What Happened When I Gave Up My Day Job

It’s now been over three years since I gave up my day job to become a full-time writer. I had a high-powered busy job and I travelled extensively for work. The launch of my first novel had to be fitted in around my work travel and felt like yet another chore that I needed to do rather than the one thing I’d wanted for so long. Something had to give and it wasn’t going to be the writing. I took the leap and resigned from my well-paid job.

I’ll be honest: the first month was pure bliss. But as the months went on, I noticed that this change in my life wasn’t always easy. I’m not talking about the elephant in the room (no longer getting a monthly pay-check – aaarrrrgghh) but about things I hadn’t expected to miss. I want to share with you what these were and – four books later – the ways I found around them.

No more performance reviews

I never thought I would say this but I really missed someone sitting me down once a year to tell me how I’ve done and how I could improve. As a writer, you end up having to guess. For some people it might be obvious because they sell hundreds of thousands of books, but to be honest I’m not in that situation. I’m traditionally published and what’s called ‘midlist’ in terms of sales figures. I can increase sales a bit but pricing and publicity are run by my publisher and largely out of my control.

My solution: I’ve decided that I’m going to focus on the one thing I can control: writing high-quality books. When my writing friends tell me that my latest book is my best one yet, I take that as a positive mark on my personal performance review. Also, it’s important to celebrate every milestone. Finishing the first draft of a novel is worthy of a glass of champagne, or cake, or a present to myself. As are finishing all the edits and the proofreading.

No structured working hours

I began to wonder how many hours a day I should be writing for. At first, I thought it should be eight hours a day, like a normal job, but without having to commute further than from my bedroom to my study. This didn’t work for me at all. In the afternoon, my brain seemed to turn to mush and no decent words or interesting plot would come out, however long I would stare at my screen. Then, at the end of one of those unproductive afternoons I would feel guilty for not having done anything and would spend more hours sitting down doing nothing.

My solution: After trying different things, I finally settled on writing for three hours a day. Some days are very productive but on other days it is about turning up, sitting at my desk, and tinkering with the words on the page. Elizabeth Gilbert in her TED talk about creative genius https://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius#t-49456  is brilliant about the value of ‘turning up’. But when you write and the hours that are good for you will be different for everybody. Try different times for a few weeks and see what’s good for you.

No colleagues to talk to

The last thing that I really missed is the Chat In The Kitchen. When things don’t go well at work, you can bitch to your colleagues whilst making a cup of tea. You can swap stories, discuss solutions and figure out if what’s a problem for you is one for them too. When I became a full-time writer, all of that fell away. I ended up sitting by myself in my office for days at an end. I like my own company, but when I struggled with something, there was nobody to talk to. Sure, I could talk to my agent or my editor but that isn’t quite the same.

My solution: Other published writers aren’t my competitors but my colleagues and talking to them really helps. I now go to writing conferences not purely to speak about my books, but also to meet other authors. At one conference, another crime writer and I quickly figured out that we had the same publisher and even the same editor. We ended up in the stairway of the hotel whispering about sales figures, deals and publicity. Not to brag, but to find answers about the industry. I would strongly advise you to do the same. To understand that other writers are facing some of the same issues makes all the difference. This might feel uncomfortable at first but it’s easier if you find out beforehand which other writers are attending and reach out in this friendly Women writers Facebook group or on Twitter.

I’m going to be at CrimeFest in Bristol in May. If you’re there too, let me know. Come say hi.

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Anja de Jager is Dutch but lives in London. She draws inspiration from cases that her father, a retired police detective, worked on in the Netherlands. The first book in her Lotte Meerman series, A Cold Death In Amsterdam, was picked by The Times as one of their Crime Novels of the Year.  Anja worked in the City for twenty years but is now a full-time writer. She’s currently working on her fifth novel. anjadejager.com

A DEATH IN REMBRANDT SQUARE, Anja de Jager

Guilty until proven innocent . . .

It’s hard for anyone to have their work scrutinised in public. For Amsterdam-based detective Lotte Meerman, listening to the Right to Justice podcast as they dissect one of her old cases is made even more harrowing as every episode makes fresh accusations of a bungled operation.

As the podcast reveals hidden facts about the arrest of Ruud Klaver, the one thing Lotte is still convinced of is that it was Ruud who was guilty of the murder of a student near Rembrandt Square ten years earlier. However, when Ruud Klaver then dies in suspicious circumstances, only hours after the final podcast proving his innocence is broadcast, Lotte has to accept that maybe she was wrong.

With the dead man’s family passionately against her inclusion in the investigation into his death, the only way for Lotte to discover who killed him is by finding out where she went wrong all those years ago – if indeed she did go wrong. As Lotte digs deeper and involves colleagues from her past, it starts to look like the murder in Rembrandt Square was part of an even bigger deception . . .

Praise for Anja de Jager

‘. . . a novel brilliantly evoking the isolation of a woman with an unbearable weight on her conscience’
Sunday Times

‘The book succeeds as a portrait of both a city and, in its heroine, a delightfully dysfunctional personality’
Sunday Express

‘An impressive debut . . . De Jager is as good on dodgy family relations as she is on police procedure’
The Times

‘Detective Lotte Meerman is damaged by her past and tortured by the dreadful mistake she’s made at work . . . Amsterdam in the vicious grip of a bitter winter is the other star here, beautiful and deadly’ Cath Staincliffe

BUY THE BOOK HERE

 

 

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Category: Contemporary Women Writers, How To and Tips