Time or Money? Can Writers Have Both?

Two Stages in the Writing Life

It's a well known fact that there are two sorts of writers:

• those writers who are just starting out and don't have any big projects commissioned or anybody beating at their door demanding material for a deadline
• those writers who are earning money from having big projects commissioned and people banging on their door demanding material for a deadline

The one who don't have commissions and deadlines think that their life would be perfect if only they could have something commissioned and some deadlines to meet. Then they wouldn't have to mess around sending things off and trying to get them accepted.

The writers who are earning a decent living look back to the halcyon days when they were starting out when they could sit and write whatever they wanted, with no one to answer to, and no deadlines piling up. To them, being able to sit down and write what you feel like writing rather than what you have to write is a luxury they can no longer afford.

I suppose what would be perfect is to have plenty of money to live off - perhaps a large, guaranteed writing income but complete freedom to write whatever you feel like.

How to Be Happy as a Writer

So who's happiest? Who should we aspire to be like?

There's no easy answer to this one. All we can do is change our attitude so that whatever position we're in as a writer, no matter how far we have or haven't managed to travel along the road, we're grateful for where we are and what we've achieved.

Enjoy the Journey

The thing is, writing is about the journey, not the destination. Once the journey is complete, then another one comes along to take its place. Finish one book and you're desperate for a second book deal. Write one Oscar-winning screenplay and the following year you'll be eager for another commission so that you can prove that your success wasn't a fluke.

Think about your writing as an adventure, whatever stage you're at in your development. Be grateful for the time you have available to spend on it and for the sheer joy of writing. If you're trying to earn a living through your writing and you're getting stressed because you keep getting knock-backs, take the pressure off yourself by finding a part-time job.

Above all, if you do have the luxury of time, but not money, make the most of it. The day may come quite soon when you'll wish you could still sit down and say, 'I wonder what I shall write about today.'

Is It All Right?

These past few weeks, I've frequently opened my e-mail box and found a note from one of my students saying, 'I've had a go at writing a radio drama/autobiographical piece/short story, but I don't know if it's all right. Would you take a look at it for me?'

Often I find the writer has been worrying about nothing - the piece they've sent me is really promising. Maybe it needs a few little tweaks or there are some odd spelling mistakes or a bit of wonky punctuation. Maybe it needs quite a bit more work done on it. But whatever my verdict on the piece, I'm always pleased to see that they've been trying something new.

That's the thing about writing. It's usually better to have something rather than nothing. Even if you're at the very, very start of your journey as a writer, or if you were having a really bad day when you put pen to paper, the very fact that you have put pen to paper is a good thing.

A piece of writing isn't like a silk blouse which you could ruin irrevocably with a faulty seam, an uneven hem. If you do need to redo it, it won't show needle marks where you've unpicked the fabric, done a nip here and a tuck there. If you've trimmed away too much, you can always add extra and nobody will ever see the join.

You can afford to take risks with your writing. It's all part of the learning process. No risks, play it safe all the time and you'll develop at the pace of a racing snail. Experiment, try out a few new forms, a few genres that you may have thought were beyond you, and you'll be amazed at what you can come up with. You may even find that your forte turns out to be something completely different from what you first thought of.

I have a card pinned above my desk, which contains a quotation by the German poet, Goethe. It says:
'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and
magic in it.'

Dare you be bold in your writing. Dare to take risks. Dare to try something new. Try it, and discover the magic for yourself.