Tuesday, August 31, 2004

I just clicked (via a link from Maud Newton) on an article by Chris Dalton about all the ways in which he, as a fiction writer, earns a little extra income (most of which keeps him from his real writing.)

I had resisted doing outside work for many years. I was so worried that teaching, or doing other writing-related jobs, would detract from my own work. I wanted to keep my writing pure. Reality has since set in. Income from books, when it comes, is wonderful, but it's sporadic, unpredictable (same with income from articles and stories). Any dreams of huge royalties have been tamped down, at least for now. At some point, it dawned on me that I should find ways to help ease our financial stress on a more regular basis. So I've started teaching, and I've found that I really love it. It doesn't detract from my work--it inspires it (although the time juggling thing can be a challenge on occasion.) And I just signed a contract to do some freelance editorial review work. I'm a little bit concerned about biting off more than I can chew (but I also know that in biting this off, I'll make it possible for us to go out for a bite more often!) It should be fun. We'll see how it goes...

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