In Defense of Writing as a Hobby

I’ve been writing as a hobby since I was in preschool.

My school had an author’s fair every year, and I always wrote and illustrated a book to display. I looked forward to the author’s fair every year, from pre-K up until high school.

By the time I turned 12, I wrote my longest story ever (at the time), 84 pages long, in a cheap spiral notebook from Target. I didn’t worry about structure and cliches, and I didn’t worry if the plot made sense.

In that same year, I became obsessed with the idea of getting published and becoming a famous author.

At that moment, the way I viewed my writing changed drastically, and I’m still dealing with that mindset shift to this day. Writing went from a hobby that I loved, to an opportunity to make money.

TL;DR: I have no chill

It’s not unusual for me to hyperfocus on a certain hobby or an idea. Intense hyper-fixations are normal for me.

My brain decided to focus on the idea of getting published. For years, it became more fun for me to learn about the publishing industry and how to sell a book, than to actually write the book.

Now this wasn’t a bad thing. It’s normal for a 12 year old girl to dream about becoming famous. It’s also normal for a writer to dream about getting published.

But it changed the way I looked at my writing for a long time, and I’m still trying to unlearn this way of thinking.

There’s a woman who I see on my Instagram every so often, who starts out her Reels by saying, “I’m here to de-influence you.”

Then she shows off her thrifted clothes, her beat up car, and her completely normal life. To paraphrase her message: “You don’t need to buy all the popular stuff to have a fulfilling life. You don’t need to buy what they’re selling you.”

I’m here today to de-influence you from publishing.

Weird, I know. Not many writing blogs tell you to not get published, but someone has to say these things. I needed to hear these things when I was younger.

The Impact of Money on Writing

It makes my heart sad whenever I see a writer who quits because the publishing industry won’t publish their stories, or because they don’t have enough readers. This shouldn’t be the end goal.

Publishing can be one goal for your writing journey. Becoming a bestselling author can be one of your goals.

Nowadays, everyone operates under this idea that you have to make every hobby into a side hustle. Heaven forbid that you enjoy yourself for five minutes a day! You could be making money! Turn everything that ever brought you joy into a profit that will make you rich!

Take this self publishing course! Sell Kindle books and get rich quick! Get a book deal with a giant publisher and never work again!

The issue is, a lot of these messages are being sold to you by hustlers and scam artists. These people don’t make any money actually selling books on KDP, but they sell a ton of courses, guides, and eBooks telling YOU how to sell books on KDP.

Basically, they get their money from people who are desperate enough to buy courses instead of just doing their own research.

What if we slowed down and asked ourselves, “What do we really want?”

The obsession with being a famous writer usually comes from a deeper place of want:

• Wanting to be financially stable
• To feel appreciated by readers
• To feel validated (waiting for permission to be a “real writer”)
• To spread a message to a wider audience

All of these are valid, but none of these will be solved by getting published.

To get financial stability, get another job with dependable hours, where you get paid the same amount of money every week. To evangelize and spread a message, volunteer for a cause you care about.

And to feel appreciated and validated, start by appreciating and validating yourself.

Becoming a famous writer should be a dream to keep in mind, not your only reason for writing.

What if We Reclaimed Our Hobbies?

Do you think we’d see a difference if we allowed ourselves to enjoy hobbies, instead of trying to get money out of everything?

Life is full of people scrambling to make a dime in any way they can. Social media is full of un-skippable ads, Spotify prices are going up, and Amazon Prime now plays ads on their movies that I’m already paying for.

The second your hobby becomes a business venture, it changes from relaxation or fun to work and drudgery.

Trust me. I know.

In 2019, I worked for a couple of months as a ghostwriter. I thought, “I love writing, and this is a chance to start my career as a nonfiction writer.”

I thought by working as a nonfiction writer, I could still keep fiction writing as a fun hobby for myself.

Nope. Turns out, when your entire life is centered around churning out 35,000 word eBooks in two or three weeks, you have no motivation to write anything else ever.

So I switched tactics and became a blogger for a while. It was more fun than the ghostwriting gig, but it sapped the enjoyment I had for my own blog. Because the second you can get a paycheck for it, it becomes work.

We need our hobbies to relax and unwind.

If you turn every hobby into a paycheck, what will you do to relax?

Even if you enjoy doing your hobby as a job, now you have someone else’s standards on top of your own.

The blog post is not your own, the eBook is not your own, and so on. Now your writing has to live up to your boss’s standards. (And whether or not your boss understands grammar, they will correct yours.)

It’s important to have ways to unwind and relax, without scrolling Instagram or watching TV. The best way to reclaim your time is to have creative hobbies that you enjoy.

We need more ways to create joy in our own lives. And by turning our only hobbies into extra jobs and side hustles, we risk destroying our mental and physical health, because we’re never allowing ourselves to have fun.

Is that what your 12 year old self would have wanted?

If you’re anything like me, my 12 year old self wanted to become a famous writer because she thought that was the only grown up job she’d ever enjoy. She wanted to do what she loved, and not have to worry about a career.

But you can still write, and have a day job. You can still write for the fun of it.

You don’t have to be making money to enjoy something that makes you happy.

And of course, you don’t need to wait until you’re a “real writer” to enjoy it!

Dream Without Losing Your Hobby

I’m not telling you to give up on all your dreams. I just don’t want you to lose that spark because you’re focused on the money and fame instead of your own joy.

One reason people want to get published and become famous is because they don’t know how else to reach readers. However, there are lots of ways to get readers while writing as a hobby:

• Start a blog where you share short stories and poems
• Submit your work to contests and literary magazines
• Make a newsletter and send out a couple pages every week for your subscribers to read
• Write and publish fanfiction on AO3 or a similar website
• Join a writer’s critique group, or set up a critique swap with a friend who writes

These are all perfectly valid ways to share your writing. Plus, you could argue they’re even better than a publishing deal, because you can build a personal connection with your readers and build your own tightknit, loyal fanbase unlike any other.

Validate your work.

If you’re waiting on a publishing contract to feel like you deserve readers, you might benefit from rediscovering your joy.

• Romanticize the act of writing. Swap your laptop for a pen and paper, light some candles, pour a nice hot cup of tea, and make yourself feel like a “real” writer.
• Loosen up in your current story. Kill a main character, put in a cliched plot twist (the butler did it?!), and turn the story’s outline on its head.
• Write something for your eyes only. It doesn’t matter if it’s ridiculous or full of plot holes or a direct rip-off of your favorite movie. Write what you want, crumple it up in a ball, and throw it away so nobody else can ever read it.

Publishing and becoming a bestselling author are not bad dreams. But it’s so easy to lose sight of your own passion and creativity when everything is dictated by, “Will the publishers like this story?” and “How will I market this story to the public?”

You became a writer to write stories.

No matter what happens to your book sales, if you retain your love for writing, you will always keep that joy with you. There will always be another story and another chance to try again.

There is Joy in the Small Things

Last but not least, I wanted to remind you that there is a lot of joy in the small things.

Would you stop listening to music because you couldn’t make any money from it?

How about spending time with a friend? You could have been evangelizing to strangers, or protesting for a cause, but you’re hanging out with a friend and relaxing instead. Is that a waste of time?

Is there any nutritional value in a warm chocolate chip cookie? Why do you drink caramel lattes when you could be drinking water?

We need to keep the joy in the small things. It will help you stay sane in this crazy world.

It’s not a sin to enjoy your writing as it is, with or without a giant publishing contract and a million book sales.

I can guarantee as soon as you stop writing with the masses in mind, and start finding happiness in your writing journey, you’ll find more fulfillment than a publishing contract could ever offer you.

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I don’t know if this touched you, or if you think I’m losing my marbles with this one, lol.

If you made it through all of that, thanks for reading! This is a topic that’s been on my mind for a while (since the beginning of the year…), so I hope it resonates with you in some way.

Until next time. 🙂

• Going on Hiatus
• In Defense of Writing as a Hobby
• How to Use Voice Claims for Your Fictional Characters
• 3 Things I’ve Learned By Taking a Break
• 2023 Year in Review