Currently I’m in Aberdeen Scotland, literally struggling to not only find a job that will pay the rent but to find a place to rent that doesn’t require 6 months down. I’ve come to the realisation that A. It’s probably one of the worst times to be job hunting, and B. I’m probably going to have to go back to that shit hole.
Luckily I have very supportive friends and family at this time. I don’t look at this experience as a failure but as a new set of experiences. But what does this have to do with writing?
I was speaking with my father, expressing my general frustration with the way society dictates that we should live our lives in the 9 to 5 grind for little compensation and very poor wages at that. Of course this is just my usual bitterness and frustration at the whole job hunt thing. I can’t imagine that there’s a person out there who enjoys looking for work. I’m certainly not one of them.
He asks me how serious was I about this writing thing. I told him “very”. I told him that though I had 7 months to write this past year, i had used those 7 months to A. build my portfolio so that I could get work and not starve, B. Look for work so that I wouldn’t starve, C. Trying to discipline the most evil spoiled brats that I had ever had the misfortune of being related to. I had managed to write here and there, mostly while the kids were away at school, but as soon as summer kicked in there was no way in hell that I was getting anywhere with anything.
My father then tells me, that should I have to return due to lack of work that he would support me for a year free of charge as long as I wrote. This is of course after the question of how long it would take me to finish. Writing time I’d be looking at 2 months – reality would be more like 4-6 – because you have to let things percolate. But while they percolate, I could be working on book 2 – I could have the draft done in 2-4 weeks (yes I can – it’ll be horrible but I can do it) and then go back to Book 1 and do up the final draft.
While Book 1 is being sent to agents and publishers, book 2 would be going through it’s second draft overhaul. Or at least that’s the plan. If I take this opportunity I have to treat it like a full time job (40hr work week) because this is what I want to do with my life. Of course if I don’t succeed I should probably take the hint and just make do with whatever stable job I can get. Not everyone makes it big as an author, but I plan to anyway. Not because it seems like easy money – because it’s not – but because this writing thing seems to be such a natural direction for me to follow. I think that I mention in post somewhere that I thought life was leading me in this direction anyway.
Anyway, one more week with the job grind here and then I might as well accept the inevitable.
