: Re: How do I balance work with my love of writing? I'm a programmer and an aspiring writer. I love writing. Over the past year, I had been working on my first novel. Making the plot, dimensioning

You may not like this suggestion, and it may not necessarily work financially, but it's an idea that I'm seriously considering: how about temporarily picking up a manual labor job, like washing dishes or bagging groceries?

Instead of thinking of manual labor as being menial work for the uneducated, you could think of it as being thinking time, free from the cognitive assembly line to which you would have otherwise been assigned.

I'm a programmer/translator/editor/long-time degree-wanter too, in the exact same boat as you. The problem with programming is that it's too hard to switch gears mentally. Programming and writing are just way too addicting and mind-consuming to be compatible with other creative work.

I'm sure some people can code from 9 to 5 and then go home to work on a novel from 5:30 to bedtime, but I'm not one of them. When I'm working on interesting code, I can't stop; I can neither sleep nor wake up without the problem haunting me.

For any creative work, my best ideas come when I'm doing something repetitive and non-cognitive, like walking, practicing scales on violin/piano, scribbling, or doing volunteer work. I'm pretty sure serving fast food or sorting inventory would be just as good.

Load Full (0)

: How does the 10,000 hour rule apply to writing? The 10,000 hour rule, popularised by Malcolm Gladwell, says that: the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing

@Yeniel532

Load Full 10 Comments

: I would say- make it interesting for a human being, not a statistics gathering computer. Don't give the number of airports or hills, don't tell me what the currency rate is. I can find these

@Yeniel532

Load Full 0 Comments

: How do I keep the plot interesting in a humorous book? I am about to start writing a fantasy-comedy novel. A problem I found in 1-2 books of this genre is that the plot becomes weak, and

@Yeniel532

Load Full 10 Comments

: What is the best way to introduce myself in a letter to a prospective graduate adviser? I'm applying for graduate school, and I'm considering writing to Professors whose research areas match

: Re: How do I balance work with my love of writing? I'm a programmer and an aspiring writer. I love writing. Over the past year, I had been working on my first novel. Making the plot, dimensioning

More posts by @Yeniel532

: How does the 10,000 hour rule apply to writing? The 10,000 hour rule, popularised by Malcolm Gladwell, says that: the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing

: I would say- make it interesting for a human being, not a statistics gathering computer. Don't give the number of airports or hills, don't tell me what the currency rate is. I can find these

: How do I keep the plot interesting in a humorous book? I am about to start writing a fantasy-comedy novel. A problem I found in 1-2 books of this genre is that the plot becomes weak, and

: What is the best way to introduce myself in a letter to a prospective graduate adviser? I'm applying for graduate school, and I'm considering writing to Professors whose research areas match

Login to post a comment!

0 Comments

Back to top