I was a Plan B-er and stuck at it for 40 years, rising to the top of my profession. Plan A was always in my mind and now I'm in my 60s, I'm following it. Positives? I earned enough to save for my later years so don't worry about money. Negatives? Being a late starter isn't easy, and I lost 40 years of creativity. Do I regret what I did? Yes and no. My career was not in the creative arts, but I met so many interesting people that I wouldn't otherwise have met and did worthwhile things that taught me about life, so good. If I had success at a young age in the arts (I'm now a writer and editor) it would have been good, but if I didn't get anywhere I would have had a job that didn't challenge me and helped me grow. Swings and roundabouts.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Abby. For a writer, having varied life experiences to draw upon *and* a secure financial base is a pretty unbeatable combination, so there's certainly a lot to be said for your trajectory (Courtney Love's advice aside). But I appreciate you acknowledging the what-ifs too. Hope the writing is going well now!
I think "Plan B" jobs can teach you skills you need for Plan A. Working in production and fundraising for a theater helped me run my own independent festival later on. And teaching writing has made me a better writer. I don't think it's as binary as "no back up" to prevent you from going full force on your dream, maybe it's helpful to think of other jobs as a means to acquire the skills and practice for your dream job. Like a musician who works in audio mixing, which will only help them with their own music.
Yes, good point! Maybe those jobs are "plan A adjacent." I have a similar history — wanted to be a writer, ended up working in magazine editing (at the very tail end of the period when that was still a viable career), learned a ton about writing/editing/interviewing/etc. and eventually found my way to my current writing niche. BUT I originally wanted to write fiction and have not been doing that, so I genuinely don't know if mine is a success story or a cautionary tale...
I like the adjacent language! And I agree it can be tempting to stay there as a shadow artist, so I do think you need to keep checking in with yourself and your goals.
I agree, there are so many good skills to have as part of your Plan A. I did picture framing and I have put it to good use, but there are a few other things (like packing and unpacking art for a gallery) that I can see would have been just as valuable to learn for visual art as a Plan A.
This feels so deeply true. The first thing I tell students when speaking is that if they can do literally *anything* else than be an artist, they should. If they have a plan B, they should take it. But for those that are driven to create and nothing else, they should never try to find a Plan B -- they should dive in as soon as possible with no escape plan. Optimism and, perhaps, naivete, are the most powerful tools of youth. I never want anyone to waste one drop of it.
I love this topic. I've told fellow career artist friends for years that "jobs are made for quittin'" and "don't get too comfortable with that salary" - largely regarding 'real' jobs as the enemy of art or one's more important purpose in life. That said, in my own life I have flirted with real jobs. At one time, I had risen in the marketing ranks to become a director of marketing in an animation studio - but when my feature film came out and I started taking time off to do the festival circuit, my (lovely) boss at the time gently said I had to choose between Cairo and Brazil - going to both those festivals was too much time off. So.....I quit my job that day. Plan A was knocking! Now I'm lucky enough to be making a living as a screenwriter. It feels like a Christmas miracle (truly Christmas because most of the movies I write are Christmas romances - that's what's selling!) and perhaps I CAN attribute my moderate success to the 'jobs are made for quittin'' advice....
Love this! (And fascinated to learn that Christmas romances are what’s selling in the screenwriting world—so niche!) I do think that getting too comfortable at a job is often a bigger risk vs. jumping ship… if one can tolerate the risk/uncertainty (which is kind of a prerequisite for being an artist?)
I didn't have a plan B, I got a BFA in painting even though my parents were thinking I should do something more practical. Plan A was to be an artist, and I told myself "I will try this first and only change course if it doesn't work out". I think that was a good decision. Of course, I had jobs during the early years but they were connected with my Plan A (working as a picture framer, etc.) Now I make a living as an artist, 30 years later
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think what you told yourself as a young artist — "I will try this first and only change course if it doesn't work out" — is a pretty perfect way to approach it. I'm glad it worked out for you. And I'm glad you didn't listen to your parents :)
Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Big Magic that you *shouldn't* burden your creative life with supporting you financially, at least initially. She didn't give up her day job till she'd published seven books, or something crazy like that. All to say, as others have noted here, that it's different for everyone. I had neither a Plan B NOR did I believe in my artistic abilities under I was almost 50. YOINK! I wish it had been different, but what can I say? That's where I was at.
Ah, thank you for sharing the opposing point of view, B.A.! This is a very good point, too — and "burdening" is exactly the right way to put it. I agree that explicitly setting out to make your creative thing pay, especially when you're just starting out, is a recipe for disaster. And Courtney Love's advice maybe applies better to an earlier era, when one could live comfortably in a major American city on a barista's wages, and thereby stay artistically pure without really needing a plan B. Dream world!
Art was not my first overt ideal, it was also not supported by my family so I stick with what you call Plan B till I had enough funds to do whatever i liked but then i was too grown up to make it a Plan A so it stuck as a hobby and now I do neither Plan A or B but something totally different... Life is not a straight line so u never know what will happen and if u wanna live an independent life, I think u gotta be ready for every curve ball and that comes w having a Plan B...
It didn't occur to me until this very moment that though I am a big planner and list maker, i'm ambitious and driven, I have never had a Plan B. That was quite a revelation. I have always gone all in without a look sideways. Hmmmm. Who knew?!
Very interesting! And if you *had* had a plan B, do you think it would have diluted your ambition and drive somewhat? I've always found it hard to concentrate on more than one big project at a time.
Yeah I reckon it probably would have. There is a therapeutic term called ‘closing the escape hatch’. There's something about sealing off the exit that heightens the need for commitment. Ha!
Ooo I needed to read this! I disagree that when you're young is the one time you're able to do that. I'm 52 and my kids are now just about done with college. I have no debt (though also little money), and NOW is the only time I've had to contemplate such things. (When I was just out of college myself, I had a lot of credit card debt, thanks to bad decisions plus credit card companies preying on ignorant college students.)
I don't know what this might look like for me now, but I want to have creativity take more of a forefront in my days.
Also, can't wait for your next book! I've loved the others.
Thanks for this comment, Jenny. You're right, this kind of energy/optimism is not limited the young! I'm glad you're able to bring your creativity to the forefront now — and certainly there are many writers/artists/etc who have had brilliant careers starting in midlife (or later). Thank you for the reminder.
Many people seem to relate to Elizabeth Gilbert's argument that you shouldn't make your writing (or art) pay for your life, but I've found more motivation in the opposite approach. After years of comparing my mostly PLAN A life (30 years and still going, with writing-related side jobs, of course) to others' PLAN B first approach, I realize that a lot of it comes down to personality type, especially tolerance of risk. I will absolutely risk bounced checks, delayed surgeries (until I moved to another country where health care is covered), and occasional periods of extra stress and uncertainty, while enjoying the feast or famine of the author's life. But some people just aren't wired that way. Many people either give up too soon or wait until the "right moment" and then grieve the years lost. (Of course, for some people there are multiple satisfying careers and life is a buffet, not Plan A or Plan B at all.) I, for one, didn't mind eating a lot of ramen and cheap spaghetti in my 20s and early 30s. Thanks for this excellent post!
"A lot of it comes down to personality type, especially tolerance of risk" — yes! And you can find examples of artists who thrived in all variety of ways (with day jobs and without, in near-poverty and in middle-class comfort, surrounded by chaos and with very deliberate planning, etc.) Thanks for sharing your approach — I do think it's ultimately about how we're wired and how to find a path that suits our temperaments, our life circumstances, and our creative ambitions.
Plan A all the way, since 1977. Adaptations constantly. Raised three kids. “How to be an Artist” is about my career, just making stuff, all driven by curiosity.
I got my Plan B over-with (Museum/Art Gallery career) before I got to Plan A! The one really helped focus me, and helped me with the other. Plan B: five years. Plan A, 35 years and counting! :-)
Yeah, you know, you can't really tell people how to not have to have a Plan B. Artists have to work that out for themselves, and you have to be willing to do whatever. If you really are the genius you think you are, you'll get ahead of that first bit, and find the space/time to do your art.
I absolutely agree that artists have to work through all this for themselves, and that there's no one-size-fits-all approach. I just appreciate Love encouraging us all to be a little less pragmatic if we can manage it — I think it's a nice reminder that we don't have to figure everything out in advance, that all art careers / projects involve a leap of faith.
I interviewed Courtney a few times in the 90s, and I think you have to take everything she says with quite a lot of salt.... She's highly intelligent, but her perspective is unreliable. When she was young, she was extremely focused on her objectives, and apart from the success of her early albums, has not really supported herself as an independent artist since becoming a widow...
Very fair points! I still think she's onto something with this advice. I mean, she did pull off something that countless young people dream of pulling off but never do, and I think some of that must come from a refusal to consider a more traditional path, no?
Sure… but there are many examples of people who’ve refused the conventional route - myself included - who’ve gone about it more ethically, with more honesty and integrity. I met hundreds of rock stars in the 90s, and none of them followed a traditional path, but no one else had Courtney’s attitude. Most were passionate about music, not fame and celebrity, which she was obsessed with. She also had a trust fund, and attempted to have a movie career. Like a lot of ambitious people, she was very strategic. And I do wonder what would have happened to her had Kurt not died. I knew, and interviewed him before they got together… Someone like Kim Gordon is a much better example of shunning tradition for a creative life
I’m a musician, playing professionally and also studying that plan B degree….I’m glad I’m doing it but it’s exhausting and managing the workload is a nightmare
I was a Plan B-er and stuck at it for 40 years, rising to the top of my profession. Plan A was always in my mind and now I'm in my 60s, I'm following it. Positives? I earned enough to save for my later years so don't worry about money. Negatives? Being a late starter isn't easy, and I lost 40 years of creativity. Do I regret what I did? Yes and no. My career was not in the creative arts, but I met so many interesting people that I wouldn't otherwise have met and did worthwhile things that taught me about life, so good. If I had success at a young age in the arts (I'm now a writer and editor) it would have been good, but if I didn't get anywhere I would have had a job that didn't challenge me and helped me grow. Swings and roundabouts.
Thank you for sharing your experience, Abby. For a writer, having varied life experiences to draw upon *and* a secure financial base is a pretty unbeatable combination, so there's certainly a lot to be said for your trajectory (Courtney Love's advice aside). But I appreciate you acknowledging the what-ifs too. Hope the writing is going well now!
I think "Plan B" jobs can teach you skills you need for Plan A. Working in production and fundraising for a theater helped me run my own independent festival later on. And teaching writing has made me a better writer. I don't think it's as binary as "no back up" to prevent you from going full force on your dream, maybe it's helpful to think of other jobs as a means to acquire the skills and practice for your dream job. Like a musician who works in audio mixing, which will only help them with their own music.
Yes, good point! Maybe those jobs are "plan A adjacent." I have a similar history — wanted to be a writer, ended up working in magazine editing (at the very tail end of the period when that was still a viable career), learned a ton about writing/editing/interviewing/etc. and eventually found my way to my current writing niche. BUT I originally wanted to write fiction and have not been doing that, so I genuinely don't know if mine is a success story or a cautionary tale...
I like the adjacent language! And I agree it can be tempting to stay there as a shadow artist, so I do think you need to keep checking in with yourself and your goals.
I agree, there are so many good skills to have as part of your Plan A. I did picture framing and I have put it to good use, but there are a few other things (like packing and unpacking art for a gallery) that I can see would have been just as valuable to learn for visual art as a Plan A.
Well I didn’t want plan B… so I stuck it out in Manhattan and my dream of becoming a children’s book maker came true.
So here I am with 74 books in libraries and bookstores…
And here’s my Substack, which contains lots of tips on how I did it… and no charge.
I never dreamed I’d get to meet and work with lots of the greats of the kid’s book world… Maurice Sendak, Mercer Mayer (15 books), Sesame Street, etc.
And I’m still lucky to get 3 people to look at any of my tips on how to break into the children’s book field.
Maybe if I charged $50 for a workshop, they’d be interested… lol
This feels so deeply true. The first thing I tell students when speaking is that if they can do literally *anything* else than be an artist, they should. If they have a plan B, they should take it. But for those that are driven to create and nothing else, they should never try to find a Plan B -- they should dive in as soon as possible with no escape plan. Optimism and, perhaps, naivete, are the most powerful tools of youth. I never want anyone to waste one drop of it.
This is good framing, Jessica, thanks for sharing. Especially love your last lines:
"Optimism and, perhaps, naivete, are the most powerful tools of youth. I never want anyone to waste one drop of it."
Well said!
I love this topic. I've told fellow career artist friends for years that "jobs are made for quittin'" and "don't get too comfortable with that salary" - largely regarding 'real' jobs as the enemy of art or one's more important purpose in life. That said, in my own life I have flirted with real jobs. At one time, I had risen in the marketing ranks to become a director of marketing in an animation studio - but when my feature film came out and I started taking time off to do the festival circuit, my (lovely) boss at the time gently said I had to choose between Cairo and Brazil - going to both those festivals was too much time off. So.....I quit my job that day. Plan A was knocking! Now I'm lucky enough to be making a living as a screenwriter. It feels like a Christmas miracle (truly Christmas because most of the movies I write are Christmas romances - that's what's selling!) and perhaps I CAN attribute my moderate success to the 'jobs are made for quittin'' advice....
Love this! (And fascinated to learn that Christmas romances are what’s selling in the screenwriting world—so niche!) I do think that getting too comfortable at a job is often a bigger risk vs. jumping ship… if one can tolerate the risk/uncertainty (which is kind of a prerequisite for being an artist?)
I didn't have a plan B, I got a BFA in painting even though my parents were thinking I should do something more practical. Plan A was to be an artist, and I told myself "I will try this first and only change course if it doesn't work out". I think that was a good decision. Of course, I had jobs during the early years but they were connected with my Plan A (working as a picture framer, etc.) Now I make a living as an artist, 30 years later
Thank you for sharing your experience! I think what you told yourself as a young artist — "I will try this first and only change course if it doesn't work out" — is a pretty perfect way to approach it. I'm glad it worked out for you. And I'm glad you didn't listen to your parents :)
Elizabeth Gilbert writes in Big Magic that you *shouldn't* burden your creative life with supporting you financially, at least initially. She didn't give up her day job till she'd published seven books, or something crazy like that. All to say, as others have noted here, that it's different for everyone. I had neither a Plan B NOR did I believe in my artistic abilities under I was almost 50. YOINK! I wish it had been different, but what can I say? That's where I was at.
Ah, thank you for sharing the opposing point of view, B.A.! This is a very good point, too — and "burdening" is exactly the right way to put it. I agree that explicitly setting out to make your creative thing pay, especially when you're just starting out, is a recipe for disaster. And Courtney Love's advice maybe applies better to an earlier era, when one could live comfortably in a major American city on a barista's wages, and thereby stay artistically pure without really needing a plan B. Dream world!
Or maybe Courtney Love didn't care about living comfortably when she was starting out? Doing drugs, sleeping on floors... it's not for everyone, haha
Art was not my first overt ideal, it was also not supported by my family so I stick with what you call Plan B till I had enough funds to do whatever i liked but then i was too grown up to make it a Plan A so it stuck as a hobby and now I do neither Plan A or B but something totally different... Life is not a straight line so u never know what will happen and if u wanna live an independent life, I think u gotta be ready for every curve ball and that comes w having a Plan B...
It didn't occur to me until this very moment that though I am a big planner and list maker, i'm ambitious and driven, I have never had a Plan B. That was quite a revelation. I have always gone all in without a look sideways. Hmmmm. Who knew?!
Very interesting! And if you *had* had a plan B, do you think it would have diluted your ambition and drive somewhat? I've always found it hard to concentrate on more than one big project at a time.
Yeah I reckon it probably would have. There is a therapeutic term called ‘closing the escape hatch’. There's something about sealing off the exit that heightens the need for commitment. Ha!
Ooo I needed to read this! I disagree that when you're young is the one time you're able to do that. I'm 52 and my kids are now just about done with college. I have no debt (though also little money), and NOW is the only time I've had to contemplate such things. (When I was just out of college myself, I had a lot of credit card debt, thanks to bad decisions plus credit card companies preying on ignorant college students.)
I don't know what this might look like for me now, but I want to have creativity take more of a forefront in my days.
Also, can't wait for your next book! I've loved the others.
Thanks for this comment, Jenny. You're right, this kind of energy/optimism is not limited the young! I'm glad you're able to bring your creativity to the forefront now — and certainly there are many writers/artists/etc who have had brilliant careers starting in midlife (or later). Thank you for the reminder.
Many people seem to relate to Elizabeth Gilbert's argument that you shouldn't make your writing (or art) pay for your life, but I've found more motivation in the opposite approach. After years of comparing my mostly PLAN A life (30 years and still going, with writing-related side jobs, of course) to others' PLAN B first approach, I realize that a lot of it comes down to personality type, especially tolerance of risk. I will absolutely risk bounced checks, delayed surgeries (until I moved to another country where health care is covered), and occasional periods of extra stress and uncertainty, while enjoying the feast or famine of the author's life. But some people just aren't wired that way. Many people either give up too soon or wait until the "right moment" and then grieve the years lost. (Of course, for some people there are multiple satisfying careers and life is a buffet, not Plan A or Plan B at all.) I, for one, didn't mind eating a lot of ramen and cheap spaghetti in my 20s and early 30s. Thanks for this excellent post!
"A lot of it comes down to personality type, especially tolerance of risk" — yes! And you can find examples of artists who thrived in all variety of ways (with day jobs and without, in near-poverty and in middle-class comfort, surrounded by chaos and with very deliberate planning, etc.) Thanks for sharing your approach — I do think it's ultimately about how we're wired and how to find a path that suits our temperaments, our life circumstances, and our creative ambitions.
Plan A all the way, since 1977. Adaptations constantly. Raised three kids. “How to be an Artist” is about my career, just making stuff, all driven by curiosity.
I got my Plan B over-with (Museum/Art Gallery career) before I got to Plan A! The one really helped focus me, and helped me with the other. Plan B: five years. Plan A, 35 years and counting! :-)
OK, that sounds pretty good too!
Yeah, you know, you can't really tell people how to not have to have a Plan B. Artists have to work that out for themselves, and you have to be willing to do whatever. If you really are the genius you think you are, you'll get ahead of that first bit, and find the space/time to do your art.
I absolutely agree that artists have to work through all this for themselves, and that there's no one-size-fits-all approach. I just appreciate Love encouraging us all to be a little less pragmatic if we can manage it — I think it's a nice reminder that we don't have to figure everything out in advance, that all art careers / projects involve a leap of faith.
That's it, yes.
I interviewed Courtney a few times in the 90s, and I think you have to take everything she says with quite a lot of salt.... She's highly intelligent, but her perspective is unreliable. When she was young, she was extremely focused on her objectives, and apart from the success of her early albums, has not really supported herself as an independent artist since becoming a widow...
Very fair points! I still think she's onto something with this advice. I mean, she did pull off something that countless young people dream of pulling off but never do, and I think some of that must come from a refusal to consider a more traditional path, no?
Sure… but there are many examples of people who’ve refused the conventional route - myself included - who’ve gone about it more ethically, with more honesty and integrity. I met hundreds of rock stars in the 90s, and none of them followed a traditional path, but no one else had Courtney’s attitude. Most were passionate about music, not fame and celebrity, which she was obsessed with. She also had a trust fund, and attempted to have a movie career. Like a lot of ambitious people, she was very strategic. And I do wonder what would have happened to her had Kurt not died. I knew, and interviewed him before they got together… Someone like Kim Gordon is a much better example of shunning tradition for a creative life
I’m a musician, playing professionally and also studying that plan B degree….I’m glad I’m doing it but it’s exhausting and managing the workload is a nightmare
That does sound like a lot — sending strength! 💪