There are tons of writers who had day jobs and wrote (Stephen King being the most famous) in their spare time, I've done it.

it depends on the job, of course, but 40 hours a week leaves hours aside for things like the gym, movies, books, friends. If you cut out a couple of those, you have more time.

I think her block has more to do with personal issues than anything else. Someone told me that they felt depression is more of a writer's block than anything, and I think that might be true.

The largest challenge for me (and for other writers I know in the same situation) has been becoming a parent, which is a lot more than a full time job ... that is a time and energy drain. But often an inspiring one, to be sure.

Josh, I remember reading somewhere about William Faulkner, who while he was just starting to write, had a job as a nightwatchman at an electric power company. As I recall, he set up shop in a basement amidst a bunch of rumbling generators or some such thing. Later on, after he'd become famous and suffered through years of alcoholism, including his notorious stint in Hwood, he was quoted as saying something to the effect that he missed those days and his night job, a place where he really immersed himself in the practice of becoming a writer.

Re parenting: That's a whole other subject worth exploring because, as you know, once you become a parent, everything changes.

Kafka and Wallace Stevens--two of my favorite writers worked. I, in fact, wrote more when I was working 50 hours a week than I do now, when I don't have a real job. In fact, I took a few months off after selling my business in order to get more writing done and for a couple of months I wrote very little. Just recently, I've caught fire again and am writing on a better pace. I expect to go back to work next month so we'll see if that makes a difference. I deal a lot with the public and I actually find that I'm missing the stimulation of hearing dozens of different voices every day. I also live with my characters all the time, so I'm apt to get an idea at any time, in any situation.
Of course, if I ever get the opportunity to write for a living, I'm sure I won't hesitate to quit real work again.
Joshua is right, though, family life is much more a concern.

"Is it possible to write while maintaining a full-time job?"

Yes!

I leave for work at 4:20AM and arrive at work around 5:30AM.
During the commute I have plenty of time to think about writing --
think about my current script. I leave work around 2:00PM and stop at my neighborhood Borders around 3:10 PM. I buy a cup of coffee, pull out my legal pad, and write for an hour. I can usually manage this about three nights a week, but what I REALLY work for is the
weekend.

On weekends I head to Panera. On Saturday they open at 6:30AM on Sunday, 7:30AM. On both days I write until 11:30AM. They have free Internet, free refills on the coffee and comfortable booths to write in – who could ask for more?. I stay until around
11:30AM then head home and take the family out to lunch, shopping,
or to the movies.

Of course it helps to have a supportive spouse and mine’s a Saint.

When all is said and done I can squeeze in 12 hours of actual writing and approximately 11 hours of thinking about writing every week. That’s 23 hours – my second job. And that’s the way you have to treat writing – it’s a job.

Keep Writing!

Mike Scherer,

Your dedication is inspiring.

I too have to work, but my only real goal is to write for an hour a day, when doing the day job thing.

Scott,

I'm like the worst writer ever to ballance writing v.s. working full time. I've tried to mix the two, but people in "the real world" aren't really into "my world" and their bores the braincells out of me.

- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA

Y'all are inspiring, truly. It's nice to see a groovy cluster of folks like yourselves fighting the good fight. That's part of what keeps me coming back to this blog again and again... not just Scott's terrific insights but the readers as well. The comments here are always equal parts informational and motivational.

For me, I find I was more disciplined when I actually did toil at a day job. My wife and I switched places two years ago and now I stay home with my three daughters and try to keep this house in some sort of presentable shape.

The structure of my day job forced me to structure my writing as well (much like what Mike does.) Now that I have more control of my daily destiny, I do find it harder to eke out writing time. In fact, I would say it's still a work in progress, trying to finagle a decent schedule. Some days it's during naptime. Other days it's after all are in bed, though I find myself more than a little blotchy at that point and I'm more of a morning person.

What's goofing things up now for me is that our twins are due any minute now... seriously, my wife could go into labor as I write this! This has plunged everything into a strange holding pattern.

That said, I sure ain't complainin'. I got the best job on the planet.

Hey, Jeff, best of luck with your newest 'productions' -- the twins. Sending good thoughts you and your wife's way.

It's absolutely possible to work full-time and write every single day. I know, because that's my life. I work 10.5 hours a day (that's how long I am at my job, the half hour is lunch) and still write 2-3 hours a night.

The question really isn't "can I work full-time and write?" It's "can I work full-time with a family and still write?"

That's a lot harder. Can it be done? Well...

My son doesn't live with me. Call me selfish for admitting it, but if he did it would be far harder to commit to my writing as fully as I have. 2-3 hours a night? Only if I was willing to sacrifice an hour of sleep after he went to bed for every hour I wrote (I'd happily sacrifice to have my writing time AND him living with me, but that's not possible).

The key is knowing what you have to give up, because if you want to write (and if you didn't love the act of writing, why would you ever want to be a writer?) enough to get better, hard choices come up. It's the nature of the beast. I'd like to date, but I just don't have the time. That's okay with me, because I love the act of writing too much to give up (and it's finally starting to pay off).

But it takes sacrifice.