Saul Bellow reading.if you didn't get paid for it? And I guess this doesn't apply to some of us who don't get paid. But I have a friend who writes non-fiction, and he has no desire to write if it's not a paying gig. Maybe this is more true of non-fiction writers. But he's a lovely writer and I can't believe he doesn't want to put his pen to pad even if there is not financial reward.What about you? Can you imagine not writing at all? Is money the biggest factor for those who get paid? Would you still write if you couldn't place it anywhere? What's your bottom line?
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I've read interviews from quite a few "professional" film critics, and they all say they wouldn't write about movies unless they were paid. Personally, this kind of irritates me - no musician would ever say "I won't practice unless I have a record deal." It also makes them seem that they don't really care about writing at all, it's just a day job. Though maybe it's just jealousy that makes me wish they appreciated their position a little more.
We may soon find out if there are no newspapers to publish reviews. I can't imagine anyone paying people to post blog reviews, can you? Magazines-they're going too. So where will reviews be housed? We may look back on the last century as nirvana.
Of course, I would like to see my name on a novel and the checks rolling in but I've done this for free for the last twenty-five years and very well could for another twenty. I write because I need to do it. Last night I began a story at 8:30 pm and finished it this morning around 11:30. It will probably never see the light of day but my reward was getting it down.
Amazing that you could write a story so quickly. I have never finished one in less than two weeks. And usually a month or more.
A first for me in terms of speed. I still need to polish it up but now I know why Stephen King is so creative: Maine.
Since my total earnings as a fiction writer total $75 (the check is pending release of the book my short story is in), I can say, at least for now, that I will continue to write without getting paid, though I doubt I will work on it quite so conscientiously unless someone ponies up a pub deal in the not too distant future. I'll probably always knock out the occasional short story or piece of flash fiction, but novels are a lot of work when there are other things I could be doing that I enjoy.
Could I not write at all? Absolutely.
I would have said no until recently. Now, I think I could not write at all. If I didn't write for my first forty some years, I have lots of practice.
I write because I am compelled to... not because there is any money in it. There have been long periods of time when I wasn't actively writing.... most of my 30s for instance.... but I always seem to come back to putting the fingers to the key board.
Well, writing, as Ring Lardner had a character note, is a nag. When it comes together, it's a joy. Considering how much writing I've done w/o being paid for it, I must love it at some level...though apparently I've been paid rather well by the standards of this cross-section, having made perhaps a couple thousand directly for writing outside of the day jobs over the last twenty-five or so. Not too bad for such a dilettante.
I would still write if I didn't get paid for it. In fact, I do. Over the years I've been paid very little for published works. I'm not complaining. I consider myself very lucky to have had a few works published by trade publisher types.
Most of what I write (including several novels) doesn't go any farther than my family.
I was there in the fall, but apparently Portland is not my muse, although I did enjoy it.
I think I may have topped $2000 over ten years. Actually I'm not much better paid at my day job. Wait, that's writing too.
After thirty years of free-lancing, I don't know what else I'd do. My writing define my day nd to an extent myself so yes I'd keep writing.
That's what my husband says. After something like 14 books and 45 articles, he knows no other life.
It's only in recent years that I've been paid for my writing. Money is never the motivation with me. Pah money - the root of all evil
I can only be nonchalant about the monetary aspect because my husband basically supports me. Well, more than basically.
I kept writing for a couple of years during the Eighties when I couldn't sell a word. I think I'd keep writing now if I couldn't sell.
Would I have kept at it for thirty years without selling anything? I doubt it.
Hard to imagine you having a dry period, James. Yes, if I hadn't taken this up in my dotage, I'd probably have thrown in the towel. I published about 20 stories in lit journals and never got more than my two complimentary copies. That's fine for a professor who gets rewarded in a salary but not so hot otherwise.
If I knew I would never again be paid for my writing, I might continue to write--but my writing would change. I'd probably write more in some genres and less in others.
On the other hand, if I held any glimmer of hope that I might resume getting paid for my writing at some point in the future, I'd probably keep writing the stuff I write now.
Interesting to contemplate how your writing would change, Michael.
I think the only reason that I would like to get paid for my writing is so that I could have more time and energy to devote to the writing.
I have no financial need nor moral imperative that compels me to write. I don't have a compulsion that has to be filled so I won't wither away...I simply write because I can.
Fixing cars...now that was all of the above, and I miss it still because it wasn't something I came by naturally...I had to learn hard how to build an engine or repair a brake line...the writing is simply something I have done for forty years.
Can I see myself not doing it? Sure as long as I found another way to kill a couple of the days hours that were as satisfying as writing is.
My feeling is you're kind of born into this whole writing thing. Yeah, I think some people take it up who shouldn't and their entire motivation is financial. But most folks I know who write do it out of pure love. I'm only just starting to make a little cash at this stuff, but for it doesn't really matter. I have fun doing it and I'm pretty sure I'd be bored off my ass if I didn't do it on a daily basis.
Yes, I would still write even if I didn't get paid for it. I didn't get paid for my writing for a long time and I wrote an awful lot anyway.
Writing is one of the few things in my life that I think I'm actually good at. I guess that makes sense because it's the thing I've spent the most time working at.
Good point, John. I hadn't thought of that aspect.
There was a time when I would have said absolutley. But I'm not so sure anymore. I'd still write, I think, but I probably wouldn't write novels at all, and would probably mostly write flash fiction and poetry.
good that you can see some options.
I am not a writer, but I have a relevant quote from someone who was:
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money."
Samuel Johnson
But then, he also said:
"I am willing to love all mankind, except an American."
so how much can you trust his opinions anyway?
I can go either way. I guess the question is, would a musician still play; would an artist still paint? I guess it goes to why one does it?
Patti, this dilemma is one reason I went the e-publishing route. I didn't think I could stop writing, but I needed some validation. I don't make much money, but even a small royalty check beats no money in my book. This is a question each writer has to answer for himself and I'd never presume to judge anyone who feels differently about it than I do.
"But I have a friend who writes non-fiction, and he has no desire to write if it's not a paying gig."
He should have Frank Vincent or Joe Pesci reenact various Scorsese scenes on his fingers. I'm kidding, but only by so much. That man is a mercenary in every shameful sense of the word.
Either you love writing and you are obsessed with it to a lesser or greater degree, or go be a screenwriter (this is not a comment about screenwriters who are passionate, just about those on blogs who say they've lost their love for it and are doing it for money).
I think he is angry because he thought it was his ticket to fame and fortune and it turned out to be what you do for love.
I write because I enjoy the creative part and, therefore, write for free. I know I get paid for my books but -.
For a lot of writers they write to pay the mortgage and put bread and butter on the table. A point that should be borne in mind.
Sometimes I write something that is too short to go anywhere - well, I have a blog so a short short has a place to go.
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