It sounds weird, but I learned last night that I don't want to be a professional writer as a career. I want writing to be a hobby and passion, like video games. There's definitely a lot less stress associated with it when it's just something to do for fun, after all. - ThreadSky

erikaherschel.bsky.social • 137 days ago

It sounds weird, but I learned last night that I don't want to be a professional writer as a career. I want writing to be a hobby and passion, like video games. There's definitely a lot less stress associated with it when it's just something to do for fun, after all.

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queenrose106.bsky.social•136 days ago

Honestly same, as much as i love Writing, and it's one of my biggest passions in life i would be so devastated if i grow to dislike it with time if I make it a profession but also I largely prefer writing fanfics over original stuff which i mostly do occasionally nowadays i write bcz it's fun

viellenightshade.bsky.social•136 days ago

I do agree with you on the writing. I thought of being an author, a career...then I realized time constraints, burnout exists, and writer's block is worse than anchovies (imo)

rottennugget.bsky.social•136 days ago

that's the way I think about art as a hobby all together, there is less burnout involved and you have much more passion if you aren't existentially dependant on it

jj-luminous.bsky.social•136 days ago

Completely agree, I learnt that a few years ago when doing art and computer science as my main subjects in school, they were cool but too much pressure and stress onto something that I usually enjoyed doing/learning

jozeruis.bsky.social•136 days ago

I was told if you love something never make it a career 👍

erikaherschel.bsky.social•136 days ago

It's good advice! Like, it'd be cool to get paid to do what you love, but if that's your only source of income, it'll get real stressful, real fast.

thetruefox.bsky.social•136 days ago

Genuinely this is how I feel about it too. Writing as a job is scary but having it be something to pick up when I feel like it is better imo

wisteriastarling.bsky.social•136 days ago

What you said about worrying about financial gain resonates with me a lot. As an art student, I was so worried about whether what I make would sell well that I became so anxious and don’t enjoy creating at all.
[+]

wisteriastarling.bsky.social•136 days ago

Now that I’ve set my sights on further education, meaning I don’t have to rely on my art to earn money, I feel like I am more relaxed and started liking drawing again.

Best of luck to you achieving your dream of publishing your works! 🫶🏻

erikaherschel.bsky.social•137 days ago

I still plan on publishing my stories, of course, but I'm definitely not gonna be nearly as worried about potential financial gain and just do this for the hell of it.

squidcat.bsky.social•137 days ago

I feel this too, I love writing my fic but tying it to my livelihood would drain the joy from it, leaving only massive anxiety.

erikaherschel.bsky.social•137 days ago

Exactly. I've been treating writing like a job for years, trying to write daily, and it just causes stress. It makes me dread writing when I do it, and it makes me feel bad when I take breaks. It definitely shouldn't be that way though. It was always meant to be a fun activity!

squidcat.bsky.social•137 days ago

Yep, you nailed it — feeling bad for taking breaks, dreading the act itself, I’ve had happen to me a few times when I turn my hobbies into obligations. Even though I was never making money from the obligations! Adding the money pressure would devastate me

yuuyuusq.bsky.social•137 days ago

Nah I perfectly understand that. For me, I didn’t want to help people as a professional career because I felt it being better to just naturally do so without worrying about money or etc :)

Sometimes it’s best to just enjoy some things without the added worry of other factors going in!

jellokei.bsky.social•136 days ago

In the same boat! It is enough to work at my own pace and post whenever I want to. The only expectations about my writing are those that I already set for myself, which I think are strict enough LOL

belledenoir.bsky.social•136 days ago

Same here

attractedto2dmen.bsky.social•136 days ago

How I felt about graphic design. I enjoy it on my own time. Didn’t want to worry about the stress of it being a job.

davetait.bsky.social•136 days ago

This is so smart. "Writer" is a noun for the person who does the thing, and while it sounds cool, it's the doing that matters.

Do it for the doing, not for what it could make you ... and then see where it takes you and what it makes you in the end.

Bet you'll be surprised. For now, have that fun!

redflashroy.bsky.social•137 days ago

That’s actually understandable. Once money gets involved in something, it becomes more stressful bc you’re expected to deliver something with high standards and you often worry if you’ll even reach those standards

weneedmorememes.bsky.social•136 days ago

Good for you. I used to really love creating software when I was younger. After 10 years, I’m starting to feel really tired of doing it. Huge workloads and tight deadlines have destroyed any sense of it being a ‘hobby.’

dylwitnogravy.bsky.social•137 days ago

i always fear that my passion for game development is gonna dwindle whenever I start doing it more professionally rather than independently-
I don't think I'm ever gonna let that stop me though, I'm taking over the world with my video games and that's FINAL.

roninjrpg.bsky.social•137 days ago

Then focus on that as a hobby and passion, Erika! Trust me, I recently made a blog about JRPGs and I didn’t do it because of financial. I did it because i want to write something for myself so that those that enjoyed games like us could read it.

cfdrifbl00m.bsky.social•136 days ago

yeah thats my thought process, on my college i see lots of messages about "art IS work" in the career sence, and while i get what they mean i cant help to feel that i dont want my art to be focused on giving me profits idk :/

erikaherschel.bsky.social•136 days ago

EXACTLY. I want to maintain my love for my art. Adding the attachment to financial gain is a real quick way to lose that love. Some people can do it, but it definitely makes me stressed if I'm not "financially successful" as an author. So I'd rather just enjoy the process and accept whatever's next.

cfdrifbl00m.bsky.social•136 days ago

even worse than working in something that isnt your passion is to lose the love in said passion because you made it your work, thats what i fear atleast

kyles-writing.bsky.social•136 days ago

Completely fair, I just really love the idea of my main job being the thing I love doing (writing) and my favorite hobby (GMing ttrpg's) also being the thing I love (storytelling and writing)

mrwurmles.bsky.social•136 days ago

Same thing happened to me when I tried to start a career in graphic design (no, I'm not a bot that's going to dm you my prices). The first professional job I got wanted me to be a business secretary and a GDer but didn't train on the first part. Then they fired me cause I screwed up that part.

xiooon.bsky.social•137 days ago

Honestly that's how i always felt about game dev, i'm a computer science major and aim to be a programmer, but games were always that thing i wanted to work on as an hobby

inkword.bsky.social•136 days ago

yeah i feel you. writing fiction is literally all i want to do all the time. i'll skip sleep and (non-urgent!) responsibilities just to finish that last paragraph. ive got 10s of thousands of words written for FUN. but i'd never want to do it as a job! that's not even a possibility in my head.

thebuffster.bsky.social•136 days ago

I had this realization about poetry. Kind of hard, kind of life affirming. Protect your passions! That's how we make it through life, I think

archievt.vtubers.social•136 days ago

This is why I stopped streaming my D&D games.

It started to feel like a job and just performing for a streaming audience instead of enjoying a game with my friends.

We’re all much happier now.

caro-angelus.bsky.social•136 days ago

Good for you for getting your priorities straight! 😌Unfortunately, there's a lot of people who hate their artistic jobs since they don't believe that their art is worth the stress that comes with it...but i'm glad to see someone here that knows when to keep their hobby a hobby

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