Strawberry Vents About Finding a Job

[StrawberrySmiles]

This past week I visited my family and old friends in Michigan. When I went to hang out with my friends, we all had to catch up.

We're all in in our 20's (25-26), so a lot of us have big dreams and jobs. Well everyone except me had a job. So mainly, catching up was "what are doing?"

My friends would say, "I work for a school as a teacher", or "I'm a Registered Nurse, though I'd really like to be a Medication Aide". "Right now I work 12 hour days, but I'm starting to pursue a career as a para-legal."

None of them asked me, because they all know I don't have a job. They all know what I want to be: a writer. Of course, I haven't finished a book. I still want a job, yet I can't seem to get one.

The last time I worked was in 2007, fresh out of high school. Since then I moved and have been properly diagnosed with Bipolar II and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. I have kept looking for jobs, and have had only two interviews. Both in which I failed due to my anxiety. Strange, since I take medication.

I recently got a letter I was denied disability. I know I could get a lawyer for it, but I still feel so odd getting it. Like I'll feel even more lazy, yet I can't seem to get a job.

I'm still doing the writer thing, of course. I have a hard time finishing things because my self-confidence is usually between 0% - 10%. I wouldn't mind working at a grocery store or some low-level position just earn some income. I don't even plan to have a best-selling book. Just published books.

If I end up becoming a cashier at like, Wal-Mart and writing books on the side, then will I happy? Will it be enough? I've thought about doing something bigger while writing on the side, yet I don't know if I should. I have so many questions, that I'm not even sure what I could do. Some notes I have in my head...

A: No matter what, I will write on the side.

B: Should I pursue a career instead of settling for minimum wage?

C: Is there anyone else with similar psychiatric disabilities as me that has a job? How did you accomplish getting one?

D: Is there anyone in the same, or similar "boat" as me? How are you dealing with it?

E: I will always feel bad about people paying for me. My boyfriend takes care of both of us. A friend of mine paid for that trip I mentioned earlier. I feel so useless.

Gah. Rant-thingy over. XD

 

[Xilef]

I think you'll find that no matter what you'll do you'll find it difficult to keep up your writing if you are not doing a job that involves writing.

I found out today that a friend of mine started off as a writer for EA back in the day, he ended up becoming quite high up in a larger studio and now writing is his hobby that he does in between his full job, that's the trick that I think is difficult.

If you want a career and end up not writing you'll find you won't have the time to write while you build up your career, if you get a part-time job you'll start off with time for writing but eventually you'll need serious money and you'll work your way up to a salary and find you're too tired to do any writing when you do have free time.


The "usual" way to get into writing is to study something like journalism and keep trying to get onto creative writing projects based on your skills with writing detailed columns, another associate of mine was a writer for video games back in the day, she worked her way up the ladder and ended up in game writing by chance (She was a writer for the x-files first and then got requested in for a large game based on her writing for x-files).

I know some students following a similar path too.


I think perhaps as a hobby (If game writing is where you want to go) start writing mock game scenarios, short stuff, and blog about the design ideas and get some diagrams down, make yourself feel like you're an excellent game writer independent of a studio or any single project and then start contacting writers in other studios asking for an opinion or what-not, get people talking about you and get talking to people, you want people to think of your writing whenever they start a new project.

 

[moog]

Go to college

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Tch, Xilef, I'll always find time for writing. *nod nod* I thought of finding writing-related work, but it's difficult for some reason.

Go to college

To do what? XD

 

[united washcloth express]

^That's something you need to figure out yourself.

 

[moog]

Study creative writing. My friend did that and Communications and she said it helped her immensely.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

I heard you don't even need to do creative writing to become a good writer. You just need to read a lot and write every day. XD

I think I'd do something that might help me besides writing. Like...

And this is when I get stuck. >>

 

[coyotecraft]

They say the same thing about drawing. Except I know people who have been drawing for over 10 years and never really improve. Mainly because they just keep drawing the same things over and over. They are practiced in front view portraits and nothing else so they might make decent portraits for a game or something, but side-view? Perspective? Foreshortening? Suddenly the characters look like Picaso.

I've heard the same applies to writing. Someone writing detective stories would benefit from writing romance or a genre they would normally avoid. Or just experimental writing, like using a different perspective or telling a story backwards.

 

[StrawberrySmiles]

Experimenting always helps people improve! That's what happened to my art.

I took a "Write That Novel Class" and I didn't really learn anything new. *shrugs* I think I learned more by using writing-based forums that have both aspiring writers asking questions and published authors helping them out.

XD