Do you Consider your Writing a Career?

I am often asked if I hold a job--as if writing in and of itself is some sort of whimsical fantasy.

And maybe it is. But if writing is whimsical it is also HARD work. Just because you enjoy writing, just because it gives you fulfillment, and just because it often takes you on a journey to the netherworld, doesn't mean that your writing isn't a career, yes, even if you're just starting out. 

Photo by Kevin Dooley, courtesy of Flickr

I know folks who work at a job they hate, have careers they wish to get out of, and make the money they feel they deserve.

But they're not happy.

Sure, most writers are poor, but they may only be poor in the way the world looks at it. In the writer's heart, they are truly rich because they are doing what they love.

Photo by: Hermes, courtesy of Flickr

Something happened to me the first time I told someone that writing was my job; that I wasn't looking outside for that supposed "dream" job, but that I'd found the job within myself. When I became serious about being a writer, when my writing became more than a "hobby," or something I did "to get the pain out," or even, when I went beyond the "part-time" writer mentality, people became more serious about me and what I had to offer.

And some didn't. They thought I was crazy and other things I'd rather not mention.

But I was still okay. My career is writing, it is a mind-set, and I have a dream to expand it. One day I'm going to own a home large enough to house more than a class or two on writing and publishing. With the help of my husband, we're going to take writers on a journey from idea all the way to published creation.

Imagine that.