In calling myself a writer, it puts across this idea that being a writer and writing is all that I am — and without it I am nothing. I think, in some ways, other writers feel this way too. So they attach writing to themselves in such a big way that if they are not writing, they feel insignificant — or as if anything they do is not worth the time or energy.
The other side of this is feeling as though writing — as an activity and process — is not a priority. I have a feeling that a lot of this is due to the fact that society revolves around money, and making money — and whoever makes the most money is ‘winning’ the most.
Where money is the goal, writing is about as far from that as you could possibly go, because there is no guarantee that you're going to make money from the outset; there is no guarantee that you're going to make any money at all. It is just a labour of love that we continue to do because we have something to say, and it's something we enjoy doing. If people enjoy what we have to say — enjoy our work — then that is all the better. If we can make money that is even better, because we can make money doing something we really like, and I consider that a success.
The danger of trying to make money with writing is that writing becomes more about making money, rather than actually writing for creativity, and creating something that you enjoy (as well as your readers). So, in order to make money as a writing, you need to think about money, but in order to be creative, you need to take the money out of the equation (at least, that’s the way that I look at it). It's a very difficult balance, and because of this, I think that a lot of writers tend to push their writing aside once real life takes over, in the sense that we all have responsibilities. And they will, of course, take priority.
But, if you are somebody like me, it can mean that you put everybody’s needs before your own, and forget that writing is something to be enjoyed, and is a hobby that you're allowed to do (if it is indeed a hobby; you might be lucky enough to call yourself a ‘professional'). You don't need to earn your right to be a writer. That is also not to say that writing is all about money — because it really is not. I would argue that we need creativity and writing as much as we need doctors and scientists to develop the world around us — because our experience of the world is largely navigated through how we experience it. And we experience it through our emotions, and we can see, feel, hear, and touch. The way that we perceive these different interactions is based on our experiences — and we can enrich our experiences by reading, by writing, and sharing our experiences. We can also only share our experiences by sharing our own perspectives — and one way of doing that is obviously writing. So — writing is an important aspect of nourishing society, and giving us a sense of hope. I will even go as far as say that underpins everything that we do at the same time.
In my case, I know that my writing is not making enough money to financially support myself, so I know that I'm going to have to balance a day job and writing. There is this fight within my mind of knowing that my writing is important, because I have things to say and at least one person will benefit from what I have to say — so in that way it is really important. But then I know that I have my responsibilities and my day job is actually what is allowing me to pay the bills, as it were. What I mean to say is it depends on how you look at it: whether you are thinking about spiritually and emotionally enriching yourself, versus the immediate ‘I need money to survive’ mindset. Again, that is where you get where writers are literally putting their writing aside because they either deem it to be insignificant or not important, because there are ‘more important things’ in order to survive.
You also get 'if my writing is not making me money in a financially sustainable way, then why do I bother?' To which I would take you straight back to the point I have touched on above in regards to enriching your life around making money and paying the bills. What I'm trying to say is it's all about a shift in focus, because, yes, it is about money so that we can live and we can survive and making sure that we have enough resources in order to live. But on the other hand, if we don't consider our own hobbies and our own actual needs, then what are we actually doing? I'm not saying that writing is going to sustain you over food and water, but I am saying that there is definite importance to it, and it shouldn't be so easily discarded. Yet, because there is so much pressure on the way that we ‘should’ do things, society tells us that things like writing or any hobbies that you have tend to be the first things pushed aside.
Expanding on what I've already said:
In thinking about writing and money, we are taking away from creativity. In order to think about writing and money, we need to think about money first, to then work out how we are going to make the money through the writing. So, it is almost a backwards process, and many writers would worry that it is taking away from the creativity, because there is such a focus on how to make money with the writing. However, as with anything, if you plan to scale it or make money, you must consider it. It is very unlikely that you were going to make large amounts of money — or any money at all — so there needs to be a plan of action. We all have bills to pay, so for many of us, it is not a decision as to whether or not we can work. If you are looking at writing as being a significant source of income then that needs to be a serious consideration. However, if writing is just something that you would like to do in your free time (as it is for me), then the money side of things is not as important.
Many people say that once they have treated their writing career as a full-time occupation, the writing becomes less fun, because there is so much that is methodical and strategic about it; it takes all the fun and creativity out of it — as I was referring to earlier.
I would also like to tell you that, although I've spent most of this post explaining how writing can feel insignificant compared to the pressures of everyday life, I wouldn't say that creativity and writing is any less important than any other aspect of life, because what is life if we don't enjoy it? What is life if we can't express ourselves? There is no point going to work only to come home to find that you don't have the words to explain how you feel, or explain what you want. We earn money so that we can spend it how ever we like, even though there are necessities.
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