In the past twenty three years I've won several awards, published eight books, and have had my work appear in numerous newspapers, magazines, and literary journals. However, through it all I’ve had to maintain a full-time job unrelated to writing to pay the bills.
I’m not alone, many creative people, especially here in the United States, find themselves in the exact same predicament. Creativity seems to hold higher value in other parts of the world. I’m shocked by how many people still think the life of a writer is glamorous, for most of us this couldn’t be further from the truth. To the average person my daily schedule might appear insane. I work ridiculously long hours creating and promoting my writing for, if I’m lucky, little more than a side-income. To gain any kind of success in this business you have to hustle.
One of my main frustrations is lack of time. I have to creatively shoe-horn writing in between my day job and all of life’s other demands. Ideas can be flowing incredibly and I’ll have to shutdown the computer (and my brain) to get enough sleep to function the next day. When I’m working on a book or article, which is nearly always, I get up one or two hours early in the morning before going to my full time job to write and sometimes write in the evening as well. I promote through social media and blogging using my mobile phone mainly when I’m walking from my car to work or on my lunch break. It’s not uncommon for me to take a week of vacation to work on a project, I’m lucky to be able to do that.
This elusive goal seems less likely to achieve with each year that passes. During low points, those painfully long expanses of time without a breakthrough, it’s difficult to not feel like a failure. I always tested well above average in school but sometimes I feel less intelligent than others around me because I’ve chased a dream for over two decades of my life and have very little in the bank account to show for it.
The most unsettling and also the most ridiculously exciting part of this profession is the uncertainty of it. As a self-published author you never know when your next payday will be but you also never know if your next book will be a hit or a current project will go viral and make you rich. I reached to top of the pay scale at my day job years ago. I haven’t had a raise in years. With the cost of living is constantly on the rise this is a potent motivator to strive harder and continuously create better content.
This is the life I’ve chosen and despite all of the work and the occasional low points, it’s amazing and I love it. I try to, and am most of the time successful, not compare my accomplishments to those around me. I find I’m much happier this way. I love the feeling of contentment I get when people really connect with my writing. I’ve come to terms with the reality that I might never get my big break, many very talented creative folks never do. Yet I haven’t given up hope either.
Being a writer at this level, under these circumstances is like boot camp for your soul, each and every day of your existence. It's like living on a razor’s edge and teaches you more about yourself than anything else I can imagine. It forces you to learn how to jump to your feet quickly after life punches you in the gut and knocks the wind out of you.
Being a sane and healthy writer requires you to live in the now and learn to not tie your self-worth to your bank account balance. For me the most joy comes from the creation process. There are also the little victories along the way like getting a good review on Amazon, doing an interview or book signing, offering advice to another indie author that might save them from making the same mistakes you have.
Writing has been my constant companion, through more than two decades of my life. That’s almost six Presidential administrations, seven cars, four residences, and five pets. I can't even imagine waking up in the morning without being excited about my next big idea or not feeling like the next book project could be the one that blows up and changes my fortune forever. Until I find that kind of success I’ll just keep trying.
Every so often an opportunity comes along like Steemit that renews my hope and makes me glow with a great feeling of possibility. That’s what it feels like to be a middle-aged struggling author with no plan B.
Hey @ericvancewalton, I can tell you are a very dedicated writer by your description of how you "shoehorn" all that you need to do to write and promote your writing. I can relate as an entrepreneur with the need to use your smartphone to get some things done when you're not home. I'll be following you here on Steemit. Keep writing man! As Elizabeth Gilbert talks about in her book "Big Magic", you never know what will be a hit. I Loved your story here about the Doppel ganger: https://steemit.com/life/@ericvancewalton/dop-pel-gaeng-er-discount
I really appreciate you reading my work and taking the time to comment, Patrick! I'll have to put Big Magic on my reading list!
Absolutely @ericvancewalton ! :) I actually have "Big Magic" on my Audible :) Elizabeth reads it herself and it doesn't sound like she is reading but talking directly to you. I get a boost of encouragement to make another guitar lesson video every time I hear her. :)
Thanks for a good read on writing! I see myself in so much of what you are describing.
I have a “pointer” that I would have given myself when I gave up on my second attempt at writing a novel. I was looking way too much at what other people did. I got jealous of my favourite authours instead of inspired! And anything I read that I actually thought was bad also turned me off from writing. I was looking for inspiration, good advice, the best ways to do it. I read books on creative writing, I watched lectures online. Eventually I forgot all about the fun of writing. I mean, when I was ten I made my first book by folding pieces of paper and stapled them together. I wrote the stories and drew the pictures and I remember getting completely lost in it. That, I feel, is the essence of what any writer should strive for.
Looking forward reading your stuff!
JL
Thank you! You're so right. Writing is crucial to getting better, writing every day. You sound like a very creative person! I really appreciate your interest in my work. I'll be checking out yours as well!
Hi Eric,Good writing, please look for my answer on your piece as a post..
wow!! like steemit there will be many others. Let this be your plan B.
Yes, the key is to get into the "next big thing" early. It was like that with Facebook too. Organic outreach used to be great before they began to limit post outreach. I'm enjoying my time here so far, Steemit has been wonderful for so many people!
And refreshingly inspiring - love following your writing here, Eric!
Thank you, I really appreciate that.
Without having lived that, can totally appreciate how frustrating that must be. Seems like this is going well for you though :)
I've just started blogging myself and was wondering - as a writer, would you mind taking a look? I get from the post you're pretty busy, but any feedback would be much appreciated, as the article I've written has had a pretty wide readership but not a lot of response. Thanks in advance :)
http://amendtheagenda.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/destroying-nhs-and-young-minds-why-are.html
I feel for your pain @rachelwd. I hope things will improve in the UK for Junior Doctors. I admire your inspiration for doing this work and I'm sorry to hear how you lost your Dad.
I think you’re an excellent writer. You’re getting readership, which is wonderful, but there are a few methods to incite engagement from readers, one is formatting. If you look at mainstream media articles certain quotes or blocks of text that they want to stand out are in a larger font. This draws the reader’s attention and also breaks up long posts so their brain processes them in manageable chucks instead of one long post. Also you can experiment with questions in your posts like, “What do you think about such-and-such?” or “Tell me how you feel about this?”, this makes the post seem more conversational to the reader, it will prompt more engagement in the form of replies. To prompt shares you must write with honest, raw emotion, write from your soul, unfiltered. This takes guts. You know it's a good post if you feel uneasy before you hit "post". This always gets reads, comments, and shares, this is how posts go viral. I hope that helps!
Thank you so much for taking the time @ericvancewalton ! Truly appreciated.
You're welcome! I hope it helped in some way.
I can tell you do still write for the love of writing, though the frustration of an unfulfilled dream of writing full time is taking its toll. I wish you all the best. (congrats on publishing eight books)
Thank you, Tritum! It has taken a toll but I feel it's also made me a much stronger person. I experienced another small victory last night. I'm going to appear on a podcast about my career, we record tonight! : )