I recently interviewed writer Michele Chiappetta, The Chipper Muse, for a guest post I was writing for The WM Freelance Writers Connection.
Some of her responses appear in the post, When Business and Creative Writing Clash. But Michele offered so many other useful insights on the tensions between being a business and a creative writer that I knew immediately I wanted to share them on my own blog. So, with her permission, here’s Michele’s guest post.
- Lynette
Michele Chiappetta, Chipper Muse
I definitely have conflicts between my creative work and my business writing. Most of the conflict is related to time management. Because I have an office job doing nonprofit writing (fundraising, PR, etc.), I have plenty of interaction with others during the course of the day. So I don’t mind being alone in the evenings to work on my creative writing. I make sure I attend critique groups to meet with other creative writers for input, but it’s tempting to blow off those opportunities when I get busy with work or tired from writing all day.
In addition to my day job, occasionally I also freelance write and edit to earn extra money.
I don’t know that my time management methods are all that great. I try to stay on a specific schedule (day job, work out, eat dinner, pull out computer to write novel). I carry flash drives with my personal and freelance projects on them, so if I have some downtime at the day job, I can turn to my creative writing or freelance work. I also carry notebooks to jot down ideas or do some writing if I’m waiting somewhere (like a doctor’s office). I even use a note-taking app on my smartphone sometimes. Anything to capture ideas when they come.
I need to take breaks to give my brain a rest; writing full-time and then coming home to do creative writing can be exhausting. I try to take a mental break by walking for 15 minutes mid-morning and mid-afternoon when the weather’s nice, and I try to really be in the “now,” feeling my body moving, enjoying the sunlight and fresh air, and not thinking about work. This helps me feel refreshed, which then gives me more energy to get back to whatever I’m writing, personal or work-related.
I actually think my business writing has greatly improved my creative writing. When you write for a living, you get in the habit of doing it daily, which improves your skills. Also, I’ve learned not to take it personally when my writing gets critiqued. I’m better able to take feedback and apply it in a way that works for me. And I have plenty of writing successes under my belt because of work, which makes it easier to encourage myself that my creative writing will also be a success.
As hard as it is sometimes, I wouldn’t trade the experience I’ve had doing business writing and creative writing simultaneously.
Question from Lynette: How do you balance your business and creative writing?
Michele Chiappetta is a professional nonprofit writer, and a freelance writer and editor. In addition to working with clients, she runs “a funny, intelligent, artistic, creative, and spiritual look at life” at The Chipper Muse. Michele is currently working on a novel.
Follow Michele on Twitter @chippermuse.
Contact her at: chippermuse@gmail.com or on Facebook on the Chipper Muse page.
See how another writer views the relationship between business and creative writing.
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Dear Lynette,
Thanks so much for publishing this enlightening and inspiring post. I can identify with the “exhausting” part of writing for a living and then trying creative writing. In fact, I would think Michelle would “burn out” from all that writing. The “writing every day” aspect is so critical; it’s the only way to become good; or at least writing on a regular schedule. I like the flash drive idea. Clever and productive. I have an editor friend who is so busy with her own writing and her genealogy work that she divides her days into very specific tasks: and writes each down on a calendar page for the following month. She can only write for her own projects (she writes other’s family histories and does genealogy work) on Saturdays and says its “sacrosanct.” Nov-Dec Poets and Writers Mag had an excellent article by Ellen Sussman (NYT best-selling author) pg 25 caleed “A Writer’s Daily Habit” It’s worth checking out. t\Thanks again.
Thanks for featuring me, Lynette. And thanks for the comments, Linda. I don’t know how it is that I don’t burn out, except that I really love writing and it’s one of the things I was born to do. So somehow when I do it, it’s invigorating. I guess that’s lucky, huh?
As a full-time freelance writer, I think Michele’s story is pretty typical. The more business writing I do for a regular paycheck, the less likely I am to sit down and do creative writing. However, the fact that I do write every day in some capacity makes any extra writing a bit easier to squeeze in. Good post.
Thank you, Joan. I’m glad you could relate.
I feel as you do, Michele. And I thank *you* for sharing your challenges with us.