Rant: Non writers live in a dreamworld.

I hear you there buddy ... I really do. There was a bit of a PR scandal with Josh Groban several years back when some people told him he was lucky/blessed to have such a nice voice and he apparently went off on them saying it was from practicing 8hrs+ each day. He was rude about it but definitely had a point. Society seems to think everything is easy and likes to forget the years of work going on behind closed doors before someone "makes it". As to income, it's a difference in personal values (I suspect). If you're getting something out of it (stress relief, fun, creative expression) its worth it regardless of whether or not it brings any money in.

 

I am only beginning to write seriously, but I think I can relate to this. I have been drawing/painting continuously since I've been old enough to hold a crayon. I find people all the time expecting to get a feel for it just by going to a class or something, and then knocking me by showing off some trick I don't know, or getting upset when I tell them to "Just put in the colors that fit.", or tell me that balance and tension are meaningless or can be learned on one foot. Even today someone made a jab at me that I spend so much time on my art and am yet to make a penny on it, so it must be a waste of time. Even worse is, "Oh, you're colorblind? Your painting must be worth nothing at all." - after I have spent years getting what skill I have.
It's not about learning some esoteric trick; it's about making the Art part of you.

 

I find the most common reaction i get from those that find out i am a writer and have written things is a quick rendition of all the things they are planning to write, to which i most often think, ‘yeah, but you never will’. I do often wonder why it seems more important to discuss things they will never do than things i have already done. I think people think writing is just easy and when they are ready it will all flow naturally. I hate to burst their bubble but that aint how it goes.

 

But, thats how its like for me, i just wave my brush and unicorns pop out. I dont understand this concept of rewriting, why destroy the beauty of art in its rawest form? Plus i dont make tupoz.

 

You have my every sympathy, but probably not for the reasons you think.

People value different things differently. Some people think money is the measure of all things, some are more focussed on other priorities. That doesn't make either side superior to the other. People are going to have different opinions and values than you in this life and you getting so wound up about them AK is not going to go you any good at all. In fact it might just make your profoundly unhappy in the long term. I think you need to find a way to better handle people disagreeing with you.

Writing, like acting, is a profession with a tough career path, and where only a small number of the practitioners are successful. There is nothing inherently insulting about people suggesting to you that at some point, your investment might not pay off, and that you might be better off trying something else as a vocation or career path. You don't have to agree with them, you can do what you want, but you should not get so disturbed by people talking about these things with you.

Part of the problem of respect for writers, and other artists, these days, is that everyone seems to claim they are one, are on the way to being one. Sometimes it seems that everyone with a word processor fancies themselves a writer, and everyone with a digital camera claims to be a photographer, when those vocations really are tough and hard won. We live in a world of posers, wannabes and self focussed individuals with little perspective on what certain vocations really mean and cost. Those people have little humility and shoot their mouths off with attention seeking behaviour far too much. It is no wonder when people become skeptical about certain people's claims when there is so much hot hair and selfies going on out there.

I have had a totally different experience with non-writers than you have. When I see people speaking to working writers they are usually quite impressed with their accomplishments and quite aware of all the hard, lonely work that goes into it.

If you want to be a writer, and you want respect for your writing, perhaps a place to start is by respecting non-writers and realizing that writers are not in any way superior to plumbers, or doctors, or carpenters or anything else. All those people work hard too. Understanding that the universe does not rotate around writing and writers, and that others are equally or more worthy than writers are of respect and support would be a darned good place to start. Humility seems undervalued these days.

A writer or artist who has yet to break through gets NO respect in this society.

Respect is earned, if you have not accomplished your goals why do you expect to get respect? And that is not unique to writers, nobody who has not accomplished much gets respect in this society. Should society respect you because you say you are trying hard? That's a pretty big ask.

But if I do make it? I'll remember who my doubters were. And I'll remember the people who supported me.
and I will have the last laugh. At them. Who ha ha's last, ha ha's best.

Now that is just some bitter stuff man. Relax, get some perspective. If you do achieve success I would suggest you consider being grateful rather than vengeful when it happens. It will make you happier and healthier in the long run.

 

Hmm. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered the attitude you’re describing. Probably because I write as a hobby and don’t necessarily expect to make any money from it, much less more than my day job...and in regards to family my mother and my sister both write, so expectations aren’t wildly askew there, and when they talk about their writing process I am all ears. When people figure out that I write or draw, they either want to know what it’s about or want to see some of it, which...a) fantasy concepts are incredibly embarrassing to describe aloud, and b) noooooo. So still a bit of an uncomfortable conversation, but it’s not because of any malice on their part, just curiosity...

 

That is a pretty low bar you want to set. Results be damned, here is your blue ribbon for showing up. That can be a very good strategy for helping children develop self esteem and a work ethic, but at some point results have to matter.

They are your family. If you choose not to associate with them because they don't think enough of the graphic novel trilogy you are working on (but do apparently think you are smart enough to get a masters degree) that is your call. I think it is the wrong one.

 

Sorry AK, I hope you are not really feeling to as strongly as some of the sentiments written above are sounding. You know, people are people. They don't all have to share your passions to still be people worth hanging with. Family in particular. Its okay, everyone gets annoyed by others at times (maybe a lot of the time) but it passes. I expressed some annoyance above, but truth is, I just observe the behaviors and file it away. Maybe move on to other subjects.

 

I listened to an interview between comedian Marc Maron and actor Bryan Cranston. In this interview, Cranston said that he would been happy if he never got any better roles than the background and commercial roles that he started out with. He said that life wasn't easy, he wasn't make much money, but he was doing what he loved doing. His happiness wasn't the result of where his career was headed but the process of the art he participated in.

I take that philosophy to all forms of art. Sure, we all have fantasies of becoming the next King or Rowling, but if that's the only reason doing it, then you're never going to be happy. It's the act of creation, the act of making a story, that you've got to love. Will the opportunities arise that will make your stuff popular? That's up to a mixture of looking for opportunities, take advantage of opportunities that arise in front of you, and just plain blind luck. But in the present day all that is in your way of publishing a book is an internet connection (well, unless the repealing of Net Neutrality screws it up), so if you're not happy making art that very little people will see, I'm not sure you deserve to be happy making art that everyone will see.

That, of course, is about personal happiness and not how others thing of you. But only artists understand artists, as pretentious as that sounds. Personally, everyone I know is just happy that I'm not just wasting my life away, and everyone knew I was on the creative side of things for really long time so no one ever tells me to quit and do something else. I am living with my parents and I am pretty darn poor, but that's because of other contributing factors, mostly my extreme anxiety.

 

This.

Every time I see a writer character portrayed in a TV show or movie, I cringe. They flash a stack of what can't be more than about 50 printed pages, and say they have written a novel. Even if they single-spaced their manuscript, they'd have to use a 6-point font to get 1,000 words per page. And these fictional authors sometimes get rejections, but not on par with what happens in real life.

 

I know. I can't even get someone to commission my artwork when I offer to do it for free, and when I show people my stuff, they say, "oh someone'll buy that", because everyone thinks it's like the better mousetrap - build and they'll come, but it never happens. I haven't made a thread on this forum, but I did on two others, offering to illustrate or do cover art for free, and the only replies I got where "Nice stuff, someone'll take you up on your offer.", and the one mod who told me I was selling something (for free?), pulled my thread and threatened to throw me out of the forum. Even the artists themselves somehow just don't get how hard it is to get your stuff seen.