Is your writing a job or a vocation?

A fellow blogger has posted about their attitude to writing. They consider it a job, not a vocation - interesting, great, even wonderful, but still a job at the end of the day. My well-thumbed dictionary defines job as "an individual piece of work or task, an occupation, a duty or responsibility". It defines a vocation as "a special urge or predisposition to a particular calling or career." Which of those best describes your attitude to writing?

For me, it's a vocation. Hell, it's a compulsion. If a day goes by and I haven't written something - anything - I'll get antsy. I go on holiday for a week and the need to write is like a craving after a few days. Of course, there have been times when writing felt more like a chore, a job of work to do done, than a joy. Not every piece of writing makes the fire of creativity warm you with happiness - particularly when you write for a living.

But I'd much rather be writing than doing anything else. Even when I had a full-time job working with brilliant writers and artists, working 10-12 hours a day plus chunks of the weekend, I still had to write. Does that make me a better, more pure writer than someone who considers it a job, rather than a vocation? Of course not. Every writer is different, just as every story is different. But I am a writer. It's what I do, who I am. Onwards.