forth about what sort of dedication is required when you’re writing a novel, or working generally on “being a writer.” I say: keep the day job, find a day job that you enjoy, and write on the side, because you are no less of a writer for managing to pay your bills on time. He disagrees. I’m sure he’ll be thrilled when I send him that Publishers Weekly post…
Day job: Professor
Dream job: Novelist