WRITER ON THE SIDE:
HOW TO WRITE YOUR BOOK AROUND YOUR 9 TO 5 JOB
By
Bryan Cohen
SMASHWORDS EDITION
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PUBLISHED BY:
Bryan Cohen on Smashwords
Writer on the Side:
How to Write Your Book Around Your 9 to 5 Job
Copyright 2011 by Bryan Cohen
Discover other books by Bryan Cohen:
1,000 Creative Writing Prompts: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/34347
Sharpening the Pencil: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50078
500 Writing Prompts for Kids: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/50319
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I spoke with a friend a few weeks ago. I won’t name names, but I had the fortune of travelling with her and about 20 other members of my English Department classmates to Oxford, England during one college summer. The subject of our journey across the ocean was Shakespeare, one of the most prolific writers ever. One sunny day (and it was particularly sunny that summer in England, thankfully) we all sat in a graveyard at the University and took turns reading all of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets. We also saw or read many of his 37 plays. The trip was enlightening and I am certain that it inspired me in part to be an actor and a writer.
When I spoke with my friend recently, the subject of book titling came up as I was attempting to figure out the title for my second book, a collection of essays. She presented me with a title idea for her own book, which I won’t write here for fear of it being stolen. It was fantastic and it perfectly fit her personality and writing style. She then stuck a giant spike into the side of her circus tent of an idea, deflating it and sending it crashing to the ground.
“Of course, I’ve titled ten thousand books that will never get written.”
At first, the motivational writer in me wanted to say hundreds of different pieces of advice that would lift her up and make her want to start writing her fantastically titled book. After a few tidbits of wisdom slipped out, I realized to myself that I had once thought the same thing. I once believed that I would never be a real writer. I believed I would never publish or self-publish something that other people would care about. Something changed for me, and I’ll get into that a little bit later in the book, especially in the “My Story” section in Chapter 1.
Life is a Long Time
Here is the thing about becoming an author. Some people, beyond all odds, if they have the ability to write, will become writers much, much later in life. They may have had another career for several decades of their lives. They may have been a housewife or househusband taking care of their families well into arthritis, heart-healthy diets and becoming grandparents. They may have even been part of a traumatic experience or two that made them believe they couldn’t do anything anymore, let alone write a book that people would read.
There are countless stories of these supposed late bloomers in the history of English writing. Anthony Burgess, famous for his book A Clockwork Orange did not publish his first novel until the age of 39. Joseph Conrad didn’t even know English until he was around 21 years old, but after writing in the language around the age of 32, he was still able to publish such great works as Heart of Darkness after the age of 37. Author Laura Ingalls Wilder become a newspaper columnist in her forties, but did not begin publishing her novels until her sixties, with the Little House on the Prairie series.
How many of these people do you think had to push back internal and external criticism along the lines of “you’ll never get this done” or “you’re not a writer, you’ve been doing something else your entire life”? Personally, I’ve dealt with internal doubting that felt heavy enough to knock over an elephant. When I left college, I struggled with depression and a lack of personal meaning. I was working a 9 to 5 job doing data entry while I took some improvisational comedy classes. The classes were great, but between a large commute and feeling soullessly empty during the job, I remember thinking to myself, “You’re wasting your life!” I was 22, and I already thought I was done for. How’s that for dramatic?
But that’s the thing. We hear all these stories of child prodigies and authors like Stephen King who are so prolific, who write so much, that we assume if we haven’t started yet, we’ll never get to the finish line.
We need to start choosing our comparisons better. If we’re going to compare ourselves to someone we should compare ourselves to authors like Laura Ingalls Wilder or Anthony Burgess, who had no writing published at all until they were close to or past the age of 40.
The real trick though, is to realize that writing a book is not a race. It’s more like a journey of self-discovery. It’s like climbing a mountain alone that nobody has ever climbed before. There is no “fastest time” award or anything like that. You are climbing that mountain and there is no comparison at all. If you take two months or 20 years, you will still be in first place because nobody has written your book, nobody has climbed your mountain.
But I’m Too Busy
Many of you will read the above and your response will be, “you’re full of crap!” I completely understand this reaction because it took me several years of reading and listening to what I “needed to hear” to become an author and to get motivated to write before I truly believed it. For you wonderful people, who need a truck to hit you to make you realize you might not be headed in the right direction, just read on and hopefully you’ll see the headlights bearing down.
Some of you will have a different reaction. You will acknowledge that you do want to write. You want to be like these “late bloomers” (or “early bloomers” depending on how old you are when you read this) who have gotten something published or self-published. You want to be an author! Your response to this desire, however, is something along the lines of “But, I’m too busy!”
Not to sound too much like a salesman, but “this is the book for you!” (cue infomercial audience applause)
At least, this book was written for you, the few, the proud, the people who want to be authors but like most of the world have jobs that either run from 9 to 5 or that generally take up 40 or more hours in your week.
I’m here to tell you that it is possible to become an author despite most of your time being taken up by working and sleeping. Even if you have a family and you spend your additional free time taking care of your kids, your spouse and your bills, it is possible to become an author. Now, obviously, the less time you have, the longer it will take, but you still have a shot to get that book that’s been bouncing around your head onto the page.
Some of you chosen few will respond like the earlier group with the phrase, “You’re full of crap!” Which is perfectly fine; I have developed a thick skin to such silly, non-specific criticism. Those of you who are still on board might ask the productive question of, “What do I need to make this happen?”
The three things you need are desire, time and tools.
Desire is simple and complicated at the same time. Desire means that you want to do this and that you’re willing to push past all of your fear and obstacles to make it happen. The fear and obstacles are what make desire complex, because many people will succumb to these road blocks and never achieve their loftier lifetime goals. Getting to the level of desire necessary to write a book will be covered in Chapter 2 called “Wanting It.”
By time required for writing, I’m not referring to eight hours a day and I may not even be referring to eight hours a week. I simply mean that you are willing to put aside a little bit of time, perhaps even 15 minutes a day toward straight up writing. If you are constantly overwhelmed and you are hard pressed to find any time for yourself, than you are in need of our third important item.
Tools are tricks that either create more time for yourself or help you to generate ideas for your writing while you are otherwise busy. Most of this book is dedicated toward using tools to either generate writing time or to brainstorm about writing while you’re doing other things. There are chapters in the book devoted to the morning, afternoon, evening and the weekends and they are full of tools you can use to get you into author mode.
And here’s the best thing about these tools. You don’t need to use them all. In fact, you may only need to use one or two.
I have taken a kitchen sink approach with the tools sections, giving you every idea I’ve ever used or ever thought of that could help you to use your time more effectively. While I have used most of the ideas in the book, it’s rare that I am using all of them at the same time. Using just a few of the tools occasionally has generated enough ideas and writing time to help me to finish this, which is my fourth book.
Some of the tools you will like and some of them you won’t like (or they won’t be possible for you in your line of work). Take the ones you can use and apply them immediately.
Before long, you will find that with just a few tweaks here and there, you can add a new title to the way you describe yourself, “And I’m a writer on the side.”
Final Thoughts
There is no telling what this book will cause you to do. You may smile, you may frown and you may read it cover to cover until the words are indelibly scrawled into your memory.
But if you don’t actually do any of the suggestions within its pages, you will probably not have a lot of luck as an author.
This is a book full of tips and tricks that can get you writing despite having most of your hours taken up by “the man” during your week. You need to actually perform some of the tips and tricks to get some benefit out of it. Too often, I see people who will listen to an audio tape and read a new book about improving their lives. Then, they read another book and listen to another tape. And so on and so forth.
But they never do anything that the book tells them.
I’ve been guilty of this, I admit to it. I’m here to tell you that it’s a waste of time to just read the book and hope that the motivation within will be absorbed through that thick skull of yours. If I suggest that you eat a healthier, higher energy breakfast … I want you to try it! If I suggest that you keep a notepad near your desk so that you can jot down writing ideas … I want you to try it! If I suggest you set up a writing area for yourself somewhere in your apartment or house, I damn well expect you to give it a shot!
Please, please, please, try at least one of the things in this book. Hell, get a friend at work in a similar boat to do the same thing. Push each other to take some action. Whatever you need to do to get your motor running, make it so!
While my second desire is that you enjoy the book, my first is that it helps you to improve your life and your creativity and to achieve your writing goals.
If you find yourself stuck, please wander over to my Build Creative Writing Ideas website and shoot me a message. I’m always willing to help, if there’s something the book doesn’t cover in enough detail.
I wish you good luck, great skill and the best motivation possible. Happy writing!
Sincerely,
Bryan Cohen
Author of Writer on the Side
LEGAL PAGE
This publication is protected under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and all other applicable international, federal, state and local laws, and all rights are reserved, including resale rights: you are not allowed to give or sell this book to anyone else. If you received this publication from anyone other than Bryan Cohen, Smashwords (and their affiliates) or Build Creative Writing Ideas, you've received a pirated copy. Please contact us via the website and notify us of the situation.
All contents Copyright © 2011 by Bryan Cohen. All rights reserved. No part of this document or the related files may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Limit of Liability and Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher has used its best efforts in preparing this book, and the information provided herein is provided "as is." Bryan Cohen and Build Creative Writing Ideas make no representation or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose and shall in no event be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Trademarks: This book identifies product names and services known to be trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks of their respective holders. They are used throughout this book in an editorial fashion only. In addition, terms suspected of being trademarks, registered trademarks, or service marks have been appropriately capitalized, although Bryan Cohen and Build Creative Writing Ideas cannot attest to the accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded as affecting the validity of any trademark, registered trademark, or service mark. Bryan Cohen and Build Creative Writing Ideas are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
Finally, use your head. Nothing in this book is intended to replace common sense, legal, medical or other professional advice, and is meant to inform and entertain the reader. So have fun with the book and happy writing!
Book cover photo taken by iStockPhoto.com user Miquel Munill. Cover designed by Amy Dombrower and Bryan Cohen.
The Post-College Blues
I was afraid. I had just graduated from college and I was absolutely terrified of becoming a part of the real world. Throughout most of school, I had actually been somewhat focused, producing and directing some theatre, writing stories for my creative writing classes, and getting the full college experience with parties, girlfriends and activities. During my junior year, after a few dating relationships went sour, I had thrown myself into my work and considered myself a full-time actor and writer, writing my first full play in my dorm’s laundry room with a second play that I had co-written going up that summer.
By my senior year, however, I had a full blown case of senior-itis. I had stopped working as hard and moved my work and my development far down my list of priorities. While many people were securing jobs for the following year, I was putting off the inevitable. I even decided to stick around Chapel Hill for the whole summer, working for the University to fix up dorm rooms for the following year. It was obvious that I was grabbing hold of college and that someone or something was going to have to drag me kicking and screaming away from it.
After a summer filled with drama in my personal life, I finally ended up in the suburbs of Chicago. I decided that I was an improvisational comedian, partly because it was a lot of fun, but I think a little bit because it was an artistic career choice with little to no commitment necessary.
I took on 9 to 5 temp jobs, because they similarly offered little commitment. On days that I had comedy classes or rehearsal, I would commute into the city, have some laughs with friends and colleagues and then make the long commute home. While this put me on trains over two hours a day, I hardly took a second to think about anything productive. I spent my time focusing on past dating relationships, regret at not doing as much as I wanted to creatively and plenty of sad sack wallowing. On days without comedy class, the amount of wallowing time doubled.
I remember looking at myself in the mirror one day thinking, “You have all this time, why aren’t you doing anything with it?” I was stuck in neutral (or maybe even reverse). I couldn’t start anything, or at least, I wouldn’t start anything. Partly it was fear of failure. Also, it was partly fear of success, believing at least in part that I wasn’t worth it. Over the course of my first three years in Chicago (which eventually took me into the city itself) I feel like I packed in over a decade of worrying and negativity.
A Turning Point
I bounced from temp job to temp job, eventually settling on a job at a coffee shop, which gave me a bit more time per week to find acting gigs and work on any shows I could get up the will to produce. The coffee shop gig was a bit less money per week, and I was already hurting financially, so this caused me to get into a mess with my credit cards. In a drastic effort to turn things around, I attempted to produce a Web series, borrowing tons of money from my relatives, friends, and various loan websites. Instead of taking the slow and steady approach, I thought I could do it all in one fell swoop.
It failed. Now, I had hit the bottom.
Here’s the great thing about the bottom though. You can either look at the ground the rest of your life, or you can take the opportunity to look up at all the other directions that you can go. Thankfully, I chose this second path and I started looking for a way to dig myself out of this hole.
On a random Internet search, I came upon the subject of “Personal Development.” I didn’t really know what this was, and I certainly felt “underdeveloped personally” so I figured I’d give it a shot. The subject was a lot more multi-faceted than it appeared at first glance. It dealt with subjects like optimism (which I was certainly lacking), creating goals and a plan for yourself (ditto) and attracting positive situations and people into your life (which I needed desperately).
I threw myself into the personal development game. I would listen to podcasts I found online, I made a popular personal development site into my home page and I started talking about it to everybody I knew. I noticed that some of the extremely negative people in my life, started to fade out and that my financial situation somewhat stabilized while I concentrated on the positivity of this new subject matter.
I wanted to do something with the energy and motivation I gained from all my research and excitement. I had read in Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that you learn 90% of what you teach, so I created a website dedicated to teaching people how to push past their blocks and start writing immediately. The site was called Build Creative Writing Ideas. It was the jumping off point for over a hundred articles and the several books that I’ve written. Even in just the first few months, I received some amazing comments from people who read my work and gained some sort of hope from it all. While this didn’t correct my course completely, I felt like I was finally starting to head in the right direction.
Barista to Freelancer to Author
Despite gaining some ground on feeling more purposeful, I was still a barista at a coffee shop and I was still paying off some pretty hefty bills. During a free trip to Israel through the Taglit Birthright program, I had a moment of clarity. This moment caused me to put in my two week notice upon my return. The problem was, I still didn’t have a plan, but I figured I’d leave it to chance and try to find something more in my wheelhouse than coffee and pastries.
While I took on various gigs like promotional work and acting, the one I settled on as the direction I was supposed to go in was freelance writing. Most of my work was in the form of articles for various websites and it paid by the article. While it wasn’t a 9 to 5 job, to ensure that I was moving upward financially, I usually worked over 40 hours a week. It was very cool to be writing for most if not all of my income from week to week, but I was getting drained. Plus, I hardly ever had time to work on my Build Creative Writing Ideas website. And when I did have time, I felt creatively stifled from writing all the dang time!
The solution I found was to find something I could write quickly and easily on the side for BCWI while I still made my living through writing articles. I started writing pages on my site dedicated toward writing prompts (also known as story starters). I would come up with a particular topic and generate 10 ideas per page that people could use to get their thoughts out of their heads and onto the page. I had previously done a few in the early days of the site and they ended up being the most popular by far.