I’m reading (and writing about) women writers in the 17th century, and your comments fit them perfectly. They wrote copiously, so they likely had that drive to get their words and thoughts into the world at large. But mostly they wrote to earn money. Even married women had precarious finances, and writing was something they could do to earn the meagre living they managed. (Another reason for the prolific output.) It’s small comfort to know that writing has ever been this way. The starving writer isn’t a romantic trope; it’s the norm and was ever so.
All the more reason to support financially as many good writers as you can.
Yes I kind of feel like people are getting the wrong idea on here with some of the amazing success stories but then I look at what some of them are and I have feelings about what exactly they're writing about. Certainly not anyone I'm subscribed to, but it's a kind of "how to write and market yourself on substack etc and become a successful author" thing frequently but the advice isn't wrong, but it sounds like a fantastic way to learn to hate what you love and possibly cause the audience you would prefer to become an audience similar to whichever newsletter about being successful on substack you chose to follow?
But I'm the kind of person who would literally rather clean up shit than be in sales. Shit is honest and always around. Sales is torture for me and I'd rather help something that shits than "help" entitled rude people purchase anything. This is probably why I'm fabulously wealthy and all. You're marketing yourself without being an asshole about it and I appreciate it. I'm a bit sensitive to certain 6 figure making folks asking for monthly pledges to save journalism lately but that is not you and you have a family and not just skincare or whatever to keep on top of.
Thank you for this! I am very much in favor of de-glamorizing all creative endeavors. No matter their motivations and their level of ease or difficulty in writing, people who write are just people. To those who say they want to be an author, I would say go ahead and do it! Or don't! But just vaguely yearning for the imagined life of the writer seems like a sad and unsatisfactory form of escapism.
So good! This is why I subscribe.
I’m reading (and writing about) women writers in the 17th century, and your comments fit them perfectly. They wrote copiously, so they likely had that drive to get their words and thoughts into the world at large. But mostly they wrote to earn money. Even married women had precarious finances, and writing was something they could do to earn the meagre living they managed. (Another reason for the prolific output.) It’s small comfort to know that writing has ever been this way. The starving writer isn’t a romantic trope; it’s the norm and was ever so.
All the more reason to support financially as many good writers as you can.
Yes I kind of feel like people are getting the wrong idea on here with some of the amazing success stories but then I look at what some of them are and I have feelings about what exactly they're writing about. Certainly not anyone I'm subscribed to, but it's a kind of "how to write and market yourself on substack etc and become a successful author" thing frequently but the advice isn't wrong, but it sounds like a fantastic way to learn to hate what you love and possibly cause the audience you would prefer to become an audience similar to whichever newsletter about being successful on substack you chose to follow?
But I'm the kind of person who would literally rather clean up shit than be in sales. Shit is honest and always around. Sales is torture for me and I'd rather help something that shits than "help" entitled rude people purchase anything. This is probably why I'm fabulously wealthy and all. You're marketing yourself without being an asshole about it and I appreciate it. I'm a bit sensitive to certain 6 figure making folks asking for monthly pledges to save journalism lately but that is not you and you have a family and not just skincare or whatever to keep on top of.
Geez, this is such a good post…
— about writing,
— about the field of writing,
— about marketing one’s writing,
— about marketing it to burned out, underpaid editors, and
— about the feelings which go with all that…
Write some more!
Thanks bunches.
Thank you for this! I am very much in favor of de-glamorizing all creative endeavors. No matter their motivations and their level of ease or difficulty in writing, people who write are just people. To those who say they want to be an author, I would say go ahead and do it! Or don't! But just vaguely yearning for the imagined life of the writer seems like a sad and unsatisfactory form of escapism.
It is ingrained in me to write. I wish it hadn't taken me so long (most of my life) to be able to get to this point, but I was meant to be a writer.