How Kurt Vonnegut, Roald Dahl, and Agatha Christie paid the bills before they became the writers we know and love — Writing full-time is brutal. If you pursue writing as a profession, you can look forward to “perks” like sporadic paychecks, constant rejection, crippling self-doubt, and the pleasures of managing the day-to-day operations of your own freelance business. And that’s if you’re a good writer.