Want to Make It as a Writer? Don’t Bother Writing.*

The game has changed. Adapt or die.

Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

I’m old enough to remember when side-hustles were just called hobbies. If you’re younger than me, you probably don’t.

You probably grew up in the era of the gig economy or the now creator economy; where your every meal, sneeze, or fleeting thought had to be posted as a Story or Reel or TikTok. You probably don’t remember doing things just to enjoy them. (Then again, “enjoyment” itself seems like a quaint concept given the state of … everything.)

There were once whole buckets — no, oceans — of time where young adults learned languages, played guitar, bombed at comedy open mics, played tennis, backpacked through the Sierra, and took photographs for no one but themselves. These revelatory pursuits made these people interesting. Sometimes, they even made people money.

Best of all, you once had to ask people to learn what they did. “Oh, you also gaze at stars and read about astrophysics? Please blow my mind!”

God, it was great. Now everything you want to learn about anyone is on their grid or in their bio. Even extras now exude #maincharacter vibes.

I’ve had many hobbies in my lifetime — soccer, golf, hiking, biking, running, trivia, drumming, MDMA, guitar, singing, getting…