Being between gigs or out of work, hiatus, or really come on, the truth~unemployed as a creative person has so many benefits that I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t quit their steady paycheck/day job and join us in the life of never knowing when or where the next check is going to come from.
First of all: It is exciting! Will I be able to pay my electric bill? Will my mobile phone company really cut me off if I don’t make that payment exactly on time? Where will I be living when I run out of money and can’t pay rent? Who will give me a place to stay? How low will my credit rating go if I skip a month or two? That is really living on the edge baby! Who wouldn’t want their life to be so thrilling. I mean, how boring is it to know that every Friday you get a set amount of money and as long as you do a good job, that will not change.
Secondly: No one ever asks to borrow money from writers, not the ones like me. I am sure for Woody Allen, JK Rowling, and assorted others it is different. For someone like me, people don’t expect me to have extra cash, so I never get those calls, “can I please borrow X amount?”.
Thirdly: We have tons of free time to think about our storylines, plots, characters, and can do it from anywhere. Chances are if you have been to a Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Peats, or any coffee house in the greater Los Angeles area you have rubbed elbows with tomorrow’s most celebrated writers, you just don’t know it yet.
So as I embark on the journey of ‘waiting for the next gig’ I am excited about my life and all the benefits to being a writer!
Steph Olivieri Bourbon ~ Writing Coach 