I Want To Do Songwriting Full Time

Question by Michael:

I hate my day job. I'm a songwriter at heart. I shouldn't be sitting in an office all day doing a job that makes no sense. If only I could do songwriting full time… if only. Sometimes I think I should just give up my job and have a go at making a living from songwriting. With more free time, I think I'd be able to accomplish more and sooner in songwriting. Do you think I should quit my job?



Answer:

Having a day job can be a drag. Many hobby songwriters daydream a lot about being able to write songs full time. But would it really be THAT great?


Your present situation probably looks something like this:

▪ You work 8-9 hours a day.


▪ By the time you get home you're exhausted but you still find a couple of minutes for songwriting on most days and at weekends.


▪ Once you start writing, you just can't stop and you're surprised how much you've accomplished in such short time. You're wondering: where would I be now if I'd had all day for writing in the last couple of years?



Let's imagine that you have one year off work for some reason. What would happen in that case?

▪ You're euphoric because you have all the time in the world.


▪ You spend a couple of days with songwriting, resting every couple of hours by watching TV, or chatting on the internet and Facebook. You feel you're doing a little too much songwriting and draining your creativity. You think maybe you should go out and collect new experiences and re-energize yourself before you go on.


▪ And now that you have so much free time, there are some things besides songwriting you've always wanted to do or stuff you need to catch up with: go to the gym daily, meet old friends, make a cool website/blog, learn a language, practice playing the piano daily, visit all the galleries in the city…


▪ After a couple of weeks you notice that you end up having very little time for songwriting.


There is a saying by Lucille Ball: "If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do." I've found it to be totally true. So don't give up your job because you won't do more songwriting. And you won't be able to concentrate on being creative if you worry about financial security all the time. 

Keep on songwriting, collaborating and slowly but surely you'll get to a point when you make so much from songwriting that can quit your job and tell your boss all the things you couldn't earlier… :)