Real World vs Writing

Every writer’s dream is to wake up when the sun is warm and spend all day either outlining or writing their latest tome.  You know…take our time, meticulously pour over every plot point and line of dialogue, and figure out the lines of connection between the characters and the story.  And a few writers are able to do this.

Most of us are not.

I have a “regular” job with a large corporation that consumes me during the day.  It pays pretty well and lets me live a lifestyle the way I would like for my family and I.  It also limits my writing time to a few hundred words per day(when I get around to it), as evidenced by the time it is taking to write my most recent novel.

This is the balance most of us have to make until we (ever?) make it.  And in those of us who have to work outside of writing, there’s always a sense of guilt that we’re not devoting the time to writing that we need to in order to break through.  It requires real time sacrifice, which sounds cliché but involves very real trade-offs.  My job time is pretty non-negotiable, so how much of my lunchtime do I give and still eat?  After the clock runs out, do I write or spend time with my kids?  When does the yardwork ever get done?  How about dates with my wife?

Point is that a non-writing job, which most of us have to have to not starve or freeze, severely limits our time to write, which limits our ability to put out new stuff, which limits our ability to break through.  Am I just bitching in general?  Sure, to an extent…but, and I know this will piss off some of those who are full-time writers, I believe it’s harder being a part-time writer due to the need for another job.  Why?  Simply because time is a finite resource.  Without an unlimited supply of it, you cannot meet the writing goals of those who do nothing but write.

I don’t mean to start a writers’ war, because each of us have nuances that others don’t.  I just would like it recognized that those who cry, “Just write full time!” don’t have the full context always.  Like I said, I’d like to have the dream stated in the first paragraph, but as long as we’re wishing, I’d also kinda like to have a pony…