All my favorite novelists have day jobs

even the ones that I didn't think had one

It finally hit me.

And I’m not sure why, when it was very obvious all along.

All of my favorite writers have day jobs.

Typically, I think of the writer/day job dichotomy as boring job by day, writer by night.

You know, like T.S. Eliot.

He worked in a bank in London.

Or this article from Lit Hub, where it profiles a construction worker (Bud Smith, good writer!), a creative strategist, an administrator, and a bartender.

But here’s the part I missed.

The writing teachers and professors never get listed in these.

But teaching writing is a day job.

I taught writing as an adjunct at a community college for a few semesters. It wasn’t my only income, but I understood the constraints and how much work it was.

Sure, it may afford you time to write, but so do a few of these other jobs — you know squirreling away in the early morning or on a lunch break.

Only a few of my favorite writers aren’t teachers or professors.

In other words, only a few writers are financially independent from their books alone.

And most of those get crapped on by the literary establishment— you know the CIA spy thriller people and the chick lit authors.

I always had in my head that getting a “big advance” would provide some level of freedom (it does!) but that’s fleeting, right?

With taxes, health insurance, even saving—$100k lasts you a year, maybe two. $200k? 3 or 4 years. If you don’t have another hit, you’re back to the day job.

I was reminded of all this by reading The Splinters by Leslie Jamison, it’s a memoir about having children and divorce, but it’s between two writers, yes, Jamison and her husband C who was one of those novelists that got a big advance but then had to pick up adjunct teaching work (according to the book) and the same with Jamison.

I’ve been reading a lot about the number of books published and the lack of books sold.

And even the most “successful” literary writers still at least need a semi-flexible day job, like teaching.

There are other benefits I guess, like reading in front of a bunch of people or getting interviewed on podcasts.

Art is an uncertain game. You already knew this. This is just a reminder.

But keep going-

Josh Spilker