The Work/Play Relationship

For my Writing in the Digital Age class, I read an article by my professor titled "The Game of Facebook and the End(s) of Writing Pedagogy." It was an interesting exploration of Facebook, how social media and digital writing are changing the way we view writing, and the ever complicated relationship between work and play.

This work/play relationship is a subject I am also interested in, so the article was particularly enjoyable for me. I've often asked myself where the line between work and play is, partiuclarly in my writing. I write for fun almost every day, but I also write for work. What separates the two?

Honestly, not much. For example, for my Honors senior Capstone (read: big final project) I decided to write a novella. The story started out as a lot of fun, but now that I'm in my second semester and third draft, it's starting to feel more and more like work. It's the same story and the same characters that I loved before, but something shifted and I can't quite put my finger on where that shift occurred or even why.

This is true of more than just writing. My knitting often undergoes a similar transformation. Those of you who know me in real life (probably all of you) know that I'm knitting a big shawl for my wedding. It started out fun, and I would still probably call it fun, but it has also started to feel like work.

Why do you think things start to feel like work even when they started out as play? Do you have any examples of something that started out as work and transformed into play?