Friday, August 6, 2010

Friday Friends: So What Do You Do for a Living?

Are there ideal vocations that prepare people for becoming great writers? If so, what are they? Both questions have been lingering in my mind ever since I read a recent post on aspiring_x's blog, Hairnets and Hopes. In Raising My Plebian Voice, aspiring_x discusses career choices, literary perceptions and writing. She shares some of her recent experiences and offers an interesting range of reactions and conclusions. I'm sure that each of you will have a unique opinion on the piece. Personally, I savored aspiring_x's raw honesty.

I've considered the relationship between vocations and writing once before. The question came up during my virtual book tour in March. An anonymous reader asked if my background as a chemical engineer influences my writing. I answered honestly: it does.

How about you? Do you believe that there are ideal vocations that serve as training grounds for writers? What's your career choice and how does it affect your writing?

31 comments:

  1. To be honest any job, career, vocation can train you - depending on the type of writing you want to focus on. I also believe that the more removed your life is from writing, the more potential you have for writing something that is truly interesting.

    Thanks for joining my blog :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Before finishing a Psychiatric Social Work Degree, I was a English Major. I stepped away from writing then because of family and because of my lack of belief in myself.

    After a decade working directly with the mentaly ill, I found myself falling back to my creative side.

    I do not regret taking up Mental Health as a field back then. With it I have learned so much about the world around me and whats in all of us. It has humbled and inspired me, walking in so many others shoes from inside their brains.

    So I would say working with people is a ideal lesson and career choice for any writer who wishes to learn, feel and grow as a person and as a creative being. Aside from that, the odd, scary and funny moments I have witnessed alone, have made amazing writing material.

    Only draw back, is when in the field, it can take all of you. This is why I am a 'recovering' mental health worker.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Right now I work in insurance, and while I wouldn't say that it informs my writing at all, it is good to have a vocation that's not artistic at all. Writing is intense enough without having to create all day as a job and then have to come home at night and create some more. At some point, I think you'd crave a little stability.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Misinterpreted Wave,

    Thanks for the feedback! I just had to join your blog after reading your post about Dr. Seuss. I like his work too :). The words are combined in appealing sets, the stories and characters are entertaining and there's always an instructive theme behind it all. Gosh, now if I could only write like that!

    I'm still thinking about your feedback on this post: "I also believe that the more removed your life is from writing, the more potential you have for writing something that is truly interesting."

    Hmmmmm....now there's something to think about....

    Happy weekend!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Mohamed! Hmm, it was fate that we'd write about similar things today. I never thought I'd seriously be a writer, so I did what came naturally to me--science. And the idea of helping people. So being an MD just happened kind of easily for me.
    But I couldn't shake this inner need to write, and I busted out and starting writing like crazy about two years ago. And it turned out it was the medicine that spurred my writing at the beginning (I did poetry as an outlet and non-fiction stuff based on some medical experiences.) It was only a matter of time before the fiction popped out of my little head.
    Great post! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  6. heya!
    thanks for having me on your friday friends, my friend! :)
    i liked reading about how being a chemical engineer has effected your creative writing. i have a few scientists in my family and it seems like studying science makes people SUPER creative!
    by the way, i LOVE that a water molecule is a character!!! how unbelievably AWESOME is that! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was a high school teacher. I think just doing things that use your brain, help you write. School, teaching, observing the world around you and then slowing down enough to write about it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Interesting thought. I don't know that there is an ideal vocation. My vocation is stay-home mom, which provides lots of opportunities for growth as a writer.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Did my last comment post? I don't see it. Anyway, that's an interesting question. I don't know that there is an ideal vocation for preparing writers. Mine is stay-home mom, which has given me lots of opportunities for growth as a writer.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Somewhere else in the blogosphere this week I commented that I've had three jobs since college: teaching English in Japan, counseling refugees, and doing pr for a school for the blind. Because they were soul-enriching jobs (mostly), they enriched my writing. Not that I write about those experiences. For me, having my soul engaged with work deepened how I saw (see) the world.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I don't know that there is any absolute vocation that would produce great writers. I guess writers have come from all backgrounds. I have an extensive background in theater and show business which involved a great deal of travel, meeting people, and having unique experiences and I'm sure that helped my writing. But if I had gone into accounting I'd probably still be writing, but maybe about different things.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nicole,

    A "recovering mental health worker?" That's very descriptive and it says so much about the profession and your experiences in so few words. That's great writing! :) I would think that your background (academic and experiential) of studying people would be an invaluable source of inspiration for creating well-rounded, interesting characters.

    Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  13. Elena,

    I can sure relate with your observation about the intensity of writing. I'd love to be able to sit down and do fresh composition for 8 hrs a day. I can't. The most I can do is about 2 hrs, then I need to move on to less intense things like a walk, editing or reading.

    Working with insurance seems like it'd give you a chance to meet and talk with many different kinds of folks everyday. That might make for good source material - a conversation, a phrase or a certain notion that might come from all those people, all those human interactions might make for a good story.

    Thanks for joining our cyber-community!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  14. Lydia,

    I have to agree with you that a background in science makes for great source material for stories. I never understood the dichotomy that folks apply to scientific inquiry and artistic expression. I believe it's a false dichotomy. The truth is that there's a powerful synergy between the two.

    Hey, I love your sentence: "So being an MD just happened kind of easily for me." Go tell that to the kids currently in (or trying to get into) medical school :)

    You have a great weekend, too, Lydia!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  15. You're welcome, aspiring_x! It was your great post that made for a great installment of Friday Friends; it's certainly generating quite a bit of feedback from your fellow writers.

    Thanks for accepting the notion of a water molecule as a character in my 2nd novel. Let's see how well he works out in the final story :)

    Have a creative weekend!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  16. Jolene,

    In reading through our feedback so far, that seems to be the trend that our data is taking, a convergence to the conclusion that vocations are one input to the larger set of life experiences that form the totality of source material for our writing.

    Let's see what others say....

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  17. Angie,

    My blog is set for comment moderation so sometimes there's a delay between posting and seeing a comment.

    Hey, I'm sure that being responsible for the welfare, guidance and raising of six lives gives a Mom PLENTY of material for writing! :)

    BTW, I enjoyed your interview on Sarah Eden's blog and I agree with you: most definately, there are a lot of delicious things to eat in heaven :)

    Happy weekend!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  18. I don't think that there is one vocation that could be the best for a writer. We can draw from all sorts of inspiration, even from sources we don't think inspiration can come from, I believe. Right now I'm a full-time student, getting degrees in English and music, and both complement each other so well.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Robert,

    You've certainly given yourself a diversity of professional experiences to inform your writing. No doubt, they'll find (and probably have already found) reflection in your characters, scenes and plots. I think your phrase for the types of life experiences that influence an author's writing is one of the most apt that I've read: the "soul-enriching" experiences.

    Thanks for joining our cyber-community of writers, thinkers and artists.

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lee,

    I'm beginning to see that trend in the feedback to this post: the inclination to express oneself through fiction resides within a person, not within any specific profession. Although our professions influence our writing, they are not, in and of themselves, the source, inspiration or sole training grounds for our writing.

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  21. In your comment to Lee, you mentioned that our professions are not necessarily the sole training grounds for our writing. I agree, although I think they often help a great deal, simply by virtue of the life experiences we take away.

    For instance, in my day job as an instructional designer, I'm also a writer, which is surprisingly unhelpful except to remind me of grammar and punctuation rules.

    However, in ID, I also have to interview people to try to find out what they really *need* out of training, and not just what they think they want. THAT is very helpful when it comes to creating characters.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Kate,

    I definately see what you're saying about the experiential aspects of "working" and how they influence one's writing. I'm an absurdist. You can imagine the enormous cache of non-stop absurdity that I reap from work on a weekly basis! :)

    Thanks for contributing to our discussions. We value and enjoy your opinions!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh, btw, you hit the nail on the head in your reply, with all your descriptions of me from what you got just from that meme. Just wanted to say that. I was pretty impressed!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I'm not sure there is a vocation more suited for writers in general, but that various writers' backgrounds influence their work I think is unquestionable. My education has provided me completely different perspectives also in my writing. My job in a bookshop has given me specific ideas about the book business. A particular job can provide a writer with a setting he or she otherwise would not be familiar with. Or the job can give practise in written communication or presentation.

    I think it depends a lot from writer to writer, though. Some a very obviously influenced by their own professions, while others deliberately steer away.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Abby,

    I think it's great that you find literary inspiration at the intersection of music and language. They're alternate modes of passionate and creative self expression. And don't be impressed if someone "hits the nail on the head" after reading one of your posts. Your honesty and innocence make you easy to read as a writer and as a person. They also make you easy to like.

    Have a great week!

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  26. Cruella - I think that your core observation that every writer is unique is the most consistently "correct" perspective on the issue we're discussing.

    I didn't know that you worked in a bookstore. What an incredibly cool and wonderfully indulgent way for a writer to make a living! :)

    Thanks for stopping in at "Thoughts and Ponderings."

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi,
    Being an Aerobics Instructor gives me lots of oppurtunity to meet a lot of people, and I also love people watching while I am waiting in various places, these are definitely the most perfect ground where one can come up with ideas for writing.
    Ofcourse there are many personal experiences to write about. There are ideas and ideas .....
    Right now I am In the uS enjoying every bit of my stay at various places. Plan to be back by the 29th of this month.
    Rama.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hi,
    Do visit my space as I have written something, and would really like your comment on it.But please excuse the font, for I was not able to set it right.
    Bye, Rama.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Rama,

    I just visited your blog. Was it the car/key post that you wanted me to read? If so, I have. Interesting writing! It reminded me of Buddha's saying about our desires being the source of our suffering.

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete
  30. I don't exactly have a career, but the job I *do* have is rather stressful. This is an influence, because I lean towards writing humor as an antidote. :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Dear Yard Bard,

    I can DEFINATELY relate to using humor as an antidote to stress. There's another potent antidote, one that I ought not write about in a public forum :)...but it works GREAT as well.

    Mohamed

    ReplyDelete