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Many creative writers dream of turning their hobby into a full-time job. I myself do sometimes. Unfortunately, economic realities and adult responsibilities make this impossible, at least for me. But far from having prevented me from pursuing creative writing, having a day job actually helps.
As a practicing lawyer my day job already involves a lot of writing. While the “courtroom drama” stereotype of the legal profession is not entirely baseless, in real life—at least in the Philippines—cases are won in front of one’s laptop, in the library. Much of court procedure involves exchanges of written pleadings, with hearings and oral arguments taking up only part of the process.
I was already a practicing lawyer when I first started attending workshops at Storywriting School. One of my most important learnings was that fiction writing is not too different from legal writing.
For sure, there are differences. For example, in legal writing, from the very start you have to catch the judge’s attention—a judge who is busy and whose mind you must change about what he or she just read from the opposing counsel. In fiction writing, readers like it when you build up suspense slowly.
My favorite author—J.R.R. Tolkien—was a university professor, and a chunk of the input to The Lord of the Rings was his scholarly interest in medieval English language, literature, and culture.
But the writing process is the same. In legal writing, the first step is to formulate your argument, divide it into sub-arguments, then plug in the text consisting of the facts of the case and the applicable law. In fiction writing, once you have formulated your logline, you build the plot from there and then just fill in the text.
My day job also teaches me good research habits, which is essential to make my fiction credible.
My day job also gives me material for stories. It exposes me to characters and their actions, motives, and objectives. It exposes me to situations from which interesting plots can grow. It gives me real-life problems to solve, which gives me an insight on how my characters may choose to solve their problems.
One limitation that my day job does give me is time available for writing. I get to write only on week-ends and after work—that is, if I still have energy left after a busy day of already writing.
But the QT3K method I learned from Storywriting School is very helpful. I may be able to write fiction only in short bursts of time, but it does all add up into a substantial amount of writing over time.
Last year, I was able to accomplish my dream of publishing Amihan, a YA-Historical fiction novelette. I still have many writing projects and drafts in the pipeline. After my first success confirmed that it can be done, I am confident that I can turn these plans into published stories.
I am sure many other creative writers with day jobs will attest to how their day job helps their creative writing. In fact, my favorite author—J.R.R. Tolkien—was a university professor, and a chunk of the input to The Lord of the Rings was his scholarly interest in medieval English language, literature, and culture.
We need not give up our literary dreams while working to put food on the table.
Written by Cristina A. Montes | July 10, 2022
Story Sandbox Magazine, Volume 1 Issue 2 (3rd quarter, 2022)
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