The grim reality of being a writer

This is a follow-up to my post regarding the YouGov poll that said writing was the job of choice for many in Britain. If you didn’t read the original post, check it out: writing is popular job choice among Britons.

Since then, I came across a book blog posting by John Crace on the Guardian Unlimited website that gives a "reality check" to all of us who aspire to make a living from the written word. In Britain, as in the United States, trying to get published via traditional methods is very, very hard. And just because you’re novel is published, doesn’t mean you can quite your job and write full-time:

Most book manuscripts end up unwanted and unread on publishers’ and agents’ slush piles, and the majority of those that do make it into print sell fewer than 1,000 copies. So while there are a small number of writers making a decent living, something like 80% of published authors earn less than £10,000 per year.

In other words, around 80% of authors earn so little they’d be living in poverty if they didn’t supplement their income in some way (teaching seems to be the most popular route these days). Furthermore, many are still under the impression that once an author’s book is published, he/she can sit back and watch the money start rolling in. No marketing on the part of the author! Yes, more than a few writers still believe this. They believe the publishing house will spend a fortune to market their book. Wrong! If it’s your first book being published, the publishing company is going to spend the bare minimum to get it out onto the market. They save most of their marketing dollars for the big fish.

Okay, so that was a little depressing, right? Yet despite the incredible difficulty of making even a meager living at writing, it’s a very popular occupation to pursue. Why is that? Obviously it’s not the money. And as John Crace points out in his article, it’s not the fame either:

None of this would matter much if being a writer was to somehow make you fantastically attractive. After all, who would care about being broke and angst-ridden if there was the compensation of hordes of groupies? But it doesn’t. At least, not in my experience. Or that of any other writer I know. Though it may well be different for those whose books sell in the hundreds of thousands. Even if, by some small chance, people do think you are modestly talented and creative, they still aren’t going to fancy you any more.

So aside from being poor, writers can expect not to achieve the fame of a rock star, for example. Unless you’re incredibly famous, think JK Rowling, writing isn’t going to get you those groupies you’ve always wanted. However, if you do publish a book with modest sales, and you market yourself properly, it is possible to achieve a little fame. I’ve been to book signings by relatively unknown authors in the literary world, and the line to get your book signed and say a few words to the author is a good two hours long!

Let’s recap so far: authors make very little money at their craft and achieve very little (if any) fame. Again the question becomes: why do so many people want to write? Crace offers one answer that makes a lot of sense:

But this urge to be creative – or more importantly, perhaps, to be seen to be creative – surely must what makes writing so irresistible to so many. Few jobs allow a purer expression of the self. You can create your own worlds, your own characters and your own stories; the only limit is your own imagination and talent.

I’d agree with that quote. There is a "creative lure" to writing that few other jobs have. But what about being a rock star? Or a painter? Or a cartoonist? There are lots of jobs out there that require quite a bit of creativity. Why don’t hordes of people gravitate towards those jobs as well. I think I might know the answer. Take being a rock star, for example. To achieve that kind of status you need to be able to sing – something not many can do well, and do under pressure (as American Idol has showed us). Also, it helps to play an instrument. So if you’re not musically inclined (which I’m not), you’re pretty much out of luck.

This brings me back to my post from yesterday (Learning to write is easy, creativity is not). Most people can learn to write well. It’s not like singing, or playing an instrument. And as Crace says in his blog post, this is the good and bad part about writing:

One of the pleasures – and nightmares – of writing is that most of us can do it. Anyone with basic literacy skills can get a meaningful sentence down on a page. And, taken on its own, any one person’s sentence may look not much different than one knocked out by Margaret Forster, so you can begin to see why people start thinking of writing as their creative way out. It’s only when you’ve got several paragraphs of sustained writing that you begin to see the difference.

There it is! The so-called "barriers to entry" to the world of writing (notice I did not say publishing) is fairly easy. Just about anyone with the basic skills and a little desire can sit down and pound out a short story, maybe even a novel. Thus the market gets flooded with work, which in turn, lowers the value of writing to the point where many writers will give their work away for free – just to get "noticed."

I really hope this post isn’t too depressing, because that is not my intention here. I just want to make sure people approach writing with the write attitude: that they will probably have to work a second job to support themselves and they won’t have people constantly hounding them for autographs. That’s the reality of the business we’re in.

If you can accept that, great! Keep writing and submitting and plugging away at what you’re doing. If you’re happy, then that’s the most important thing right there. I write lots of short stories, most I know will never get published. But I still write them because I love doing it. I know they’re not going to bring me fame or fortune, and I’m content with that – and so should you. But if you want to live the rock and roll lifestyle, then start practicing your singing now!

Read the entire Guardian Unlimited blog post here:
Don’t give up the day job

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