Why Don't You Get a Job?

I used to think that I had to publish a novel in order to think of my writing as a "job." Job = Income, right? But since I quit my teaching job to stay home with first one baby, then another, I've been (mostly) good at treating this writing thing as a profession. After all, if I don't show up for work, the only person I'm cheating is myself.

Now, though, my situation is that as soon as my youngest starts preschool, I have to get a "real" job. One that pays.

The thought used to fill me with panic. Not because I consider myself unemployable (although there is that), but because I thought it meant I wouldn't be able to write anymore. In my mind, kids + job = no time to write.

That's where making friends and meeting other writers, both online and in person, has helped. I've met many parents who work, spend time with their kids, and write. They are my new heroes--published, pre-published, everything in between and beyond. They treat writing as a job, whether they set their bootie in the chair at a certain point each day, or whether they write "in the nooks and crannies" of their week, as Robin said yesterday. They have to, if they're going to get anything written.

And the fact that they do it--work, parent, and write--gives me faith that when the time comes, I can do it, too.

Even with The Offspring's "Why Don't You Get a Job" stuck in my head.