A couple of weeks ago, I was walking with a new writer friend who is disillusioned with her day job. When she said she's craving a literary life, I responded with an enthusiastic YES! And we mused on what that would actually look like.
My definition of a literary life is one where you make a living as a writer. Perhaps I'm a romantic, but a true literary life also means you're writing projects that you want to write, as opposed to just writing for money (a combination of both is acceptable).
Examples of people who led/lead literary lives, some more happily than others: Joan Didion, Stephen King, Virginia Woolf, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, Ernest Hemingway, Ronan Farrow, Shirley Jackson, and countless others.
Ironically, since the pandemic hit and quarantine life began, I've been living a semi-literary life, at least getting a taste of it. Being sent home to work and having a light workload afforded me much more time to myself, not to mention the general shutdown of everything and inability to go anywhere.
For the first time, I was home all day and still collecting a paycheck. My time was not entirely my own; I still had to check work emails and be available for conference calls, etc. But this took up only a fraction of the day. The rest of the time I was almost living That Life.
What does a literary life mean exactly? For one thing, it means a lot - and I mean A LOT - of time alone (the primary reason why this life isn't for everyone).
I live alone so this is easy, but even if I had a partner or roommate, I would still need to spend a large part of my day by myself. Often I wonder if I'll ever meet another partner who understands and is able to respect my need for long stretches of solitude.
While alone, I am mostly thinking, also watching movies or television shows, making notes, researching, outlining, reading, talking to myself, and, yes, writing.
When I'm IN THE ZONE, I rarely answer my phone. I prefer not to deal with people or really the world. I do take breaks but I really try to stay in the zone as much as possible and avoid outside distractions. This is the only way I can concentrate. Even then these measures are not always enough.
Sometimes I have to turn my phone and WiFi completely off. I've pulled back from the many volunteering activities I used to do, and, even now that things are opening up again, I only occasionally go out. The few times I did venture out, I was so quiet that people wondered if I was okay.
By no means, am I a workaholic.
I'm less confident that I'm not becoming a bit of a hermit.
I'm not sure everyone understands my behavior, how seriously I take my writing, or the countless hours necessary to write something good (it doesn't help that I'm a slow writer).
Regardless, I'm absolutely determined to make a living as a writer... and every day I get closer.
In the past three months, I've managed to finish my screenplay and write two freelance articles. I'm now in the very early stages of writing the next screenplay.
Soon, my time will be 100% my own, as my job let me go due to COVID (my last day is July 31). But I'm trying to think of it in a positive way. Like maybe this is another step towards my goal.
