7.  A Job of Work

 

Q:  You really do go at writing as a job of work.  Don’t you?

 

A:  I told Bill Brown I considered myself an artisan rather than an artiste, and considered books utilitarian objects rather that objets d′art.

      I went at writing as a job of work.

      A métier.

      A calling.

      But a calling you realized by working at it, daily.

      No days off for artists.

      I haven’t had a day off since August 31, 1971.

 

Q:  And you expect that to pay off when?

 

A:  Are you listening?

      This is the payoff.

 

Q:  You’re five figures in debt.

      Wouldn’t you like to pay off your credit cards and live on what you make?

 

A:  Yes.  I’d like to pay off my credit cards and live off what I make.

      I could make less if I wasn’t servicing the debt.

      It was a cost.

      It’s what it cost me to be a writer.

 

Q:  I didn’t know it cost that much.

 

A:  Neither did I.

      Suddenly, you look around, and you’re in debt.

 

Q:  And too old for the factories.

 

A:  And too old for the factories.

 

Q:  Are you still having money nightmares?

 

A:  They come and go.

      It’s a cost.

      You use yourself up.

      What else is it for?

      What else are you going to do with it?

      Save it?

      Save it for what?

      Old age?

 


 

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