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Notes on Work | The New Yorker

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1. Sometimes I feel as though I have five jobs, and then I realize that this is, in fact, the case. The jobs are teaching at three colleges, working for a private test-prep company, and writing. The last job is the most rewarding but also the one with the most unknowns. “How long does it take you to write a story?” my non-writer friends will ask, and proceed to tell me that, if only I wrote faster, or had a team, like James Patterson, then I could produce up to six solid books in a year. 2. Since writing is not a cost-effective profession, practically speaking, my other jobs are what I do to make and save money. I don’t have an exact fiscal goal in mind, but I won’t starve for my art, and a reasonable young person should always learn how to invest. Fear of poverty and fear of regression play a role, too. I worry that, the moment I stop having money to save, an anvil will fall from the sky onto my head, sending me back to an unpleasant place. It’s impolite to discuss money, but my famil

1. Sometimes I feel as though I have five jobs, and then I realize that this is, in fact, the case. The jobs are teaching at three colleges, working for a private test-prep company, and writing. The last job is the most rewarding but also the one with the most unknowns. “How long does it take you to write a story?” my non-writer friends will ask, and proceed to tell me that, if only I wrote faster, or had a team, like James Patterson , then I could produce up to six solid books in a year. 2. Since writing is not a cost-effective profession, practically speaking, my other jobs are what I do to

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