It feels like forever since
my last post but I don't want to simply do a stop-gap until I can
write something better, so I'm going to write the best thing I can at
this point in time.
Here it goes!
“I don't want to get rich
writing, but make a living. To make a living I must work like I want
to get rich.”
I feel like that is a
powerful statement. I don't like when people act like writers
shouldn't get paid. That is discouraging and illogical. A writer has
the same right to payment as does a plumber, a doctor, and a teacher. And
yet I'm equally put off by fortune and fame. I have absolutely no
desire to be well-known, and certainly not rich.
Perhaps this is a
contradiction, and perhaps not. “You mean to say you want to write
books for a living, in obscurity?”
Yes. I would love to make a
living doing what I love, be able to communicate and interact with
peers, readers, and friends, and avoid the pitfalls that so often come
with fortune and fame. It may be too much to ask, and it may even be
unreasonable, but If in years to come I've only accomplished enough
to pay my bills, buy a few nice guitars, take my woman to Europe, and
keep my children reasonably fed, I'd be over the moon.
What am I asking for?
$20,000 a year writing down things that come to my mind (not a lot, but hey, the woman is college educated, she'll always out-earn me!). I don't want
the millions of dollars authors like Stephen King, Anne Rice, and J.
K. Rowling have made. I don't want to change the world. I don't want
to have my face on every news channel if I'm ever struck by a van. I
certainly don't want people talking about my religious views.
But there is a problem.
If I want to make even a few thousand dollars a year as a
professional author, I have to work as if I want the whole damn
pie. That's right, I'll have to work like I want to make
millions, just to get by.
Shooting for goals is a lot like shooting for guns.
If a target is far off in the distance, you must take gravity into
account and aim higher than your target. In writing
this means that even if I'll be satisfied making only a little more
than I would working a full-time, minimum wage job, I must act
as though I want to make millions of dollars, win awards, and as Mayor Vaughn once said, “Love to prove that, wouldn't ya? Get your name into the National Geographic.”
In way just saying it takes
a bit of weight off of my shoulders. A million dollars a year is
absurd. Only a few authors ever reach that pinnacle, and from my
point of view, something like that can be filed under “It happens
to other people, not to me.”
It also puts my real
goal into perspective. It's nothing compared to what is over the
rainbow, on the far side of success. So in reality it's not really that much to wrap my head around. Right now the number is about at 50, but 20,000 is closer to 50 than it is to 1,000,000!
I'm asking for a lot more than I'm worth, right?
Yes, and that's not a bad
thing. Setting the price high and working down shows intelligence. If I act like I
want a million bucks, even if I never get it, I'll still get a lot
more than if I acted like I am content with a little; if I had started the bidding off where I hoped to be.
The question then becomes
“What does a writer who thinks he's worth a million bucks act
like?”
Let me think about it and
I'll get back to you...
Posts
I've often wondered why writers make so little compared to other professionals. Some people say it's because writers (and I mean people who write books) don't change the world unlike doctors, medical researchers, lawyers, investment bankers and the like. If that's so, then I guess that answers why we're facing a lot of problems right now. But yes, maybe it's better to have big goals and dream high. You never know where that might bring you.
ReplyDeleteWe change the world in ways doctors and lawyers cannot (except for those doctors and lawyers who also write). I don't think that's it. I think it's because our work is abstract. It isn't concrete. People don't get anything "physical" out of it. But those writers who are able to help people emotionally and spiritually often do become famous, even if it's years after their death, and if they're lucky they would have made a little to live on.
DeletePopped in to say hi! I was a full-time journalist and now I freelance, and it humbles me how hard it is! It's even harder with my fiction!
ReplyDeleteExtremely difficult! In other fields you go to work and collect a paycheck for the time you put in...not so wordcrafting!
DeleteWell I'm a nurse and believe me I would not have to earn much as a writer to cover my current wages! I think the same as you in my writing/earning ambitions.
ReplyDeleteBaldychaz
www.baldychaz.com
Ain't that the truth! But you do such a fine job as a nurse :)
DeleteYes... but do you still want to be a rock star...? :-)
ReplyDeleteDepends on who I get to share the stage with, and what kind of Les Paul I'll have ;)
DeleteI think the bottom line is, as the "Twilight" fad can attest, good writing is not what makes you wealthy. What makes you wealthy is creating a product (in this case, a book) that is easily marketable and suitable for mass consumption. And, yes, that's not what I want to do either. McDonald's burgers are more marketable than escargot. But, I'm only interested in making one of them.
ReplyDeleteThat's true, but I don't differentiate between crap and gold. I just write what I write. I guess other people can judge. Would love writing pulp the rest of my life. Don't necessarily need literature.
DeleteWell yes, but to clairify. I think there's a difference between "Pulp" and "Bad." There is such a thing as good pulp, and it's delightful. "Good" and "Bad" exist in all forms of writing. I don't care what area I write in, but I do want it to be good.
DeleteI want to be good, too. Well, the best I personally can be. That may or may not be good enough for some people :P
DeleteI wouldn't call "Twilight" bad though. I think if a book is able to move people, as "Twilight" has, then even if the writing isn't what I would expect from myself, it's at least good...far, far from great, but so few ever reach that pinnacle.