tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post535075328668344250..comments2024-03-25T20:57:39.730-05:00Comments on Smack Dab in the Middle: Yes, It's Work! (September theme) Tracy BarrettHolly Schindlerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16742207239654178917noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-1691379121890430032012-09-21T21:34:41.757-05:002012-09-21T21:34:41.757-05:00Good to know, Alan; thanks for your perspective.Good to know, Alan; thanks for your perspective.Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-5641206491738391742012-09-21T07:40:31.656-05:002012-09-21T07:40:31.656-05:00I have people think I'm not really working all...I have people think I'm not really working all the time, so I don't know that it's a gender thing. It isn't from my perspective. I think it absolutely has to do with not being on someone else's schedule.<br /><br />If you don't have to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning to get ready/get to work, stay late at a job doing overtime, plan your vacations around holidays, or do your errands only on the weekends, people think you have all kinds of free time and don't really work. They have no idea that you get your work done at other times. To be honest, I probably work more hours per week now than when I punched a clock for someone else.<br /><br />I'm very fortunate to live in an area of North Carolina with lots of artists. Within a thirty minute drive of our home are dozens of glass blowers, potters, jewelers, sculptors, woodoworkers, letterpress operators, painters, and more. That helps. Around here, when I tell people I write, I don't usually get the "oh, must be nice not to have to work!" All those artists know EXACTLY what it means to be your own boss and to work in a creative field with no steady paycheck. It's when I travel, (or go back to my hometown,) that I run into the "you're already retired!" mentality...Alan Gratzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15528858793775172285noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-83908864357628092482012-09-20T11:11:34.773-05:002012-09-20T11:11:34.773-05:00My brother-in-law suggested gender bias as an expl...My brother-in-law suggested gender bias as an explanation for why he's escaped this assumption. Is that true for writers too? Chime in, guys!Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-13515858221799030732012-09-20T11:09:41.637-05:002012-09-20T11:09:41.637-05:00Argh, I get that question a lot. I think people do...Argh, I get that question a lot. I think people don't really know how to refer to it. I suggest, "How do you life as a full-time writer?"Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-16236407980718579542012-09-19T12:00:25.612-05:002012-09-19T12:00:25.612-05:00I wonder if people in Hartford wondered what Mark ...I wonder if people in Hartford wondered what Mark Twain was really doing when he would say, " Oh, I'm just working on a story about someone called Huckleberry Finn," when he was sitting on his porch. They probably wondered why the old goat didn't get a real job. <br /><br />What is really funny to me is the fact that I have had several "real" jobs where I didn't do much of anything that could be explained. They were respectable jobs, sort of like being Office Manager for the J.C. Dithers Company. <br /><br />I suspect there is a gender bias at work when people question if writing is a real job. whitstokhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02420748274854990690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-46783379867828293432012-09-19T09:52:41.263-05:002012-09-19T09:52:41.263-05:00I left my day job two years ago to write full-time...I left my day job two years ago to write full-time, and just last week one of my former co-workers asked me how I was enjoying being "retired!" (I *think* he was kidding.)<br /><br />Congrats on taking the plunge and moving on to only one-and-a-half jobs, Tracy!Lisa Graffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18382320993474008422noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-30726953942389349382012-09-17T09:53:07.649-05:002012-09-17T09:53:07.649-05:00Agreed, Marcia, and I think the problem is even gr...Agreed, Marcia, and I think the problem is even greater for those of us who do something that many people, alas, see as not really necessary or even important.Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-80451419869318484912012-09-14T21:45:14.447-05:002012-09-14T21:45:14.447-05:00Most people don't believe you're working u...Most people don't believe you're working unless you punch somebody else's time clock. They also believe that "set your own schedule" means you hardly ever work. If you don't have a boss to answer to or a workplace to show up at, yet you won't drop everything when Aunt Mabel needs a chauffeur, you can expect resentment, because after all you "could" do it. I don't think it really gets better over time, unless you are successful enough that people outside your immediate target audience know of your work. <br /><br />And all this just tells me that there are really not that many people who could handle self-employment. Most need that boss breathing down their neck. Marciahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10006966091789130047noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-68723325190690414602012-09-14T11:36:21.457-05:002012-09-14T11:36:21.457-05:00I absolutely did! :)I absolutely did! :)Holly Schindlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16742207239654178917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-19344397127259862162012-09-14T11:26:22.714-05:002012-09-14T11:26:22.714-05:00Or maybe they believe that what you call "wor...Or maybe they believe that what you call "work" isn't really work--as you said in your post!--so that no matter how many hours you spend at it, you're still just futzing around.Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-1595208229141220342012-09-14T11:25:23.320-05:002012-09-14T11:25:23.320-05:00I hope that you've informed your alumni magazi...I hope that you've informed your alumni magazine about your publications and great reviews!Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-30212705062662266362012-09-14T09:54:09.979-05:002012-09-14T09:54:09.979-05:00I never did, Tracy, but check out this oh-so-true ...I never did, Tracy, but check out this oh-so-true story: A rep from the English dept. of my alma mater called a couple of years or so into my pursuit of publication, in order to update their records on graduates. When I told them what I was up to (I was, at that point, a good five years away from my very first book deal), the caller said (in a snarky, look-down-upon-me tone), "Yeah, we WONDERED if you were still doing THAT." It had this ring of, "We just can't believe you've chosen to WASTE YOUR LIFE." I couldn't believe it! <br /><br />I have no idea where responses like that come from, but there's not a full-time author out there who hasn't run into them, over and over again...Holly Schindlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16742207239654178917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-80246722953559901602012-09-13T17:55:51.340-05:002012-09-13T17:55:51.340-05:00Some people get it. Some people, I know, think I&#...Some people get it. Some people, I know, think I'm dabbling and playing and ... well, you saw my post. I haven't yet found the perfect answer, but an 'oh, I wish,' often leads to raised eyebrows and that opens door for me to explain how many hours I sometimes work in a week. Then they're quiet, though I'm not sure they believe.Jody Feldmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05826620526949644604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-40289125148657131102012-09-13T11:06:48.487-05:002012-09-13T11:06:48.487-05:00Good one, Nancy!Good one, Nancy!Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-60687078994953443082012-09-13T10:52:59.848-05:002012-09-13T10:52:59.848-05:00My experience exactly, Tracy. The best snappy resp...My experience exactly, Tracy. The best snappy response I have is, "Have you seen my latest book?"Nancy Marie Brownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15827129157617421667noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-84943371701559677352012-09-13T10:37:29.863-05:002012-09-13T10:37:29.863-05:00Did you come up with any snappy responses that wer...Did you come up with any snappy responses that weren't obnoxious? I'm still working on that!Tracy Barretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17668453323039794253noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488191966351130111.post-75598831813805331672012-09-13T09:13:05.534-05:002012-09-13T09:13:05.534-05:00I totally understand what you're talking about...I totally understand what you're talking about, Tracy. I took the full-time leap at 24, straight out of grad school; in order to do it, I lived at home. So not only did people act as though I wasn't working, I was suddenly one of THOSE kids who live in their folks' basement and play with the computer all day. Nothing could have been farther from the truth--I worked far harder "doing nothing" than I did in grad school. Holly Schindlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16742207239654178917noreply@blogger.com