Onwards & Upwards - How to make a living off creative work?

[jrfox92]

i just moved to frisco

My condolences.

with options of low pay jobs all around me and no real career type chances anymore...my boat has sailed and its hard to feel good about a future,

What field are you in? I know that being in anything IT practically guarantees you'll have a job up there.

[comesect2.0]

...I could spend all my time making art or just selling what i have but thats nothing, went to school for sound and "art" never finished, just gonna end up working some crap 9 buck an hour job at nights some day unless idk...fuck it, thanks though, lets not turn this post into poor comesect...just raisin my kid havin fun. just ya...jobs.. and apts that cost over 1000 a month..im lucky to be in a house right now & rents over 2000 a month and my mom works her ass off at a call center dealin with people bitchin bout their 500 shoes not arriving on time haha...shyyit. anyway...takes money to make money it seems idk.

[jrfox92]

Everything you said there was 100% accurate concerning Plano/Frisco/The Colony.
Once I left there and moved to Ohio prices for everything dropped like a rock.

[friendship]

Another thing to consider is your mental strength. Creative work usually involves a lot of rejection. If you're someone who handles setbacks positively, you may persevere, but if you're a delicate cupcake like me the constant rejection and discouragement will grind you into dust until you hate your art/self/God/mankind/Earth/life and never want to do it ever again.

[friendship]

uhh don't let my shitty attitude kill the discussion tho

[ProCarsteNation]

Another thing to consider is your mental strength. Creative work possibly involves a lot of rejection. If you're someone who handles setbacks positively, you may persevere, but if you're a delicate cupcake like me the amount of rejection and discouragement might grind you into dust until you hate your art/self/God/mankind/Earth/life and never want to do it ever again.

quote mildened for better digestibility, cause I think there's truth in it. more truth than shitty attitude


so yeah, do continue folks, cause if you got

tips for a 24-year-old looking to quit wasting his time at a job he doesn't enjoy and do something meaningful, or even some words of encouragement.

maybe you got some for a 42-year-old geezer, too

[baremountain]

I've considered a career in sound engineering. I was good at it. But went on to do something else (well studying law) and I've never regretted that decision. Making music gets to remain my hobby, my true passion, while my career will be a mean to a cool private life (including my hobby) while still being intellectually engaging and with good prospects in terms of independence in the workplace.

Keep that in mind. With this change of path, your passion will become a career. Are you sure this is what you want?

Honestly I think so. It'd be pretty different from trying to pursue my own music as a money-maker, and I think that'd always be kind of reserved as my 'passion project' - recording other artists & doing production is a truly exciting thing for me so far. And doing these first few sessions with artists I think will be a great way to make sure it's something I really enjoy. I hear a lot of things in my head & have trouble with the technical aspect of actualizing them with my own playing, so it's nice to kind of have other people to do the work/play the parts so I can focus on getting things recorded the way I hear them.

Honestly though, have you considered the option of finding a job that works out a bit more like the situation you had before while growing this business for, say, 2-3 years at least?

I know that's not as fun as diving straight into it, but still.

That's pretty much what I have in mind (also maybe something that's more or less hidden in one of my long posts? If not, then I defs thought to put it). I'm not, like, about to drop my resignation at my job & start right away, but I think finding another gig where I can have a schedule that works more with my lifestyle is going to be key.

[Invisible Man]

How's it working out, Baremountain?

I have little to contribute, as I gave up on the passion-as-work thing about a decade ago. In a lot of situations, it makes you incredibly easy to take advantage of (as others have already said). My solution was to try and find something that I thought had purpose and that might contribute to something...a gig I could look back at and take some pride in rather than just supporting myself. Work to improve, not to live, or so the butchery of the phrase goes. Then I stumbled into some horseshit because I had some personal issues that dragged me home so I could deal with them. But I do have a rad little studio I can fart around in whenever I please as a result.

Did you take the plunge? Find a new gig? Splitting the difference?