Dear Writer,
I don’t know why I am only just realising this, as it seems so very obvious, but I think that writing may be the most difficult art to make a living from. I’m not saying this to put you off of writing, or becoming an author. And I’m certainly not saying this to be negative for the sake of it. Let me explain.
Writing is the most difficult of all the arts to have genius recognised in. Because in order to recognise the genius of a piece of writing, one must actually sit, concentrate and read the words. Which might take thirty minutes or several hours or even days or weeks.
Whereas a song can be recognised as genius in three minutes. A movie in two hours. A painting in seconds. A dance in a few minutes or more.
But writing demands time. And in this world of constant information overload, time is of short supply. Or so it would appear. And so if someone takes the time to read your words, it is truly an honour, because they are saying – your words are worth more to me than several movies or several hours of social media.
As a writer, it is harder to be ‘discovered’. To have that magic moment when someone spots your genius and tells the world about it. You can’t go on a talent show or do a video that goes viral on YouTube.
All you can do is keep writing, and keep hoping that your words will hit the spot for enough people that the word will spread that your words are worth the time and effort they take to consume.
Of course, you will still always hope that one day you will reach that tipping point where every time you hit publish, you sell several thousand copies straight off the bat, and not just a handful. But until then, you keep writing, because you were not born to be a singer or dancer or a movie star.
You were born to be a writer.
So fall in love with the difficulty, the struggle and the stress that comes with this work. Because I promise you, it will be worth it in the end.
Much love,
A writer.