Flavorwire » Strange Day Jobs of Authors Before They Were Famous

Flavorwire » Strange Day Jobs of Authors Before They Were Famous  'via Blog this'

Do click on above link and read.  It's well worth it.  The ramblings below relate.

Really they do.

Weird Jobs for Writers
Oh, Right this is about Weird Jobs of Writers

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My NaNo word count still sits at 555.  I've been fiddling with things that should have been done during prep before November 1.  *sigh*

And my hours have gotten so weird I forgot what day it was.  I slept from 7pm to 10:30 Thursday and didn't get started on my post until after Ed was in bed after midnight.  And then I spent over an hour prepping a Friday Forays in Fiction post before I realized I was supposed to be posting my Thursday post.

So I quickly checked my draft posts, currently a collection of 'blog this' links and chose this one as appropriate.  then did a quick search on cheezeburger.com for job themed LOLs an whala I have a quick post.

Really, if you are either a reader or a writer you will find the article linked at top very entertaining.  Some of our best known authors had some really weird jobs to keep the body and soul in one piece.

The question asked of writers in the first paragraph is on the order of 'What will you be telling interviewers about your day job back when once your books hit the big time?'  Total paraphrase that but you get the gist.

My day jobs were:

babysitter
used bookstore clerk
pear sorter
pear packer
college library aide (student work/study)

But I haven't had a workforce job since 1987 when my eyesight had deteriorated to the point I was a walking accident. Not waiting to happen either.  But happening with nearly every step.  In 1987 while walking across the dimly lit lounge in the rec room of the student center-- a room looking much like a bar with table for eating, pool tables, food ordering and big TV, and arcade-- I fell into the lap of a big hulking jock.  He had to be a linebacker.  OG  was he pissed.  And who could blame him.  I was ten years older than him at the time and weighed nearly as much as him.

Imagine if I'd been carrying the table's order?

I didn't know then that I was already legally blind due to Retinitis Pigmentosa aka RP aka tunnel vision. All I knew was that I was always sporting bruises on my shins and elbows and had begun contemplating that I needed to wear a shit that said: No he didn't do this to me.  I'm just clumsy.

Because I didn't know I had a legitimate excuse for this major social faux pas I was suffused with shame and its associated blush.  The memory still calls that up.

Ah, this was supposed to be about the day jobs writers had and I've turned it into 'Why I don't Have a Day Job'

Maybe it should be: 'I've Had No Day Job for Over 20 Years So Why Do I Still Have No Finished Manuscript?'

I remember all those jobs vividly and all the minutes and hours on the job that I spent longing to get back to my typewriter.

Yes typewriter--I didn't get my first computer until after the last semester I'd worked in the college library which was my last official paycheck job.

I have no good answer to that question.  Unfocused work habits and extreme reluctance to send my babies into the world are the two that come to mind first and with the strongest sense of good fit.

Well speaking of work habits,  Time to get back to work on my NaNo novel.  At least I now have until Saturday evening to worry about posting again. :)