A few months back I painted a bedroom as a present/favor to my old housemates, which brought back a lot of memories from my old Day Job as a housepainter. I like painting because it keeps me ridiculously focused while leaving my mind free to wander, and it provides a good amount of exercise without being too labor intensive. In a lot of ways it’s the ideal Day Job, and if I could find a decent painting position, I’d probably scoop it right up.
This essay I wrote for Four Ties Literary Review sums up my feelings about the relationship between work and writing pretty well, and explains why painting puts me in the ideal frame of mind to do both. The essay’s part of Four Ties’ issue about work in general, so I totally encourage you to check out the other pieces too.
Also, for those interested, I talk a little bit about the novel I’m working on, plus I reveal the identity of my old Secret Work-From-Home Day Job and talk more about how it affected me—since that kind of honesty’s important.
Anyway, I’ll stop rambling so you can check out the real essay, which you should right now.