I was like this and then my doctor told me the reason my legs no longer fell straight and always looked bent was that I’d sat too much. For years. So I’d say: Work hard but take care of the body that has to do the work.
💜 thanks for reading Alexander. And yes, I’m a dedicated gym rat because my body goes a little crazy if I don’t move it for extended periods of time. Basically the only time I’m consistently not working for 90 mins is when I’m lifting or running.
thanks for readingggggg, yeah all of this has been on my mind for a while. you have to want it badly enough to make it work and i don't think enough people understand that.
Thanks for the candid piece! I have never had the kind of monetary freelance success you have had (or the freelance journalistic success, for that matter), but I truly did think I would eventually get to a point where the bulk of my income stream would be editorial. This seems less and less likely with every passing year, month, week, day. At this point, I'm more interested in fostering financial stability so I can spend my free time working on writing that actually matters to me: mainly literary personal essays and long-form projects like novels and memoirs. I'm coming to terms with the fact, maybe a little too late, that there's never going to be any real work-life balance for me. But maybe I can find some form of professional and self-exploitation that doesn't lead to financial stress either lol
I’m so grateful for this piece—I’ve had a similar trajectory, though I did get an MFA. I started off in PR and advertising and felt so inferior in my 20s to the journalists I worked with, and weirdly now many of us have swapped roles… my marketing work gives me more of a financial foundation for writing long term.
The two things I kept thinking as I read are that 1) this system goes right out the window with any kind of chronic illness (which I’ve had intermittently and which can really bench you) and 2) if your goal in writing is partly about art-making, a grindset/relentless productivity hustle can be a detriment. I really internalized a productivity-based approach from marketing and had to really let that go in my MFA years to allow the work to take the time it needed to take to coalesce. That’s not really possible for me now that I’m back to hustling, but I guess I just want to mention that something real is lost in an economy where this is how we have to work.
Maybe related to that—I know many writers who have a rich spouse or inherited wealth. I say that not to be depressing (I feel depressing saying it!) but because I have to remind myself of what I can and can’t control. Pieces like this restore my sanity, though—it’s great to read about others out there hustling!
I've never really understood people who don't have an itch they're always scratching, or put another way, work they want to do after work. Though my focus has been novels and occasional published essays, not media exactly, the balance of two professional lives is one I share and can appreciate. It was interesting to get a glimpse at your version!
Yeah I always feel like a stern parent when people tell me they want to do something outside of their day job but don’t have the energy to pursue it. Like, you gotta summon it up or change something on the other side. It’s not just gonna happen because you want it to.
Lovely piece. Reminded me of me years ago. It strikes me that while you are happy with the grind and you feel you are just a passionate, driven person wired to strive every non-sleeping hour of the day to gain ground, it hasn’t occurred to you that this is a finite season in your (hopefully) long life. Of course, this means that you must pursue it more fiercely, knowing that eventually, your passions will drift. Someday, you will look back and wryly smile remembering this version of yourself ❤️🙏❤️
I appreciate your honesty here, including about how writers can have very different definitions of working hard. I’ve observed the same. I’m curious about how you manage potential conflicts of interest since it seems like you work with a range of clients in your corporate gig. Has there ever been something you’ve turned down or avoided writing about journalistically because of your day job?
It’s a fair question. I’m always upfront with my editors about the work I do, and I avoid writing about stuff that intersects with work I’m doing for clients. Thankfully, this hasn’t been an issue because I’m not on a single beat and my investigations are a lot more cultural than business.
Nice piece! I've been working in advertising for about 6 years now, and I'm curious how you find the time and energy for your social life, gym, and other hobbies. I'm a big advocate of leisure and doing nothing, and as much as I want to have a 'writer life' outside of my 'copywriter life in advertising,' I've grown to crave my idle time. What's 'nourish' time like for you? Besides the gym as you mentioned in one of your comments.
I was like this and then my doctor told me the reason my legs no longer fell straight and always looked bent was that I’d sat too much. For years. So I’d say: Work hard but take care of the body that has to do the work.
💜 thanks for reading Alexander. And yes, I’m a dedicated gym rat because my body goes a little crazy if I don’t move it for extended periods of time. Basically the only time I’m consistently not working for 90 mins is when I’m lifting or running.
You're the best. I'm so glad you wrote this!
thanks for readingggggg, yeah all of this has been on my mind for a while. you have to want it badly enough to make it work and i don't think enough people understand that.
Thanks for the candid piece! I have never had the kind of monetary freelance success you have had (or the freelance journalistic success, for that matter), but I truly did think I would eventually get to a point where the bulk of my income stream would be editorial. This seems less and less likely with every passing year, month, week, day. At this point, I'm more interested in fostering financial stability so I can spend my free time working on writing that actually matters to me: mainly literary personal essays and long-form projects like novels and memoirs. I'm coming to terms with the fact, maybe a little too late, that there's never going to be any real work-life balance for me. But maybe I can find some form of professional and self-exploitation that doesn't lead to financial stress either lol
I’m so grateful for this piece—I’ve had a similar trajectory, though I did get an MFA. I started off in PR and advertising and felt so inferior in my 20s to the journalists I worked with, and weirdly now many of us have swapped roles… my marketing work gives me more of a financial foundation for writing long term.
The two things I kept thinking as I read are that 1) this system goes right out the window with any kind of chronic illness (which I’ve had intermittently and which can really bench you) and 2) if your goal in writing is partly about art-making, a grindset/relentless productivity hustle can be a detriment. I really internalized a productivity-based approach from marketing and had to really let that go in my MFA years to allow the work to take the time it needed to take to coalesce. That’s not really possible for me now that I’m back to hustling, but I guess I just want to mention that something real is lost in an economy where this is how we have to work.
Maybe related to that—I know many writers who have a rich spouse or inherited wealth. I say that not to be depressing (I feel depressing saying it!) but because I have to remind myself of what I can and can’t control. Pieces like this restore my sanity, though—it’s great to read about others out there hustling!
I've never really understood people who don't have an itch they're always scratching, or put another way, work they want to do after work. Though my focus has been novels and occasional published essays, not media exactly, the balance of two professional lives is one I share and can appreciate. It was interesting to get a glimpse at your version!
Yeah I always feel like a stern parent when people tell me they want to do something outside of their day job but don’t have the energy to pursue it. Like, you gotta summon it up or change something on the other side. It’s not just gonna happen because you want it to.
Lovely piece. Reminded me of me years ago. It strikes me that while you are happy with the grind and you feel you are just a passionate, driven person wired to strive every non-sleeping hour of the day to gain ground, it hasn’t occurred to you that this is a finite season in your (hopefully) long life. Of course, this means that you must pursue it more fiercely, knowing that eventually, your passions will drift. Someday, you will look back and wryly smile remembering this version of yourself ❤️🙏❤️
I loved this and in a way needed to hear it myself. Appreciated the peek behind the curtain!
I appreciate your honesty here, including about how writers can have very different definitions of working hard. I’ve observed the same. I’m curious about how you manage potential conflicts of interest since it seems like you work with a range of clients in your corporate gig. Has there ever been something you’ve turned down or avoided writing about journalistically because of your day job?
It’s a fair question. I’m always upfront with my editors about the work I do, and I avoid writing about stuff that intersects with work I’m doing for clients. Thankfully, this hasn’t been an issue because I’m not on a single beat and my investigations are a lot more cultural than business.
Thanks for the response. I'm glad to hear you haven't felt boxed in at all; for generalists, that's the game.
Nice piece! I've been working in advertising for about 6 years now, and I'm curious how you find the time and energy for your social life, gym, and other hobbies. I'm a big advocate of leisure and doing nothing, and as much as I want to have a 'writer life' outside of my 'copywriter life in advertising,' I've grown to crave my idle time. What's 'nourish' time like for you? Besides the gym as you mentioned in one of your comments.