Being a successful writer requires a little insanity
March 5, 2008
No, I don’t mean the J.D. Salinger, Edgar Allan Poe style alcohol and drug induced madness. I’m talking about good, old-fashioned schizophrenia.
On one hand, you have to be a dreamer to even consider this type of life. Think about it - we’re talking about quitting a nice, stable job with a regular paycheck with little more than the hope that you’ll be able to replace that income with writing. You’ve probably heard the statistics - how millions of people want to write, but fewer than 10% actually do it for a living.
So how do those 10% beat the odds?
They’re disciplined and practical. Yep, all those half-crazed dreamers who quit their jobs have to be fanatically practical to be successful. They treat writing like any other job, putting in the hours even when they don’t feel particularly inspired. But at the same time, they’re crazy enough to follow their dreams despite the massive impracticality.
HUH?
Without going into too much detail, I’ve decided to turn down a project that all but landed in my lap. The money is decent, nothing to retire on, but not bad. The work isn’t even particularly difficult. So what’s the problem? I’d have to spend too much of my available working hours slogging through this project instead of working on fiction.
What it all comes down to is career planning. In 5 years, what kind of writer do I want to be? I want to be a novelist, and the only way to get there is to write this crazy story. I can’t do that if my virtual desk is completely covered by meaningless “just get it over with” projects.
Sometimes you have to take on projects that don’t lift you to the heights of inspiration, just to pay the bills. But other times, you have to take that leap of faith and turn them down so you have time, energy and creativity to pursue the dream.
Posted by Tricia @ 1:42 pm in Care and Feeding of the Spirit, The writing life
