The local middle school holds a
career day for its students every spring. Because some of the kids come
year after year, I tried to come up with a new viewpoint for each
presentation. Most recently I focused on writers who are making a good living
but whose names are not in the public spotlight. It turns out, that was a
good move. Only one student mentioned J K Rowling. In earlier years, she
was the role model for at least ten of them. (Oh how fleeting is fame.)
I put six names on the board – three
men and three women. In addition to one novelist (Cressida Cowell), I
included a screenplay writer, the head writer of a video game, a lyricist, a
comic book writer, and the writer of a famous ad campaign. I talked about
all the ways a person can make a career out of the written word.
The kids had not considered
this. In their minds, writers do one of two things: writers are
journalists or writers are novelists.
This same misconception is often a
topic in my writing workshops. Fledgling writers come to the seminars
because they want to be famous novelists like James Patterson. I remind
them that “famous” and “income” don’t necessarily go together. Cressida
Cowell, the author of How to Train Your Dragon, is a perfect
example. Because of the movie, most people are familiar with her title
but she is not famous - as demonstrated by the fact that not one student
recognized her name. I imagine, however, that she earns a good income.
Writers have lots of options and we
can mix or match non-fiction, fiction, long or short as inspiration or our
checkbooks dictate. If you are paying the bills with your writing, you
have already accomplished a great deal. Most artists would love to be
able to do that. Just ask any actor who is waiting tables.
You may never be famous but you are
a winner if you are able to work in your art full time.
