But the fact is, as I have come to realize, that making a living as a Writer and solely as a Writer will almost always involve writing what people want written, not I think needs to be written. Sure, many people do make a living writing things that are more to their taste than what I write now. It is possible. It's not happening for me right now, but it may someday.
One writer who I used to read a lot was John Scalzi, at the Whatever (You can google him and find his blog), and he writes a lot about how he has made a living as a writer -- and a good one -- for years, and how he started off writing all sorts of things for other people, and now he is good enough that he writes what he wants to instead. And perhaps I am on that trajectory, that I will eventually write more and more what I want.
But maybe I won't. And that's ok. I'm still a Writer. My paycheque says so.
1 comment:
All other considerations aside, having the word "writer" on your paycheque? Made of awesome. ;^)
Also, you want a management job? You can have mine :P
The whole creative-career-trajectory thing is so interesting. My entire professional career has basically been accidental -- except that for the past couple of years I have been actively trying to (a) write things and (b) sell them, which is at the moment totally a side project, there being no actual money involved (yet). I've never been much of a fan of the concept of planning and plotting and strategizing one's career, because ... well, one, it's just not me, you know? and, two, stuff happens. Accidents, and life-changing illnesses, and relationships and their implosion, and kids, and all kinds of random major or minor crap that affects where you end up and how you get there ... and all of it is totally impossible to predict. So why, my feeling is, make yourself crazy trying?
Although this could just be a nice cover story for my total failure to have any idea what I'm doing :P
Anyway -- I really was going somewhere with this, believe it or not -- one of the things I've done over the past two years is to stop referring to myself as "an aspiring writer" and start calling myself a writer aspiring to publication, or even just a writer. Because, as my published-writer friends point out, what makes you a writer is that you write. Publication is a wonderful thing, not least because you get money, but really? What makes you a writer is that you write. Even if what you're writing isn't The Great Novel.
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