[ 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]

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.