Writing for Love vs. Writing for Money

 

 

There is an age-old debate in writing circles (and probably arts in general) about whether it is better to pursue one’s art for love or for money. Both sides look down on the other.

If you take the side of love, it elevates writing from craft to art. Something lofty and wonderful, nay, glorious. I believe that novels are art—reading transports me from the humdrum and makes me laugh and cry—how can that not be art? Unfortunately, the word often carries snobbish overtones and implies that artists who do it for love are somehow better than those who pursue commercial success. More worryingly, it sets a precedent that writers/artists don’t need to be paid for their work since they are doing a labor of love. The trope of the wonderful artist starving in a garret comes from here. “Suffering for one’s art” even suggests that if you’re NOT starving you can’t create “great” work—which is nonsense.

If you take the side of doing it for money, some see it as demeaning and devaluing your art to a mere product. Desiring money is seen as “crass”--as if all of us don’t need money in order to live. *rolls eyes* But the truth is many of us do write for not very much money at all (we want more, we just aren’t there yet on our career track!) and take other jobs to pay the rent. Then there’s the term “commercial fiction” which seems to mean genre fiction as opposed to “literary fiction”--as if it is somehow bad to be popular or as if literary novels never have commercial success. The stereotype of the “hack” writer, who churns out stories according to some mythical “formula” comes from here.

But I write for both love of the art and money, and I’d bet most artists do. So how does one reconcile the two viewpoints?

Of course, I love writing and I love what I write—otherwise I would have picked a different (and probably more lucrative) career or a different project to write. (Though I would wager that even in work-for-hire cases when there is less creative control, most writers end up loving the story they tell and their characters.)

Of course, I need and deserve to be paid for my time and effort. Why does this even need to be said? Michelangelo got paid.

I write for love, but (to paraphrase Steven Pressfield in The War of Art) I treat the act of writing like a professional job. I am not special. I do not wait for the muse to strike, I put my butt in the chair and do the work. I consider this the best of both worlds.

A closer look at what I write

I’ve been working my way through Stealing Hollywood by Alexandra Sokoloff (it’s analytical—or at least the part I’ve gotten through is). And it’s been really interesting looking at the kinds of stories that I like…and the stories that I tend to tell.

I tend to like dramatic stories with high stakes, extraordinary events, but I like ordinary heroes. Or as my husband put it, I love an underdog. I especially like the kind of character that would usually be overlooked as hero material, maybe they aren’t that good at anything, but they are persistent and they won't give up.

I also like wounding my characters, they often end up shot or stabbed or otherwise bleeding on the page. I’m sure they signed a waiver before agreeing to be part of the story, although sometimes it must go a bit like this…

Character: this is so cool I’m the hero! And this world is amazing, I have magic you say? 
Me: yes now this is the villain and they are going to stab you in the leg and the gut, you then need to get away and pick a lock before they can kill you.
Character: er…what?
You should probably find something to fight with—you do know how to fight?
Character: this isn’t what I expected, this was meant to be a romance novel…where is the romance. Arggghhh!
Me: hmmm…well that happens later if you live
Character: *bleeding* what do you mean if I live? I’m the hero!
Me: and you will be, by the end ;)

I’m sure I’ll make other discoveries as I go. So if you like to analyse films and the books you write, you might like Stealing Hollywood too.

trying something new: lead lighting

A few weeks a go when I was going to teach a writing class I stumbled over a lead lighting class in the same building. I’ve always been fascinated with lead lighting. It looks amazing and as a kid I had those kids which come with the metal frame and your pour in the glass/plastic pieces and bake in the oven.

Here was a chance to actually try lead lighting properly with glass and actual led and soldering and…I’m sure there’s other bits to it but I’m not up to it yet.

This week was my first class and while I had an idea for the piece, I had to turn it into a lead light design (like making sure the lead parts connect to the edge). With that done is was time to rummage through the beginner boxes of glass to find the colors and start cutting.

Now would be a good time to point out I hate broken glass. I cut my foot open as a kid at the beach and even now I won’t take my shoes off outside (If I were a heroine in a romance novel lead lighting would be me confronting my fears of broken glass in a non-threatening way).

The glass pieces rubbing against each other as I looked for blues and red was grating and I kept expecting shard to break off, none did. The cutting however was a challenge. Score the glass and snap it (that was fine) but then tiny slivers littered the work bench. Getting a glass splinter was a real risk.

I survived class one with only a small cut and no splinters. Next week it’s more cutting then somehow getting the pieces into the frame. I’ll share the finished product when it’s done.

The Muse is Gone!

“Today I have nothing to say,” I typed after staring at the screen for what seemed like hours. (Read this post with the following background music is highly suggested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amwZW96V9Tk) I tried to think of something witty, compelling. After all I’m a writer right? I started over again, itching to pull the paper out of the typewriter roller, crush it and throw it in the basket. But that too wasn't going to happen. I use a computer. I heaved a heavy sigh, and once again looked at the blank screen. The muse is gone!

There are lots of reasons why we reach a barrier: we censor our work, stress in our ‘other’ life, rejections, low self esteem, I could go on but you get the picture. The must is gone!

Here are some tips I found in various posts and workshops to help when... the muse is gone:

1. Train your muse. Develop and follow a writing schedule even if you write only a few hundred words. If you are consistent and sit down to write on a schedule, your mind will react accordingly.
2. Don’t be hard on your muse/self. Just write. Save the critique for later when you edit.
3. Don't scare your muse away. Don’t panic. Panicking will only make it worse. The less you think about what you’re doing the better your writing will be. Let it flow.
4. Give your muse a break. Take some time off especially if you have just finished one project. Give yourself time to recharge your batteries and gather new experiences.
5. Set reasonable deadlines and goals for your muse/self. You may also want to find a writing group for support. It’s good to touch base with other writers and understand you are not alone. Commiserating puts things in perspective.
6. Be upfront with your muse. Take a good look at any long standing issues that stop you from writing. Writing can be cathartic. Write about your anxieties and work them out, preferably with another writer.
7. Have your muse multitask. Work on more than one project. Sometimes a second project can spur ideas for the first.
8. Have fun with your muse. Try a writing exercise. Just for fun. Finish this sentence: Like a butterfly, she magically …
9. Take your muse for a walk or to Starbucks. Get away from your desk for awhile. You need to stretch your legs, get the blood going. Go to the gym, browse your favorite book store, or go for a walk. When you come back to your desk you will feel renewed.
10. Reconnect with your muse. Remember why you started writing and don’t give up. Think about the excitement, how much fun you had getting the words down. Recapture the spirit that is the muse. 

Personally, I went for a walk and reconnected with some friends. The weight lifted but I have one more thing to do before I invite the muse back to my desk. I found this great romance novel. A few chapters should get me in the mood to write!

Happy Fall everyone.

7 Secrets to Writing Fantasy

"The teller of tales strings his words like bright beads on a string." Edward Fitzgerald

(I think, I'm having trouble tracking down this old quotation I read once and remembered, vaguely)

1. Fantasy aficionados value craft. From dragon statues to steampunk songs and far, far more, fantasy fans create and enjoy the power of the imagination. They appreciate mastery of craft—and for writers that means we have to respect our own craft: learning the basics then honing our individual styles.
2. Imagination powers a fantasy story—powers all stories. But the power to drive a story from beginning to triumphant end comes from the heart, not the mind. If you don’t feel the passion of your story idea, it’ll be limp before the saggy middle of your novel. 
3. Fantasy tales don’t operate in isolation. Like poetry, fantasy is richer for influence and allusion. It’s a delightful game between authors and readers to see how a story links into its literary world. Fairytale retellings, Tolkienesque quests, world mythologies. 
4. There’s no avoiding the question of good and evil in fantasy. As with fairytales, a lot of the power comes from jumping into the heart of the fight between good and evil—and questioning which is which. The hero tends to face a moral choice. 
5. Love it, hate it, find it clichéd, a fantasy is a quest story. It’s unavoidable. Your characters are going on a quest. Perhaps it’s one of self-discovery, perhaps they’re saving the world. Any way you cut it, a fantasy is a journey to somewhere. 
6. I’d argue that fantasy is a journey, an adventure, to something more. This is the concept of numinosity: an encounter with otherness that is both danger and awe. We are challenged to step out of our day to day lives.
7. The hidden, enduring appeal of a fantasy story is it invites the reader to share a secret. Through the wardrobe to Narnia, through the looking glass, children know the way. Fantasy whispers that the world is strange and that these particular secrets are being shared just with you—and who can resist feeling special?

The Seven Secrets in summary:

1. Craft 
2. Passion
3. Cultural engagement 
4. Moral universe 
5. Quest 
6. Numinosity 
7. Ssh, it’s a secret

Do you have a "writing fantasy" secret to share?