You don't have time to write? Bullshit.
One of the most prolific novelists of all time was a full-time postman.
Anthony Trollope was one of the most prolific novelists to ever pick up a pen.
Over his storied career, he wrote 47 novels, 42 short stories and 18 works of non-fiction. He maintained this manic output while working as a full-time postman at the British postal service.
Trollope moonlighted as a novelist.
Before he’d punch into work, Trollope would hole up at his desk and write a set number of pages. Once on the clock, he would find himself on lengthy train rides throughout Ireland—and later England—fulfilling his postal duties.
During these long commutes, he would write more pages.
Trollope adored his work as a postman.
So much so, he kept clocking in at the post office long after his novels became popular enough to support him
After Trollope’s death, his autobiography was released.
His prolificness wasn’t the result of some God-given talent, but his regimented writing schedule.
Literary critics would later say that Trollope revealing how the sausage was made tarnished his reputation. His readers wanted to believe the writer was a god walking among men.
But, this couldn’t have been further from the truth.
A cry for help.
While Trollope was still alive and kicking, one of his neighbors wrote him in need of guidance. Apparently, her husband had decided to try his hand at “writing for money,” and she wanted to know the legendary writer’s secret.
Trollope responded with surprising candor…
“My belief of book writing is much the same as my belief as to shoemaking. The man who will work the hardest at it, and will work with the most honest purpose, will work the best. All trades are now uphill work, and require a man to suffer much disappointment, and this trade more almost than any other.”
He continued...
“I was at it for years and wrote ten volumes before I made a shilling. I say all this, which is very much in the guise of a sermon, because I must endeavor to make you understand that a man or woman must learn the tricks of his trade before he [or she] can make money by writing.”
Trollope’s writing process was offensive.
It put all of his readers on the hook—so to speak.
If Trollope was able to produce at his pace while working a full-time job as a postman, it meant that everyone—writers or non—were capable of doing more with their lives and their work.
Trollope’s hard-hat approach to creativity serves as a reminder to us all that there are no excuses. You either find the time to do the work you love. Or, you don’t.
It’s as simple as that.
By Cole Schafer