Thread: Writing: Hobby or Profession

There are two ways of looking at writing.

You may see writing as a hobby, something you do for fun while you work at a job to pay the rent and buy the groceries.

Or you may see writing as your profession, what you do to pay the rent and buy the groceries. Anything else you do is subordinate to or an extension of your writing.

If you see writing as your profession, then there are standards that must be met, just as there are standards to be met in every other profession. Whether fantasy fiction or poetry or a report on poverty alleviation in a developing country, good writing is good writing, and the basic concepts, or rules, or guidelines, whatever you want to call them, do not change.

If you see writing as your hobby, then any standards can be ignored. If you do not care whether you ever sell a line of what you write, then there is no need to concern yourself with whether there is a market for what you write. Just as a blurry, badly lighted, poorly composed photograph may appeal to the person holding the camera, so too may confusing, poorly focused, badly structured typing appeal to the person pressing the keys. Neither the blurry photo nor the bad typing - not writing, just typing, to quote Truman Capote - will find good and consistent buyers, year after year. But that dosen't matter.

Of course some very bad typing does get published, but the person who produces such material generally will find the returns to be less than what is needed to pay the rent and buy the groceries year after year, decade after decade.

If you see writing as your profession then you will want to be as good at it as you can be. You will read everything from the ancient classics to this year's pushing-the-boundaries poetry. You will watch how the words on the page or on the screen work together. You will decide that you want to make the words work so you don't have to. You will study creations of skilled craftsmen to see how they do what they do.

If you see writing as your profession you will keep your tools sharp. Details of grammar, syntax, usage, you will recognise as essentials, not trivia that can be overlooked. You will study the language itself, how it developed, and why it is as it is today, and how it will likely be tomorrow. You will get at least a smattering of understanding of languages other than your own, and discover that turns of phrase in Khmer or Tagalog or Welsh reveal new ways of seeing the world.

If you see writing as your profession, and you devote yourself to it without reservation, then you will never need a day job, and you will never desire a day job unless it is an extension of your writing.

There are two ways of looking at writing, either as a toy to be played with or as a profession to which you will dedicate your life.

I write because I feel. If it is worthy of sharing, in my opinion, then I send it out into the "Universe" and hope to have some response from individuals of a similar mind.
I don't always get a response... but I feel better to have at least shared my opinions.

One can look at it both ways, not only one or the other. I write professionally, but it's also a toy to be played with, my passion. I write for myself and edit with others in mind. I write first, as it comes, and then look for a market that suits the work, not the other way. My newspaper column of eight years has a weekly deadline, a word length that must be met, an audience that expects a certain thing, so I'm mindful of this, and professional. But I'd never submit a peice I didn't love. My short stories can be more selfish, though I've been lucky enough to see quite a few in print. I write for love, first and foremost. Anything else is a bonus.

This seems like a rather odd take on things. As if somehow, if you aren't being paid for it, you won't endeavor to do your very best -- that you'll ignore craft etc. That's a profound misunderstanding of what motivates many writers who aren't professionals -- or who aren't yet. The idea that only professional writers want to be as good as they can be is just so wrong. Where are you getting these ideas?

Sounds like pure guesswork to me. And you're the reporter -- right?

Is there a point I'm missing, because it seems like a waste of words to me.

There are a hell of a lot more than two ways of looking at it.
But I'd say on this parameter, ideal is both. You might have some hacks and some starry eyed weekend wonders, but you also have a whole lot of people who get a big kick out of writing stuff they get paid for.

I write as best I can, learning as I go, even though it gets put on the back burner for family and looks a lot like a hobby right now. I figure I want it done well that when I finish, it will be worthy of print. Don't know that it is my one and only goal to be a writer though. There is a lot more to do with art that I would love to explore.

For example, is it a hobby if you plan to live on it, but don't yet?

And I agree with Joe. Why can't you strive to be good at something you do for a hobby? I don't play piano for money, but I still try to do more than hammer on random keys--whether or not I succeed is up for debate.

I'm also curious about your assertion that writing as a profession makes everything else subordinate to the writing. Plenty of people love their profession, but does that mean they subordinate family and friends?

This smacks of Garza praising himself for being a professional writer.

The premise is wrong, though. One trying to make money with their craft doesn't mean their work will be of a higher quality or artistry. Only that it's catered to making money, which in many instances does just the opposite. If you're writing for a magazine or paper you're forever muzzled with what you can really say. There's more freedom in fiction, though, if not absolute freedom.

You know how many world renowned authors never made a cent in their lives with their work, and more importantly never even tried to, but were praised posthumously? I doubt writing was a toy to them. That being said, I think trying to make money with one's passions isn't a bad thing.

Usually the best writing is the writing no one expected anyone to actually read. That's the real stuff -- sometimes one has to say 'fuck marketing' -- and in that, you find your way into the market -- with something unexpected, original, unique.

stephen

As has been stated above and I agree, Garza as set up a false dichotomy: The only ways to look at writing = hobby or profession (especially as they were defined).

Terry

If you're writing as a profession, then you have already been told what your constraints are. Writing within those constraints are important. However, using those constraints while expressing yourself adequately is "the" gift. That allows you to shine as a writer that is published in some sort of medium.

By the way, many writers need day jobs, because often it just won't pay the bills.

well, i do both - but not at the the same time

well, i try not to - sometimes they do overlap

:p

Originally Posted by Reese

If you're writing as a profession, then you have already been told what your constraints are. Writing within those constraints are important. However, using those constraints while expressing yourself adequately is "the" gift. That allows you to shine as a writer that is published in some sort of medium.

By the way, many writers need day jobs, because often it just won't pay the bills.

Exactly! Too much writing follows the rules but sounds... what's the word... boring. Now, the writer that follows the rules and makes it pop -- that is indeed 'the gift'.

For some of us, writing is cathartic. I find that an idea or an attititude, even a decision comes to worm its way into my head and the only way to put my brain back into a relaxed state is to write the thinking down. If I try to ignore those thoughts then they hound me. A benefit to me is that very often by writing I can clarify my thinking and perhaps come to a decision about the thoughts. What I do find difficult even unnecessary is to write up my dreams; fiction holds little appeal to me. There have been enough adventures in my life to provide the theme for many a story.

Once I used to get paid for writing reports and business letters. These days I don't expect to get paid for writing anything. It is reward enough to see from time to time a composition of mine in print and to hear someone truthfully say: "I enjoyed reading your article". Similarly if a reader gets bored in the reading, then the page can always be turned over and nothing need be said. As for writing in accordance with a style, sorry I can't do it. The words are sent by my brain to my fingers from instinct before I had the chance to think of them. Anyway the problem with writing too succinctly can be that the reader then knows too well what what one is meaning to say.

Hopefully there is room on the Forum for dabblers such as I to participate.