The Writer's Perpetual Predicament

Today is April 27, 2021. It is 10:27 central time and already 80 degrees Fahrenheit. I am naked because although I have been wearing only a robe all morning, I am sweating. I am drinking a latte... a hot latte, but I suppose that's the price you pay for caffeine addiction and a fancy tasting palate. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So, let's get down to business.

Being a writer is hard.

If you are reading this, the odds are you are also a writer; therefore, you already know this fact. I suppose I could leave it there and bid you adieu, but as a writer, we have this gnawing urge to just keep going. Alas, here I am. But, enough fluff (we all do it). Why does writing have to be so damn difficult? The answer is simple. It forces us to be naked, and then it pays us very little. We are writing whores.

Let me explain.

All writers, different and alike, know what it is like to write for fun. No one writes for a living if they hate to write, just like no one becomes a chef if they hate cooking.

One day, the thought hits you like an anvil from the sky the way they would in a classic cartoon. In the shape of a typewriter. After we are hit in the noggin, flashy green dollar signs light up our eyes. Unfortunately, most of us put more money into our work than we will ever see deposited in our bank accounts. We pay for equipment, supplies, apps, subscriptions, websites, artwork, ads, and the list goes on for miles. For example, I am an indie writer and a freelance copywriter. I have self-published two books, and I have spent roughly $2,000 on them. It will probably take ages to break even. I make an average of $2.00 royalty from each sale. That means I would need to sell 1,000 books to break even. *insert stressed laughing emoji*

Writing forces us to be our most vulnerable versions of ourselves. In some cases is also asks you to be someone else entirely. We are actors, and we are paid very far from an actor's salary when we are compensated at all.

I created a whole world within the bounds of a book, and I make $1 for it only after spending tons of time, energy, and cash from my own pocket advertising and marketing so that someone will see my work and want to buy it. For one measly dollar, I pimp out my pen. I'm a writing whore.

We do it because we love it and because it is worth it to see our creations out there, existing in the world. We hold on to that chance that maybe we could do something meaningful and lasting and worthwhile. I guess that's why they call us starving artists. It takes about 4 book sales to pay for this latte.

This is the perpetual predicament of a writer's life.

Don't get me wrong... I'm not quitting writing. Fooled you, didn't I? Writing is a lifestyle that you love and hate equally. As much as I gripe and complain, I relish in the comfort of freewriting and bearing my soul to the world... or the void. Writing is a beautiful experience. It is intimate. It is challenging. It is life-changing. It also happens to be a pain in my ass.

Dear fellow writers, how are you holding up? Keep drinking your wine, whiskeys, or your expensive cappuccinos. Listen to your sad music and lay under the perfume of a shady tree. Sit nude on a hot day (I should really fix the AC). Feed your passion. Visit your muse. Your skill is a gift, and it is uniquely yours. If you write, do it for the love. Money comes, and it goes. Your words last forever. You are a magician, an actor, and an artist.

The great Ella Fitzgerald once said, "Just don't give up trying to do what you want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."