217
Grace Whitson says, “It takes determination,
commitment, self-denial, self-control, and
sometimes the ability to live on ramen noodles
for days at a time.”
Oh, you hate your job? Why didn’t you say so?
There’s a support group for that. It’s called
everybody, and they meet at the bar.
—Drew Carey
4. You will need a financial plan. As a rule of
thumb, you should have at least two books un-
der contract and be receiving royalties (not just
living off the dregs of your advance). Then you
must determine how much per month you can
live on, and make realistic adjustments.
5. Don’t ignore the fi nancial benefi t of the day job.
Author Sharon Dunn says, “A steady predict-
able paycheck contributes a great deal to peace
of mind. Living in a constant state of panic ev-
ery time a bill arrives makes focusing on vari-
ous writing projects that much harder. Once
you are an established writer, royalty payments
still fl uctuate.”
6. A day job can keep you normal and connected
to people. An agent was heard to remark that
writers who quit their day jobs become “weird”
Z4273i_184-220.indd 217Z4273i_184-220.indd 217 9/24/09 11:21:34 AM9/24/09 11:21:34 AM