Published on 12, July, 2020
Does anyone else think that us autistic people are not really suited to the regimented 9-5? Ive always struggled with work but the thing is im not adversed to hard work, I just cant cope with the "norm" of regimented shifts and work hours, plus bosses expectations of me which I never understand and the pressure of constant social interaction all day
For me being a writer from home would be my ideal job. I write a lot, mostly articles but I wonder if I should make a go of writing a novel. I started one about 3 years ago but havnt written in it for a while. I am thinking of writing short stories for magazines too
I wonder if us autistic people are more suited to creative jobs where we can be our own boss. Does anyone else every find this?
I have a "normal" job two days a week. I have worked more days per week, but I struggle with it, although the problem is more exhaustion than the structure per se.
I've written various articles that have been published professionally and semi-professionally, but I find it hard to pitch ideas, network and promote myself (not great autistic skills). I also prefer to write about things that interest me, which are not often what interest editors. I have written and self-published a non-fiction book about Doctor Who. I also wrote a novel, but I couldn't find an agent for it. Then I became dissatisfied with the novel and thought about a massive re-write, but am too focused on a couple of other fiction projects to do that at the moment. I'd love to be a professional or even semi-professional writer, but I'm really not sure it's going to happen because of those practical skills that I don't have.
I have the same problem as you. Freelance writing seems to require a lot of self promotion which, as an autistic person, isnt my strength. It also requires a lot of what people call "networking" which involves a lot of social skills I dont have, particularly on social media
Good luck with your novel. I have been working on mine since 2019 but havnt written in it for about 9 months, Im thinking of starting it up again