What would I do if my hobby was my job?

Writing is fun for me, but I don’t know how I would do if it were my only job. There’s a blog topic for next year. What would you do if your favorite hobby were your job? Would it still be fun or would it devolve into work? It’s an interesting concept and one I would like to explore. I could even see about taking a poll, although I don’t have that many regular followers.

What would I do if my favorite hobby were my job? I’d be writing novels. I’d be a full-time writer with published books that I would get royalties on. Could I make a living doing that? I somehow doubt it. I also am not sure that I have the self-discipline to work at writing as a living. I must admit that I think I am doing all right with FCIS and my self-imposed monthly deadlines. Of course, I have only met about four of them so far.

I have other hobbies that I could discuss, none of which would earn me much money, except perhaps reading. I could read the slush pile for a publisher, I guess. I think I could even be a proofreader. Knitting would net me very little in the way of a living neither would genealogy. I don’t know enough to make a decent living with that. I would have to take classes, become a certified genealogist or even get a degree in history or something. No, writing would be my best bet at making a living with my hobby and even that would only supplement my income.

The real issue is that I don’t want my hobby to change into work. If someone pays me for doing it, and I have fun doing it, that’s ok, but all too often, what starts out as fun, turns decidedly un-fun. That’s when I lose interest. If it is not fun or I am not interested, I find it hard to do.

I don’t think I am alone in that. It’s a slippery slope, turning your hobby into a business. Essentially, that’s what I’m talking about in this blog. Speculating on whether you should turn pro in an activity, you are currently an amateur in, like my writing. I am an amateur. No one has paid me for a word of what I write. I haven’t asked for any money. I write because I enjoy it. I do family history because I enjoy the challenge of nosing out genealogical facts about my family. I like history.

The prompt was to speculate on what I would do if my hobby were my job. I’ve turned it into whether I would still enjoy writing or family history if it were my job rather than my hobby. Right now I could stop doing either with no real repercussions, well except for FCIS, which someone might want to know how it ends, but there would be no lawsuits or anything like that. I think I would still enjoy writing. Genealogy is another thing. Would I enjoy it as much if I were researching someone else’s family? I don’t think I would. What about you? Would you enjoy your hobby as much if it was your job? I guess it all depends on what your hobby is.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!