I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it will be like when my full-time job is writing. When I wake up in the morning and structure my day around making sure I get the plotting, drafting, and editing that that day requires down on the page. I can’t help but fantasize about that luxury; walks outside will be to help my creativity, and a change of scene (read: cozy local cafe) will give me color and characters for whatever scene I’m writing. Vacations will be research. Of course, in this fantasy world I’ve managed a perfect balance between work and all of my other life demands. So we won’t worry about that.
But in the meantime, let’s talk the world of The Day Job. And how pretty fantastic that is.
I like working with people. I like people. I have fun calling up my boss and telling her what I accomplished that day, something you can’t do when writing. Even if I have a day where I absolutely love everything I’ve written, I still have to bite my tongue for at least a couple of months until I’m ready to show someone my draft. There isn’t the constant interplay between work created and feedback, and I miss that. My day job keeps my projects lively and fresh, as well as offering me new challenges and unusual ways to get out of my comfort zone.
In college I worked in customer service, a job which many wish could be mandatory for everyone. I’m inclined to agree, not only because it teaches you that the person that you’re talking to about your problem is likely not the one who caused it, but also because it subjects you to a constant and fascinating stream of people. I’ve sold sugar and flour to prize-winning bakers, ice cream to an ill-fated couple on a first date, already-eaten tomatoes to a bewildered mother with a sticky toddler, and a million other things part of the minutiae of daily life. Through my job, I got to hear a woman confess that she wasn’t going to tell her husband how much her new hair color had cost, a girl complain that an awkward social situation she was dealing with would never happen in Bali, and a police officer asked me who had last used the phone, because someone had just reported an arm sticking out of someone’s trunk. So, yes. If you get the chance to work in customer service, take it. At least for a bit. Go ahead and see where it takes you.
The expansion I am experiencing now is of a totally different sort. I’m down-and-dirty in the business world, learning the importance of internet security measures such as single sign-on, and the fact that there’s a whole industry of railcar leasing. I’m learning how to market, promote, and go to bat not only for our clients, but for myself as well. I’m looking, I’m listening, I’m taking notes, and maybe someday a little of it will come through in one of my books.
It may be a while before I “only write”, but I’m starting to think that that’s okay. For now, I’m happy to out in the real world so that the worlds I create can be full of just a little more color. Even if that color is a couple of young cashiers so desperate for fresh croissants that they’ll eat them right off the floor.
— Amy
My market days were pretty cool.