If You Have a Day Job, You’re Not a Real Writer

I’d like to think you weren’t fooled for a moment by this article’s utterly ridiculous headline.

Unfortunately, through my work as a writing coach, I’ve learned many aspiring authors actually believe they’ll never be “real” writers until they can quit their day jobs.

This is a complete falsehood.

Your day job has nothing to do with whether you’re a “real” writer or not.

The Insurance Investigator

German author Franz Kafka is regarded as one of the major figures in 20th century literature. You’re probably familiar his popular story, The Metamorphosis, about a man who wakes one morning to find himself transformed into an insect.  (I’m also a huge fan of his short story, “A Hunger Artist.”)

Despite what you may mistakenly assume, Kafka didn’t spend his weekdays starring off into the clouds, dreaming up his next surrealist masterpiece. Kafka was a trained lawyer and he spent most of his life working for an insurance company investigating compensation claims.

He was a prolific letter write, and often wrote to his friends and family about how much he despised his job. But he did it anyway because it put food on the table and money in his bank account; something his writing wouldn’t do during his lifetime.

Kafka’s masterful stories were written in the evenings. During the day, he went to work and did what he had to do to get by, just like the rest of us.

The Doctor

Another widely acclaimed short story writer and playwright you may be familiar with is the Russian Anton Chekhov. Chekhov’s plays are often identified as having brought dramatic realism to theater, a trend that continued throughout the 20th century and was formalized into the “Method” style of acting still prevalent in Hollywood today.

Like Kafka, Chekhov had a day job – he was a medical doctor – and also like Kafka, he did his writing in the evenings after work.

In a 1888 letter to the Russian publisher Alexei Suvorin, Chekhov wrote, “Medicine is my lawful wife and literature is my mistress.” Many writers feel this way, and it can, unfortunately, become any easy excuse for not producing work.

The Professor

Yes, it can be frustrating to have literature as a mistress, but J.R.R. Tolkien didn’t let a day job stop him from getting his writing done, so why should you?

The Hobbit and the first two volumes of The Lord of the Rings were written while Tolkien was working as a Professor of Anglo-Saxxon at Pembroke College. The fact that Professor Tolkien spent his daytime hours planning lectures, marking papers, and performing academic research doesn’t take anything away from the literary magnificence of The Lord of the Rings.

He had a day job, yet I suspect you’re going to have a difficult time finding anyone who will argue J.R.R. Tolkien wasn’t a real writer.

Personal Assistant and More

Stephen King wrote Carrie while living in a trailer park and working as a high school teacher.

T.S. Elliot wrote The Waste Land while employed in a bank.

Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick, spent 22 years working as a customs inspector.

Bram Stoker crafted the definitive vampire novel, Dracula, while working as a freaking personal assistant.

You do not have to quit your day job to be a real writer.

The ability to make a living from fiction writing alone is a privilege afforded to a rare and lucky few.

For the rest of us, there’s the daily grind.

If Tolkien, Chekhov, and Kafka could put in a full day’s work, and then go home and write in the evening, so can you.

Enjoy this Article? Get Writing Coach Kevin T. Johns' FREE 4-Part Online Course for Authors

Discover the Author Mindset Success Formula today. Insert your name and email below for instant access. 

I value your privacy and would never spam you