Job Search

[shinigamiinochi]

It is that time in my life that I have to start looking for a full time job. I know what I want to do with my life, I just don't know how to go out and get it. I want to write. Writing fiction is the only thing that I've ever been good at and nothing else will suffice. At this point, I'm not even talking about being a novelist as that takes a lot of time and patience, I'm just looking for any job where I get to write fiction, but I don't know how to look for something like that or if I should just get a job I hate and give up on the dream for about ten years until I get enough money to support said dream. My friend tells me that some people set up websites that feature their work and people have to pay to read them, but I don't know much about that or how to get anyone to read my stuff. I guess I'm just a little lost and I don't want to spend the rest of my life in retail. Considering I'm a recluse, that would probably break my soul and the only thing that keeps me alive now is writing fanfiction, so that seems like the right way to go. My parents seem to think that the second I graduate, someone will just hand me a job and they don't seem to realize that I don't have any skills. It's hard to get a job when you hate dealing with people.

[angeicmar]

Well, depending on what sort of income you need/want, there are a few choices open.

A lot of magazines take short fiction submissions, and you don't need an agent for that. Just write something that fits a given mag and send it in with a letter telling them about your writing abilities and awards (if any), and thanking them for their consideration.

You might be able to get a freelance job editing for magazines or whatever, that would be able to be done at home, depending on what you're going to school for. Not quite the same as writing, but it would be a foot in the door and income.

But you may need to get a job that'll fill in dry spells. Retail isn't the only choice - you could get a job at an office, or as a IT person, or whatever you're talented at. No matter what you wind up doing to fill in the gaps, getting a job writing is a lot of work. While half the population in positions of power can't spell or write a coherent paragraph, people who can get the short end of the stick. Good luck B)

[Turkaholic]

I'm unfortunately in the same boat as you at the moment, so I know exactly how you feel.

I hate working around people. It's not that I don't like people - if I didn't like them then I wouldn't be a writer, but I just can't seem to connect with them. It's as though I'm on a different frequency to the rest of the population. I just have to pretend I'm on their frequency to get by in the world.

Unfortunately, getting a job as a writer - as angeicmar said - is one of the most difficult things in the world of employment. There are just too many budding authors out there to be able to stand a good chance at getting what you want. It's a sadly bleak outlook on things but it's the truth. The fact is that unless you're extremely lucky, freelancing or simply writing fiction for yourself might have to happen in your spare time. I've been forced to get a full time job at McDonalds to sub my outgoings this semester, but I prefer to look at it as a sort of feild experiment for my writing. As long as I know that I'm not going to make a lifelong career there, I'm fine. I thought it would damage me in some way too, but really getting a mundane job is simply a means to an end, and as long as I look at it like that it doesn't drag me down.

Getting a writing job straight away is really not much of an option, though do try, and you may prove me wrong :3 Finding a job just to pay your overheads for now is probably your best bet, while at the same time writing like crazy for any and every magazine that you can put your heart into writing for. If you do happen to get a job in retail or the public sector, really your soul is a lot tougher than you're giving it credit for: If you keep that creative fire alive, you have nothing to be afraid of.