[PUBLIC POST] Have you made sacrifices to write?

[ljwrites]

I had a great time with History Exchange 2016, but it occurred to me even while I was writing for it that I was putting a great deal of energy and time into an endeavor that, practically speaking, had no immediate benefits for me other than personal enjoyment. I spent a lot of time on the Web and pulled a dozen books from the stacks at my school library for research, and even bought a book that my library didn't carry. (No regrets though, it was awesome in its own right.) All this for writing that I would not see one red cent for! Economically speaking, this is madness. I guess that's how hobbies work, though.

Beyond just spending spare time, though, I find myself always figuring writing time into my future plans. I mean, I became a lawyer on the hope that it would give me the financial security and spare time to write, though things didn't quite work out that way. My change in course to academics, while in keeping with my aptitude, was also driven by my constant need to leave some room in my life to write while making a living on the side. In a way it's working out so far: I don't make much money but I do make a decent living while having the flexibility to pursue my impractical passion. As my responsibilities grow, though, I'm going to have to make further choices, and I have a feeling I'll always hold back a part of me to have that space where I can keep writing.

Do you find yourself holding back or making sacrifices, whether of time, money, opportunity and so on, in order to write? Do you think you might do so in the future?

Comments

[jazzyjj]

I think I'm in somewhat the same position as the previous commenter. I just published an entry about my recent one-day trip out to California with some colleagues. I actually wrote up a trip summary and was going to have it published on 2 other blogs. One of those was a blog that is part of the website for a nonprofit organization in which I've been involved for almost 12 years now. I emailed my trip summary to someone who works in their office, but still haven't heard back from anyone. So I might try emailing it to someone else there. But I also emailed my post to a colleague, whom I recently found out had surgery and is moving out of state. Thus the reason for me publishing it to my own journal. I can't post to our blog unless I email into one of my colleagues due to issues with accessibility. But I have also wanted to practice writing for some time now, and I just figured what better way to do that than create a journal? I think Dreamwidth is the ideal place for that, at least where Mac computers are concerned. Dw's accessibility team has done a stellar job, at least for users of Apple's built-in screen reader.

[ljwrites]

Awesome! I hope you find the journal both fun and useful.