The XX Factor: What women really think.

Nice Fantasy, Shame About Reality

Isn't the sugar daddy—or, for some of us, the sugar mommy—just a lovely fantasy? And aren't people's fantasies supposed to be off limits for criticism? (I'm not entirely sure what the official position is on that last issue these days.)

I love my job, but are there times when I wouldn't rather pursue my own wonderful creative flights of fancy—research and write the stories I think are fascinating and important? Sure! Doesn't everyone with a full-time job fantasize about walking away, at least now and again? For those of us in journalism, that fantasy has a name: going freelance.

Of course, the reality is rather different. There are many successful, high-earning freelance journalists—several of them contribute to this blog—and then there are a lot of people struggling to pay the rent and others being subsidized by their families.

I would never voluntarily go freelance—I'm an immigrant, and I don't have family who could bail me out if I didn't sell enough stories or if a check didn't come through—but naturally I've dreamed about that special someone reaching across the dinner table and saying, "Pookie, your ideas are so wonderful, I don't want to deprive readers of them any longer. Why don't you give up your job and just focus on your own projects? Don't worry; I'll take care of the bills so we can stay in our lovely apartment in this fabulous neighborhood, and we can keep premium cable, and have a fresh batch of bonbons delivered every Monday. ..."

And then I wake up.

In other words, writers (and just about every other group of people) would be crazy not to have this fantasy. Just so long as they don't expect it to come true ...