[ SECRET POST #2493 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2493 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 019 secrets from Secret Submission Post #356.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I'm torn on this - because on the one hand, the idea that a person cannot make a living being a writer is utter bullshit. I'm a novelist. It's where 80% of my income comes from. (The other 20% is a part time job I mostly keep so that I can actually have human contact and leave my house once in a while.) Don't get me wrong. Making a living as a writer is fucking hard. There's a ridiculous amount of luck to it, and you have to work harder than most people realize.

But it is possible. Difficult, yes. Impossible, no.

So Gaiman telling a fan that a person can make a career as a writer? It's not horrible advice. I do think he should've added that one needs an alternative form of income until one actually breaks into the industry.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think people are saying NOBODY can make a living at it, because duh, it's obvious people do. Gaiman's one of them. The problem lies in not being honest about the realities of writing as your career-- most working writers aren't as well off as Gaiman, and many are one serious illness or car wreck away from major financial trouble. He glosses over that point in favor of the "live your dream!" message. That's... sweet, but not entirely practical for the majority of would-be writers reading his advice.

[(Anonymous)]

This. I have a whole bunch of friends who want to be writers and have tried to break into the industry. Of them, only one has actually succeeded in becoming more than just a self-published/vanity press-published author and has written several popular and well-received YA novels. The rest are still trying desperately to get a foothold in the business and have been trying for years with no luck.

[(Anonymous)]

+1. The problem with his answer is that it doesn't acknowledge that he's a pretty extreme outlier and most writers are not going to have the degree of success and fame that he does. It's absolutely worthwhile to pursue your dream, but he's not doing aspiring writers any favors by glossing over the fact that it's really fucking hard to succeed in any artistic field and his results aren't typical.

[diet_poison]

Not everyone is as talented/lucky as you apparently are. Most people will never make a living in the arts. That doesn't mean they shouldn't pursue the arts, because they should, but nobody should assume that they're going to make it big. Shoot high, but don't quit the day job.

[(Anonymous)]

Though if you're in Australia you can get an artist's grant, ie the dole (*may involve copious amounts of lying), and if you want to turn it into a business that sounds even vaguely viable they'll pay for that too.

[lyndis]

I want to say thanks for adding the "talented" part onto your comment because that's what I wanted to add to the discussion. I know a lot of people who write and a lot of others who have a dream of writing for a living/professionally, but not all of them are good enough. And a good chunk of them will probably never BE good enough because a.) they don't read/expose themselves to writing that isn't their own, or b.) they hate literature/studying it, ooooor c.) they just plain aren't very good at writing.

People forget that writing takes a lot of hard work and you don't just "become a writer". How many people just BECOME an engineer? No one. You have to put the time and effort in, and you have to get good at your craft. Not everyone will be able to do that. Not everyone is a great writer.

I mean, I have friends I would straight up tell to their face (if asked/prompted) that they shouldn't put hopes out on writing professionally. It's a good goal, and aiming high is great, but a lot of people hold out this hope that they'll be the next Twilight or Harry Potter--it's awesome if you get that far but most people aren't going to be awesome enough at writing AND lucky enough to be noticed. ;)

I think it's important to, well, not DISCOURAGE kids from writing as a career, but discourage them maybe from thinking it's a "sit around and write a lot until you make it big" --that's not all there is to it.

[diet_poison]

Pretty much this whole comment!

And writing is a wonderful hobby that's good for you (I think), it's just never going to be a moneymaker for most people. People who aren't good at writing should still write if they want to, because it's a great brain sharpener and it can be fun and rewarding, but they shouldn't expect to make money with it, especially since it's so ridiculously competitive.

[(Anonymous)]

Excellent comment! I think also one of the only sure fire ways to make money writing novels is to be a celebrity first. Then you have a a guaranteed audience and if the novel is any good it's often a nice earner and you can write more. It's very hard to break in without any prior contacts, JKR did it, but that's rare. I know a couple of people who've written books that have sold OK, but to pay the mortgage they have had to work in other jobs. Very few writers don't do anything else to earn a living, unless they have a partner who supports them, or family money.