Poor middle class writers
Whenever I read articles like this one, I decide that it’s time to open my wooden case and take out the world’s smallest violin: My book deal ruined my life.
The journalist decided that he was going to find every gag-inducing walking cliche of a writer and scribble down as they bitch and moan about how their lives have been ruined— devastated, I dare say! — ever since they decided to become writers.
The worst of the bunch:
Yet, still, the dreamers dream. Brendan Sullivan, 25, moved to New York after studying creative writing at Kenyon College in Ohio.
He hasn’t landed a book deal for his novel, but is determined to find a publisher. “Writing has ruined my life and cost me many, many girlfriends,” he wrote in an e-mail. “I have thrown away several careers and one college degree to spend my time working in bars, D.J.’ing in bars and drinking my rejection letters away. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy, and I’ve made many of them since I started …. I also abandoned my agent with words harsher than those I’ve saved for lost loves.”
Mr. Sullivan has held 27 jobs to support his writing career, from selling chapstick on the street to being a night guard in an art gallery (“That was my favorite job ever, because I just sat in a chair and read novels all day,” Mr. Sullivan added.)
via nick
And here I had never regarded writing as a very difficult career, but to hear some of this, it sounds like making it as a writer is about as difficult as making it as a rock star. Am I the only one who thinks you should pursue a more steady career and write on the side until you’re “discovered”?
Yeah definitely, hence my career as a journalist. Not that I ever want to become a full-time novelist, it seems like it would be boring. I’ve developed a liking for nonfiction writing, so fiction will likely mostly remain as a side-income type of thing.