Writing for work has been in the public consciousness for centuries. Yet, the ease and credibility of being a published writer for a living is vastly overblown. Dicken’s drawn out works (drawn out as he got paid by the word), Arthur Conan Doyle’s weekly serials, and even Dame Agatha Christie’s sensationalized mystery novels paint writing as an attractive and seemingly profitable field. Even modern times are no different. When I was young I wanted to write for a newspaper exactly like Carrie Bradshaw. That urge has stayed with me even as my career goals changed.
The sad reality is that being a writer is not as easy as it seems. Tim Gillespie’s “Becoming Your Own Expert-Teachers as Writers” and Lauren Passell’s “Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules For Writers” illustrate this point, a warning under the guise of advice. Monetized writing does not lend itself to ease and credibility.
Gillespie
Although aimed at teachers, Gillespie points out a trend all writers face. “I know that writings I’m forced to do (such as reports for work) are harder to sustain and less gratifying to complete than writings I choose to do (such as this article).” Whether for class or work, writing for a purpose someone else chooses makes the process all the more difficult. That problem leaches into writing subtly; writing when uncomfortable or unhappy means those emotions show up in the finished work.
Gillespie also mentions a tendency that I myself also have with any piece of writing: “I put the piece away, return to it later”. Even when I write in one sitting as I am wont to do, I take breaks and walk away. When writing for an employer, or for a job, deadlines mean that the ability to walk away is severely hampered. It means that, at least for me, I stress more about what’s being written – I lose my ability to sound sure in my writing. I find ease lends to credibility; I can always tell when I’ve struggled to write.
Passell
The list Passell has is built off of Stephen King, a writer renowned for two things: writing horror stories and embodying the “maddened loner in a dark room” writer stereotype. Those rules, while created to heal King’s relationship with his craft, also serve as a caution sign to hopeful writers. “1. First write for yourself, and then worry about the audience.” Passell comes out strong, saying what we all want to hear. Who cares what others think? Write for you, what you want to see! And that can work-until bills are due and you’re looking at the 34th rejection letter. It’s a common enough story among published authors. The exception proves the rule; the :”rule” here being that getting published and being a successful writer means grueling, oftentimes unrewarded, work first.
Ah, deadlines. “10. You have three months.” For some perfectionists, this rule may provide some relief. Cutting yourself off no matter where you are means that you can’t fuss at sentence placement until the end of time. For others, like me, three months is unrealistic. I can barely do a term paper justice in that time, let alone a whole book or novella. Deadlines for work are inevitable, but deadlines for paid writing seem almost designed to cause a headache.
Writing for Work
The first writing job I ever applied for was as an obituary writer for a local paper. I actually got the job, but only after waiting six months to hear anything, so I moved on. I still occasionally apply for similar positions. For some reason, the depth and individualized nature of obits has a hold on me. Writing for work, though, has only slightly panned out.
There’s more to monetized writing than I realized at first. My ability to sit down and write a certain amount of words on a particular topic has grown, but I still struggle. The mental commitment and the fact I would turn my relaxing hobby into work increasingly outweighs the money I could make. Passell’s list of advice doesn’t just simplify writing, it worries me. There is too much unsaid, and I remember learning about how Stephen King nearly lost himself writing. I don’t enjoy tempting fate.
For what it’s worth, I’ll leave my writing as a hobby and out of academic necessity.
For more, see our class blog.
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