Writing Question: What are the best jobs that leave your days free for writing?
I generally loathe listicles, but this headline caught my attention: 7 Easy Jobs That Leave Your Days Free for Writing. Since many, if not most of you have some sort of gig to pay the bills while knocking out spec scripts, I figured this might be of some relevance, if not interest. Here are those jobs:
Newspaper delivery. The days when a boy with a bag on his bike delivered the paper are over, in many communities. Many routes call for a car, and a grownup to drive that car. I’ve known more than one freelancer who was an earlybird and could get up, fling papers from 4:30–6:30, come home, and call the rest of their day their own. If your town has more than one paper, sometimes you can get signed up to deliver both and double your income.
Stocking grocery shelves. I personally know writers who’ve taken advantage of this gig to keep the checkbook full. It’s quiet, it’s mindless, and gigs are usually pretty easy to get — after all, how many people are willing to work midnight to 4 a.m.? Go home, catch some sleep, and by midday you could be writing.
Pumping gas. A close family friend who is now an acclaimed sci-fi novelist pumped gas at night for years, while he was waiting for his work to find an audience. In some states, you still can’t pump your own gas, but even in self-serve places there’s always at least one attendant on duty. When things are slow, you could even read or jot down ideas.
Warehouse work. If you’re physically fit, this can be a great place to grab a night shift, as warehouse jobs tend to pay better than the minimum wage. If you live near any industrial area with big distribution centers, know that most are busy all night long, getting boxes ready to ship the next day and shelving goods for future purchase. If you’re lucky, maybe you’ll get trained up on how to drive a forklift. Fun times!
Bar back. One entrepreneur I know who opened a shoe boutique took this side job while she waited for her store to catch on, but I think this gig works even better for writers. Unlike becoming a bartender, you don’t have to know how to mix drinks to lug kegs in from the back and empties out to the curb. And of course, bars are a gold mine for seeing characters who might come to inhabit your novel one day.
Drive a cab. You can take a shift during the time you’re not so creative — yet another opportunity to eavesdrop with impunity and get inspired with writing ideas.
Security. Hey, malls need somebody to keep watch all night in case some weirdo breaks in, right? In the right situation, you could read, nap, or even get some writing done while on the clock. As with warehouse work, security gigs pay well because of the danger…which is often mostly the danger of falling asleep.
I was reminded of an interview I did with screenwriter Michael Werwie, winner of the Nicholl Fellowship in 2012.
Michael: Yeah, once I graduated I took a job bartending, and I bartended for nearly 10 years.
Scott: That was in L.A.?
Michael: Yes, West Hollywood. I was at one place for the entire duration of its run, from day one until the last day, called O-Bar. Then that closed and I went to another place not too far away.
Scott: How has bartending fit into your writing schedule?
Michael: Bartending couldn’t have been a more perfect fit. I had my days completely free and I used that time to write. I’d wake up, eat breakfast, and write, and that just became a discipline, to the point where if I skipped it or didn’t have time to do it for whatever reason, it felt strange. I would do that every day, and would also take meetings, if and when I had those (which were few and far between for many, many years). Bartending allowed me to make the most money while working the fewest hours. It was a good balance because I could treat writing like a full‑time job and still pay the bills.
As for myself, I traveled up and down California schlepping my comedy act to such grand places as Thousand Oaks, Ventura, and Stockton. I’d work for 2–4 weeks straight, all the while working out stories in my car barreling up and down I-5, then I’d take off a week, transcribe my tape recorder notes and pound out pages in 20 hour writing marathons. It was lather, rinse, repeat for about a year before I sold a spec script. So I guess in a way, that was a pretty ideal gig as it allowed me quite a bit of freedom.
So riffing off the article, what do you think are ideal jobs that allow one the most time and energy to write? Maybe someone will provide a suggestion that others will pick up on, find that kind of gig, and write the next Great Spec Script.
What are your thoughts on the subject?
By the way, it was just announced a few weeks back that Michael Werwie landed this writing gig. All those years as a bartender, paying off!
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