August 24, 2005
Dory asks if I ever feel the need to defend what I do. I assume she means writing, not all the other actions or inactions I perform during the day.

Nonfiction. Not particularly. It's my livelihood. If anything, you tell people you're a freelance writer and they just look confused. Some will say, "Oh, that sounds interesting." I usually respond with, "It is." Or, "I like it." It's clear that most people don't "get" how you go about making a living as a freelancer. Who do you write for? How do you get clients? I typically don't bother trying to educate them. If they're local I'll say, "Oh, I write book reviews and feature articles for The Oakland Press. They're one of my clients. Otherwise, magazines and some corporate work. I have a couple novels out." Surprisingly, that last doesn't get much reaction. I think a lot of people feel embarrassed about asking questions of novelists. Or, they just don't care. Hard to say. Or perhaps they think they should have heard of you and are embarrased they haven't. Or, even more likely, the last time they read a novel was when Stephen King's "The Dead Zone" topped the charts and they don't want to admit they don't read fiction because it makes them sounds like illiterates.

Fiction. Seems like I need to justify it to myself or defend it to myself. I've posted about this before, but fiction accounts for less than 10% of my income, but probably closer to 25% of my time (not including promotional things like book signings and talks and conferences, which tend to be in the evenings or weekends). Since there are always bills to be paid and more money is always a reasonably desirable thing, I have to convince myself on a regular basis that it's worthwhile, both emotionally, psychologically and eventually financially (I hope).

But no, I've never really had that, "Why don't you get a real job?" thing going. As I blogged crankily about on Sunday, I have run into a person or two online who seems resentful and skeptical that I'm able to make a living as a writer. I find that pretty annoying from somebody I don't know, and it probably reflects their insecurities and disatisfaction with the state of their writing life. My only real thoughts on that attitude is that actions follow thoughts, and if you think you can't make a living as a writer, then you're right--you can't. And if you believe you can, you probably will be able to. But there are definitely easier fields to break into.

Best,
Mark Terry