In Camino Island, John Grisham explores the myths and realities of being a writer. Through Mercer’s professional struggles, her conversations with other writers, and the advice of Bruce and others, Grisham shows readers the decisions, compromises, and pains of the writing life.

Grisham highlights several ways that writers support themselves when writing itself doesn’t provide enough income. One of the most common is teaching. At the beginning of the novel, when Elaine first approaches her, Mercer is teaching as an adjunct instructor. Teaching as an adjunct is a job that offers no security, which is why she finds Elaine’s offer so appealing. At the end of the novel, she is a resident writer at a university, an appointment that involves teaching classes on a guest basis. These positions are often available at schools and, while more prestigious than being an adjunct professor, are also only temporary. The main complaint that Mercer, as a writer, has about these positions is their demand on her time; as she puts it, “she was a writer, not a teacher, and it was time to move on. To where, she wasn’t certain, but after three years in the classroom she longed for the freedom of facing each day with nothing to do but write her novels and stories” (83).