Nice piece! Resonated for me, though I still haven't gone through my fiction phase. :)
I had something of a crisis of identity when I realized that I was likely never going to make a living as a writer doing my own stuff, and that my "day job," which I'd been treating as an afterthought, was actually my career. I felt better on the other side of it, but it wasn't an easy transition.
I think it's ultimately salutary to have a career that is separate from writing/not tied up in the identity of being a writer. I feel much better about myself and freer as a writer now that I do. But it's definitely a process to get to actually believing that.
Agree! I wouldn't say my identity isn't tied up in being a writer, but rather that I have two separate but complementary identities. I was much happier when I embraced my professional identity, but it has been nice to have this secondary identity as a writer/artist as well. Among other things, it's allowed me to divvy up my ambition and status-seeking in what I've found to be useful ways. I have more cultural status as a writer, even though it earns me very little money, than I do as a communications professional, where I have some status but not as much. And I don't worry as much as some of my colleagues at work about ascending as high up the ladder as possible because I have this other thing on the side that contains my most unrealistic and egotistical ambitions (fame, glory, awards, etc.).
All that said, it is frustrating sometimes to have as little time as I do to work on my own projects as I do. I've finally hit my stride as a writer, and it would be lovely to have whole workdays in which to write my stuff. Oh well. I'll survive.
My takeaway here is you're working on a novel :) Exciting!
With regards to Substack, I quite frequently write a perfectly serviceable post (oftentimes a post of the sort that people seem to quite like) and end up scrapping it because it just seems like more words for the sake of words. Hard to define that difference, precisely, but I know what you mean
Nice piece! Resonated for me, though I still haven't gone through my fiction phase. :)
I had something of a crisis of identity when I realized that I was likely never going to make a living as a writer doing my own stuff, and that my "day job," which I'd been treating as an afterthought, was actually my career. I felt better on the other side of it, but it wasn't an easy transition.
I think it's ultimately salutary to have a career that is separate from writing/not tied up in the identity of being a writer. I feel much better about myself and freer as a writer now that I do. But it's definitely a process to get to actually believing that.
Agree! I wouldn't say my identity isn't tied up in being a writer, but rather that I have two separate but complementary identities. I was much happier when I embraced my professional identity, but it has been nice to have this secondary identity as a writer/artist as well. Among other things, it's allowed me to divvy up my ambition and status-seeking in what I've found to be useful ways. I have more cultural status as a writer, even though it earns me very little money, than I do as a communications professional, where I have some status but not as much. And I don't worry as much as some of my colleagues at work about ascending as high up the ladder as possible because I have this other thing on the side that contains my most unrealistic and egotistical ambitions (fame, glory, awards, etc.).
All that said, it is frustrating sometimes to have as little time as I do to work on my own projects as I do. I've finally hit my stride as a writer, and it would be lovely to have whole workdays in which to write my stuff. Oh well. I'll survive.
My takeaway here is you're working on a novel :) Exciting!
With regards to Substack, I quite frequently write a perfectly serviceable post (oftentimes a post of the sort that people seem to quite like) and end up scrapping it because it just seems like more words for the sake of words. Hard to define that difference, precisely, but I know what you mean