[ SECRET POST #2618 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2618 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 039 secrets from Secret Submission Post #374.
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

[inkdust]

I think the key here (given the rest of this job vs hobby thread) is whether money would be considered OP's only motivation to write, or just an additional motivation. Extra motivation is never a bad thing. Money as the only motivation is shitty for writing.

[galerian-ash.livejournal.com]

Yes, thank you! That's exactly what I meant.

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, exactly this.

[(Anonymous)]

Why? Walk into any bookstore and you'll find it's full of people who wrote books in exchange for money. Many of them might write anyway, but they wouldn't necessarily have written those exact same books, and it wouldn't have been possible to write so many if they hadn't been compensated for their work-- because artists have rents to pay. They need money for food and clothing, and there's nothing wrong with writing for pay because you need money to meet your basic needs.

I see this attitude a lot... that somehow Art is tainted by association with money. I can understand why people might think so, but it's not terribly rational, nor is it terribly practical. Think about all your favorite authors and if you can, ask them if they'd still be able to do what they do if they had to write for free.

Like OP said, nobody tells medical professionals, managers or other professions that doing their jobs solely for money is shitty. People just expect them to do their jobs in a competent fashion, with the requisite compensation. Why are writers singled out?

[inkdust]

Well, first of all, if you believe me to be singling out writers, it's because I'm responding to a thread about writers, and because I am one of them. I write fiction and I'm working toward getting published, and I very much hope to earn money for my writing. Nowhere did I say that writers should work for free.

What I said is that pay should not be the sole motivation for a writer to write. And I don't believe that most of the fiction in a bookstore was written solely for pay. That doesn't mean the money wasn't a factor. That doesn't mean money isn't important. But think about all your favorite authors and if you can, ask them which of their works they're most proud of.

This was a thread about seeking motivation to write. I believe the most essential reason any person should write fiction is because they have a story they want to tell. It doesn't have to be the only factor, and I'm sure it isn't. If a writer is lucky enough to be paid for their writing, all the more reason to do it. Money determines a lot of things. But if you're a writer, the fundamental question of whether you write or not should not be one of them.

[(Anonymous)]

That still doesn't answer the question of why, though. Saying that money shouldn't be the sole motivation for writing suggests that writing has to be more than a job for people. Why is that? If I work as an accountant because I need rent/grocery money, that's okay, right? Some people might do it because they love crunching numbers, and that's cool, too. It doesn't automatically make me worse at my job just because numbers aren't my passion.

Yet people still think writing is different somehow. There's this attitude that you CAN'T do it for money alone, or somehow it's BAD. People can't explain why it's bad, it just is. That's an emotional argument, not a logical one.

[inkdust]

That's part of the view of "creative professions." People don't see why a person would do them without a passion for it. They don't generally pay well, and you don't improve at them to get paid better unless you keep doing it, including usually a lot of work that won't bring you any money. If we're talking emotional versus logical arguments, I don't see a logical argument FOR writing solely for pay. It just doesn't generally work like that. It's so much to pursue for nothing but money.

[(Anonymous)]

If I thought any professional did their job *solely* for money, yes, I would criticise them. A professional has, or should have other motivations as well. Standards. Competence. Public service.

yrs, a social worker who regularly works an extra day a week over my pay, because I'm a professional and my clients matter.

[(Anonymous)]

Doesn't it seem pretty clear from the secret that OP is already interested in creative writing for its own sake but has problems with writer's block and is now wondering if money would be the extra push they need to get going?

[inkdust]

I was commenting more on the direction the thread had taken than on the actual secret.