“Work” writing and “really” writing
By Celeste Ng
Like many writers, I tend to think of job-related writing–like copywriting, or editing, or ghostwriting memos–as Not Really Writing. In the Huffington Post, though, Holly Robinson expresses a very different point of view:
“Doesn’t it bug you to write other people’s books when you could be working on your own?” another writer asked me recently.
Not a bit. In fact, I love telling other people’s stories. What other job would allow me to walk in another person’s shoes so completely that I’d feel their blisters? Working as a book doctor or ghost writer, I have the opportunity to immerse myself in worlds as disparate as the priesthood, cooking, fashion design, and Tejano music — I just finished ghost writing an incredibly moving memoir for Chris Perez, the husband of the fantastically talented Mexican-American singer, Selena. Ghost writing isn’t just a paying job for me. It’s a passion. Sharing stories is what makes us human.
And you know, Robinson’s right: there is a certain joy in untangling awkward sentences, polishing language, and making muddied ideas clear. But in my own experience, that type of writing doesn’t fulfill me in the same way creative writing does, but it uses the same word-processing part of my brain–thus leaving it too tired at the end of the day for working on stories.
What about you? Do you consider your day-job writing to be Real Writing? How does it affect your drive to tell your own stories in your fiction?
Further Reading:
- Robin Becker explains how teaching book reviewing helps writing
- How a police blotter can improve your writing
- One writer’s story of why he quit his day job
I make my living on writing for hire. Since starting that gig, I’ve watched my fiction productivity trickle down. Paying my bills is a necessary evil and I think the best thing I’ve gotten from the process is a thick skin due to client feedback and changes, as well as the discipline to get up every morning and give it my best, no matter how crappy I might feel. There is no room for pushback or writer’s block when you’re on the clock, and I hope that pays dividends when I go back to writing full-time again.
I would have a more eloquent comment to offer, had I not spent my 9-5 day (actually, today I had to be at work by
focusing on words and documents at my away-from-home office! 
What I *can* say is that I’ve become increasingly convinced that all of my writing “counts,” whether it’s fiction, freelance, salaried, or even the occasional letter. (But I’ll admit that back when I returned to full-time office life, I wasn’t quite so sure about that.)
Great topic. Thanks for the post, Celeste!
Not sure how that first emoticon snuck in there. I was trying to write “8 a.m.)”
See, I really *have* had a draining day!
If I did feel like Holly Robinson, I’d probably be happier. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t push myself so hard to make time for what I can’t help but consider my “real” writing. I’m definitely with you, Celeste – despite how I might like to feel. When copywriting, i almost never feel fully in it – I want to be writing my novel, or at least researching for it. But maybe this is a perspective problem. Maybe if I could get my head around it, like Erika, I could embrace ALL my writing as having value…
[...] brings up a subject that I saw treated on the Fiction Writers Review blog earlier this week. What the question came down to was this: “Do you consider your day-job [...]