Daily Archives: January 24, 2006

Hobby Vs. Career

By Dana Diamond

What do Tupperware consultants, Olympic hopefuls, entrepreneurs and unpublished writers all have in common?

They all sacrifice inordinate amounts of time, energy and (often) money on careers that may or may not reap any financial benefits…even though they know the odds of are stacked against them.

My question isn’t why they are insane enough to do this, but rather, why is it that three out of the four are considered careers, but the fourth is often mistaken for a hobby?

Now I know there are writers who don’t care to be published. They are known as hobbyists. And I know there are entrepreneurs out there that are dabbling just for the fun of it; also hobbyists. And therein lies the key; “for the fun of it”.

But if an unpublished writer is consistently writing and working toward their goal of a career as a published author, why would someone take the time to try and convince them it is a hobby?

Just because we love what we do and can’t imagine doing anything else (even if it pays bubkis) doesn’t mean it isn’t work.

Of course, I recently debated this double standard, which is why it’s on my mind. I bring it up to you because I know I can’t be the only writer who’s had this conversation.

Hopefully, revealing the double standard for what it is will help other writers and their loved ones gain perspective.

Or maybe the dictionary, my all-time favorite book, can settle it:

hob·by
n. pl. hob·bies

An activity or interest pursued outside one’s regular occupation and engaged in
primarily for pleasure.