To Quit or Not to Quit

All creative types have probably at one point or another been faced with this question: should you quit your day job?

For two years, I worked as a freelance scriptwriter, in addition to being an adjunct English teacher at two universities in my home state of PA. I loved this time in my life. I spent a summer in Alaska while writing a script for a tour guide company, was flown out to New Mexico when a small production company filmed the ‘sizzle reel’ for a screenplay I’d written, and had weekly assignments churning out episodes for the web show Stock Rockets and the Manhattan Neighborhood Network’s Access Asia (that last one never aired, but it was still a blast and provided me with many all-expenses paid weekends in NYC).

The problem? It wasn’t enough to make a living. (Or, at least, to make a decent living.)

Enter my day job, which is in international marketing for a publishing company. At least it’s tangentially related to books, but the sad sorry truth is that I feel like it pulls me further from my goals. I’m often there late (once until 1a.m.) and have been known to go in on a couple of Saturdays. Every so often I stop and wonder, what am I doing this for? The pay is low (publishing is notorious for this), the work is tedious, and it has nothing to do with writing.

There are pros to having a day job, though – beyond the benefits and steady pay:

1. It helps you learn more about business, which is crucial for creative people who might otherwise be clueless on this front. In my case, I now know all about publishing, which is good for a writer.

2. By extension, I have lots of contacts in publishing, so the next time I complete a manuscript, I know who to talk to.

3. A day job helps to keep you social. Many full-time writers are alone all day, having little to no contact with others, and as a result might be far more awkward when it is time to go network. (Also, you don’t want to contract “The Shining” syndrome and go crazy from all the solitude.)

I have the opportunity to teach again, starting mid-May, and it’s very tempting. I would have so much more time for my writing and the related projects that have started to spring up. (Extra tempting is the fact I’m getting married in September, which in and of itself is a bit stressful and going to require a lot of time in the summer.) I could go back to freelancing while I teach, this time with the added incentive of having done the 9-5 and not wanting to return. I could do this, and I bet it would be great.

But in the long run, is it smart?