Passion: it’s what so many of us crave and what so few of us pursue. Sometimes it’s a lack of self-knowledge– after all, you can’t chase something you don’t know exists. Others find there’s just not enough time in the day. So much of our lives are taken up by family obligations, errands, chores, and, mostly, our jobs. It’s hard to engage in your passion for collecting antique letterpress blocks when you have to spend nine hours a day at work, an hour commuting both ways, and prepare for the next day. A lucky few bypass this lack of time by matching their passions to their careers, allowing them to earn money by doing what they love.

At least, that’s the idea. 

Throughout my school years, I was told, “Find something you love to do, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” The principle makes sense; if you love the activity your job requires, you’ll enjoy the majority of your day. Unfortunately, in our current capitalist landscape, I’ve found that it rarely seems to work out that way. 

Horror stories of those who followed their passions into careers have risen like red flags in the wind ever since I entered the workforce. My coworker’s spouse, an avid writer, started a writing job only to find they hated it. An old high school friend spent years working her way up to becoming a literary agent, only to suddenly switch her career within a year, completely burned out. Many of my artist friends, all finding full-time or contract work out of school, have abandoned their creative pursuits for desk jobs. The main comment I hear from them after they’ve switched? “Doing my passion as a job made me hate it.”

For the longest time, I thought I was safe from becoming one of these horror stories. After all, writing is my passion, and I didn’t have an English or Communications degree. Surely, except for someday publishing a book, I’d never fall into a career that would make me hate writing. Joke’s on me. 

Through a combined effort of an old friend’s reference and my work on this blog, I managed to land a writing gig. Before I accepted, I thought back to all these horror stories. Considered them. Wondered if they’d be me. But the red flags waving in the wind couldn’t deter me because passion doesn’t always listen to sense. I dove into the career headfirst. 

It’s been nearly a year since I started my day job as a copywriter, and I’ve found that, in writing this blog, I’ve managed to inoculate myself against hating my passion. How? By creating separation and learning to balance the types of writing I do. While all writers and creatives will differ, here’s how I manage to enjoy and pursue my passion at work without burning out entirely:

Writing for Work

Writing careers cover a wider gamut than most people realize. Chances are, most of the content you consume in your day-to-day lives is written. Songs, speeches, videogames, movies, news reports, medication instructions, the ingredients on the back of the shampoo bottle, that Buzzfeed quiz that tells you what character from Avatar: The Last Airbender you are– they’re all created by someone being paid to write. The written word is everywhere, and writing jobs vary widely. 

That said, unless you’re Stephen King, most writing careers have one thing in common: you’re writing for someone else. There may be style rules, verbiage constraints, brand guidelines, and company policies to follow, constricting the type of writing you do to a very limited scope. For some, this can be suffocating. I have a feeling that these constraints, especially in creative fields, are what force many passionate people out. With a small twist in perspective, though, these creative shackles can be seen as boons. 

If I go into my job knowing that I can only write about certain topics in certain ways, it forces me to focus less on the creation aspect and more on the fine details. For eight hours a day, I hone my grammar, sentence structure, and flow with each piece I send to publishing. I use grammar checkers to teach myself obscure grammar rules or use a thesaurus to see how a word’s synonym affects the reading of a sentence I’ve written six times that day. While this isn’t exciting work (and what job is?), it is important work. My writing is more accurate. I edit more efficiently. I know when to ignore the grammar checker and when it’s caught me out. 

Writing for work is, nine times out of ten, not going to be the most mind-blowing writing you’ve ever done. After all, more shampoo bottles need updated allergen information than journalists working on the next National Geographic article. But by viewing it as an exercise in accuracy and style, you can distance yourself from the creation aspect while improving your writing exponentially.

Writing for Development

This subsection of writing may seem redundant. After all, isn’t all writing an exercise in development? Well, yes– and no. Any time you spend writing and creating will help you improve, but if your goals are unfocused, your growth as a writer will be slow. Like a bodybuilder who loves the sight of their biceps, you may neglect the exercises that you’re not as interested in, leaving you muscled up top and skinny in the legs. Writing for development is like leg day. If you skip it, your whole creative ability will be unbalanced. 

Development writing should target your weakest writing skills. Struggle with unnatural dialogue? Write dialogue. Hate coming up with interesting settings? Force your characters into strange settings that you’re forced to describe and incorporate. Importantly, your weakest writing skills don’t always have to be specific to the craft. For me, my weakest skill was consistency. 

Before starting this blog, I would spend three months in a writing frenzy and then refuse to touch the keyboard for a year afterward. By starting this blog and forcing myself to keep a consistent writing schedule, not only have I created a writing habit, but I’ve also become a more well-rounded writer. Weak points I didn’t even realize existed have improved. Writing, in general, feels easier and less like a chore. My metaphorical writer’s leg day has made all my creative muscles stronger, giving me more control and confidence in my skill. 

The unfortunate part is that, much like writing for work, writing for development isn’t always a good time. You’re doing something you actively suck at on purpose. Some days it can feel like pulling teeth. On other days, though, the lesson clicks, and you’ll find inspiration bursting from your fingertips. In addition to re-reading your old work and seeing improvement, these spurts of inspiration make writing for development worth it. When all is said and done, you can look at your once-weak writing skill and bask in your ability to conquer it. 

Writing for Fun

Writing for work and development can make you a more accurate, proficient writer, but they are rarely types of writing that people enjoy doing. It’s too much of these types of writing that make people burn out and hate their work. The best way to balance it? Fun. 

I know this should seem obvious, but so many writers neglect writing for fun. They worry about writing the next great American novel or something serious and high-brow enough to make it into the elusive “literary” genre. All this focus on creating something great turns their “fun” work into development work. The only way to keep the burnout behemoth at bay is to write self-indulgently. 

Want to write that sci-fi space rock opera? Do it. Want to write a self-insert character into a Supernatural episode? Do it. Want to rewrite the ending to Game of Thrones so that the character arcs don’t dash themselves against the rocks for shock value? Do it (and then send it to me). Whatever brings a little spark to your heart is what your fun writing should be. If done right, you’ll find yourself in a state of flow– total concentration– and you’ll look at the clock to find three hours have passed. It’s exhilarating, it’s inspiring– and it’s fun. Chances are, experiences like this are what made you enjoy writing to begin with. It is essential to keep them in your life.

The best news about writing for fun is that, in conjunction with all the other types of writing, the work you produce will be better than it’s ever been. You’ll be faster, better at grammar, and able to tackle all portions of your piece. This can easily turn some of your “fun” writing into publishable work. Maybe even the next great American novel. That said, it’s important to reiterate: that should never be the sole purpose of your writing for fun. You should write for no other reason than to enjoy yourself, or it can morph into writing for work or development instead. 

Putting it All Together

Like anything else in life, enjoying your passion is about balance. If all three types of writing are in your life, you need to manage them effectively to keep from learning to hate them. How to keep that balance differs from person to person. Don’t have a writing job? Focus on development and fun. Have a career where you write for eight hours a day and have limited time after work? Focus on fun. Have time for all three? Well, when I figure out the right balance, I’ll get back to you.

No matter what, at least two forms of writing should exist in your life, and one must be fun for the scales to remain balanced. Too much work or development will kill your passion. Nothing but play will stunt your growth. Finding the balance between the types of writing in your life is tricky, but, if you’re determined not to end up another horror story told around the office about someone who lost their passion, it’s the key to doing what you love. 

It’s not an easy task, keeping the flame of passion alive. But, just like any flame, all it needs is the right conditions. Fuel yours with fun, balance the rest, and keep an eye on the flame. With a careful hand, you can happily bask in its glow.