**Finding time to write is a huge challenge, especially when you have a full-time job. But the writers of some of the best-selling novels of all time show us that it can be done!**

Virginia Woolf notoriously claimed in her essay, A Room of One’s Own, that all one needs to be a successful writer is a private room and a steady stipend to keep the lights on. Unfortunately, not all of us have a stream of inherited funds coming in every month as she did. Most writers must work to pay the bills, keep their rooms and a roof over their heads. And if writing itself isn’t bringing in enough income, then it’s often day (or night) jobs that do the necessary trick.

While it can be discouraging to have to work a day job when all one really wants to do is write full time, it doesn’t have to be an unconquerable obstacle on the dream sheet. In fact, many writers, whom the world now lauds as some of the greatest literary masterminds, also found themselves in situations where they had to take on undesired yet necessary occupations to sustain themselves. And despite doing what needed to be done in the income domain, they still achieved remarkable literary feats. Take it from the lives of several all-time bestselling authors.

J.K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone is ranked the 5th bestselling book of all time with over 107 million copies sold.

When she first conceived of the characters and plot surrounding the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling was working for a human rights organization as a French linguist. Over the subsequent seven years that it took her to finish the manuscript, she worked a handful of jobs to sustain herself and her passion. She found temporary employment with the United Kingdom’s Chamber of Commerce and then with Manchester University. Moving to Portugal for a brief period, she taught English night classes to Portuguese students. After a short marriage and the birth of her daughter, she moved back to England where she took up secretarial work to pay the bills, eventually steadying herself as a foreign language teacher at a grade school in Edinburgh. Through the chaos of moving multiple times, of marriage and divorce, of raising a child alone, and working long hours and multiple jobs to make ends meet, Rowling managed to write Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the first of a ground-breaking, sensational book series that launched her into the house of literary fame.

**Throughout his military service, Tolkien consistently wrote in his free time, working on stories containing sentiments of what would later inform the mystical world of *The Lord of the Rings*.**

J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis

J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is ranked the 6th bestselling book of all time with over 100 million copies sold. C.S. Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe is ranked the 10th bestselling book of all time with over 85 million copies sold.

The Oxford friends, Tolkien and Lewis, have similar stories in that their first experiences in the working world involved a military commission and service during World War I. Both men witnessed trench warfare, lost countless friends to the wasteland, endured injuries in the field, and miraculously survived. Throughout his military service, Tolkien consistently wrote in his free time, working on stories containing sentiments of what would later inform the mystical world of The Lord of the Rings. Lewis managed to nurture a passion for writing while in service as well, publishing an extensive collection of poetry shortly after he separated from the military. At the end of the war, both Lewis and Tolkien decided to pursue careers in academia, and while they started off small—Lewis as a tutor and teaching fellow, and Tolkien as an assistant lexicographer—they eventually worked their way up the academic ladder to tenured professorships at Oxford University.

While Tolkien was writing The Lord of the Rings, he also held Oxford’s Merton Professorship of English Language and Literature, a full-time job involving teaching undergraduate courses, publishing papers, and participating in academic politics and administrative duties. While Lewis was writing The Chronicles of Narnia, he was working as a fellow at Magdalen College, a job that (much like Tolkien’s) entailed teaching, tutoring, researching, publishing, and carrying out administrative tasks for the institution. Suffice it to say, these men worked around the clock keeping careers to sustain themselves and their families. And despite the long hours at the institution, they managed to write two iconic pieces of literature that have shaped the modern fantasy genre like no others.

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince is ranked the 4th bestselling book of all time with over 140 million copies sold.

Life-long writer and author of the globally renowned book, Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince), Saint-Exupéry was also an expert French aviator. At age 21, after dropping out of two university programs, he joined the French Air Force, earning his wings a year later and serving for four years in the French armed forces. He then took a position at an aerospace engineering company called, Latécoère Group, where he worked to create airmail routes over South America, northwest Africa, and across the South Atlantic. In the years leading up to World War II, he found employment as a test pilot, a representative for Air France, and a journalist for Paris-Soir. Throughout his entire aviation career, Saint-Exupéry consistently wrote and published creative literary works, containing unique themes of aviation, adventure, and simple virtue. At the start of the war, he joined the military a second time, flying for a reconnaissance squadron until the fall of France in 1940. Finding asylum in the United States for a brief period, the war-torn and displaced Saint-Exupéry managed to compose Le Petit Prince, his token work that is now globally deemed a modern classic.

Lewis Carroll

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is ranked the 9th bestselling book of all time with over 100 million copies sold.

Upon graduation from Oxford’s Christ Church College in 1856, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (penname, Lewis Carroll), accepted a follow-on position as a Mathematical Lecturer which he maintained for over 20 years. In this occupation, Dodgson spent most of his time conducting advanced academic research, publishing mathematical findings, delivering lectures to undergraduates, and tutoring. A few years later, he was ordained as an Anglican deacon, which required him to assist priests during services and provide pastoral care to parishioners. Despite the fullness of his work schedule and the constant demands of academic writing and publication, Dodgson managed to find time to compose creative pieces as well—namely collections of poetry, various essays and meditations, and the fairy-tale novel that led to his literary renown: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Dodgson wrote this piece in 1862 while actively working as both a lecturer and clergyman. He also composed the famed sequels, Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There in the time he set aside for himself between the daily demands of his working life.

Miguel de Cervantes

Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote is ranked the number one bestselling book of all time with over 500 million copies sold.

As a life-long literary artist, Cervantes desired from a young age to be a full-time writer. However, achieving writing sponsorships, let alone gaining financial independence in sixteenth-century Spain, was not an easy feat. At 21, Cervantes moved to Italy and worked as a chamberlain, managing a wealthy Italian family’s home. He then enlisted in the Spanish infantry and served for five years. While in route back to Spain at the end of his military commitment, he was captured by pirates, and subsequently enslaved in Algiers for five years until his family managed to pay for his release. When finally reunited with his homeland, Cervantes spent much of his time pursuing occupational avenues that would enable him to earn a living through writing. He received several play-writing sponsorships, but none were successful. Turning back to the conventional workforce, he served as a royal messenger for a time, then as a commissary of provisions for the Spanish Armada, and finally as a tax collector. Throughout his entire working life, Cervantes made time to write and publish his creative works, namely poetry, novellas, and plays. Finally, in 1605, the hard work paid off when he published Don Quixote, an instantly successful piece that has since established Cervantes as the most influential figure in Spanish literature.

The List Goes On

These aren’t the only success stories. The award-winning romance novelist, Nicholas Sparks, started out in real estate and waiting tables. The famed modernist writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald and James Joyce turned to pop journalism when they needed a little extra cash. The great medieval storyteller, Geoffrey Chaucer was a full-time politician. The list of working writers certainly goes on, revealing perhaps that what one really needs to be a successful writer is simply passion, grit, and persistence. And, of course, it certainly helps to have a room of one’s own.

Sources:

The all-time bestselling statistics throughout this post are derived from Bibliophile (2018) by Jane Mount. The biographical information is primarily derived from Britannica, corroborated and supplemented with information from other academic and literary sources.