Thursday, October 27, 2011

It's A Job

According to Dictionary. com, a job is defined as such:

job

1 noun, verb, jobbed, job·bing, adjective
noun
1.
a piece of work, especially a specific task done as part of the routine of one's occupation or for an agreed price: She gave him the job of mowing the lawn.
2.
a post of employment; full-time or part-time position: She was seeking a job as an editor.
3.
anything a person is expected or obliged to do; duty; responsibility: It is your job to be on time.
4.
an affair, matter, occurrence, or state of affairs: to make the best of a bad job.
5.
the material, project, assignment, etc., being worked upon: The housing project was a long and costly job.


Why, do you ask, am I putting up the definition of the word job? Well, because, as I see it, writing is first and foremost a job.

I know some will argue that writing shouldn't be seen in that way, that we should view it as a passion, or a craft, or perhaps a hobby. That is fine. But I'm not going to do that.

I once thought of writing as a passion, something that I did for fun. And I ended up nothing truly productive with my work. Sure I wrote every day, or very near to it, but I diddled, dawdled, and all around procrastinated with my writing. Nothing every got done. It just got rewritten. Over. And. Over. Again.

But once I saw it as a job? Well, I have responsibilities now, don't I? I'm obliged to finish. Expected to. It is my duty to write a book, not just play about with endless storylines.

It's easier now, because someone actually does pay me to write. I have deadlines, checks and balances that keep me from running amok in the monkey house. But even before I was published, even before I had an agent, I shifted my way of thinking. I became both employer and employee. Because I needed to know within myself that this thing called writing wasn't just a whim. It wasn't just something I tinkered about with. It was serious. It was real.

It was a job.

In the very best sense of the word! :)



4 comments:

  1. Amen to that last line. I wrote for years and years and never did anything with it. Now it's serious [g]

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  2. You're absolutely right, Kristen. And I very much relate to this:

    "Sure I wrote every day, or very near to it, but I diddled, dawdled, and all around procrastinated with my writing. Nothing every got done. It just got rewritten. Over. And. Over. Again."

    So, yeah, I've got to step things up a notch. Write every day (that's the easy part) and make progress (that's a little harder) and by the end of this year, send out my WIP for beta reading, no matter how bad I think it is (this will be really freaking HARD!)

    Oh, and I just happened to notice that your post is the 500th post on ATWOP! Time for some virtual confetti and champagne - cheers!

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  3. Interesting way of putting it.

    At first, I was set to disagree with you, but I think you are right. Perhaps writing is not a job I am paid for right now, but thinking of it as my life's work or my occupation has helped me frame my writing in a way that forces a shift in thinking, habits, priorities, etc.

    By thinking of writing as an occupation, in the sense that I think you mean, it gives the work weight and importance. It is really about taking your work and your self seriously.

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  4. Deniz --here's hoping you'll kick some WIP butt. :)

    Rach -- 500th post?! Get out! Who knew we had so much to babble about?

    Jennifer --yes to all of that. Exactly. :)

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