Lyn Gardner: Don’t be ashamed of day job | you can be waiter and artist
“Please don’t feel ashamed of having a day job to support your dream of working in the arts. A lot of people feel that if you aren’t a full-time artist then you aren’t a real artist,” wrote Yolanda Mercy on Twitter last week.
She’s right, some people are snooty about the idea that artists are only real artists when they spend 24 hours a day making art. But, even if you were in the fortunate position to be a well-resourced, salaried artist who makes art 24 hours a day?
I’m still a writer on the days I don’t write anything, whether it’s because I am busy teaching, making a living doing other things, doing my washing or…
via Lyn Gardner: Don’t be ashamed of day job | you can be waiter and artist
6 comments on “Lyn Gardner: Don’t be ashamed of day job | you can be waiter and artist”
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Rogues & Vagabonds 
One of my friends who acts has to run a cafe to make ends meet. When he gets a part in a play, he ends up doing an 18-hour day. But ask him what he does, and he always replies ‘”actor”.
Best wishes, Pete. x
Thank you for sharing this. I can relate to this battle as a stay-at-home mum. I use nap times and evenings to work at my writing or to get directing experience. Neither bring in an income because I am trying to find my way in a new area but I’m using all the time I have to pursue this new avenue around my ‘day job’ of being a mum. I know some might not think of parenting as a job but it’s the lifestyle choice I have to make because I can’t afford childcare… or rather if I worked it would all go to pay for childcare for me to be able to work. So I am soaking up every opportunity with my daughter and eking out every free minute to explore a new path.
And yet when I asked what I do, I feel I can’t admit to wanting to be a writer or director because the only involvement I have is in the amateur world. So, I always fall back on ‘I used to be a teacher and now I’m just a mum’. Sad, isn’t it!
Of course! Even though I’m now trying to earn a living with my art and trying to focus on my writing, I still say actress first if people ask.
Once upon a time, I had a literary agent (I’m still not published!) and when I told her I didn’t like to call myself a writer, she said, ‘You are a writer, even if you haven’t been published yet. You should call yourself a writer.’ Good luck and from this day forward, call yourself a writer and a director! You have plans and you’re working on them. Don’t forget that Kenneth Branagh started with a local amateur group. I know this because my late ex-husband acted with him in the same group and also went on to become a pro.
Bless you and thank you for your kind reply and wonderful words. Here’s to writer’s published, unpublished and to be published! X
My pleasure!