Does the world really need another writer?
May 12, 2014 6:08 AM Subscribe
I have some time right now to focus on writing fiction. But is it really worth my time? Does the world really need another writer?
I've been writing fiction on and off for years, but I never finish anything, mainly because there's already so much fiction out there. I don't see the value of adding more, not when there's so many people, both amateur and professional, working so hard to do that already. Don't we have enough writers of fiction, especially in the English-speaking world? Does the world really need another writer?
(FYI, I'm keeping this question vague on purpose because I think that will encourage folks to consider the question from more angles and give me a wider variety of viewpoints.)
I've been writing fiction on and off for years, but I never finish anything, mainly because there's already so much fiction out there. I don't see the value of adding more, not when there's so many people, both amateur and professional, working so hard to do that already. Don't we have enough writers of fiction, especially in the English-speaking world? Does the world really need another writer?
(FYI, I'm keeping this question vague on purpose because I think that will encourage folks to consider the question from more angles and give me a wider variety of viewpoints.)
This post was deleted for the following reason: Hey, sorry but yeah, this is so general that it's basically chatfilter, rather than "help me solve this concrete problem" -- taz
Not all of those people are writing the same things. If you truly believe you have nothing unique or interesting to add to what's currently out there…. well, that's probably more of an issue of your self esteem than the actual truth of the matter.
I just think it's very interesting that you say nothing of the quality of the writing that is being done or of your own writing, only the quantity! Which do you think is more important?
posted by treehorn+bunny at 6:12 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
I just think it's very interesting that you say nothing of the quality of the writing that is being done or of your own writing, only the quantity! Which do you think is more important?
posted by treehorn+bunny at 6:12 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Yes, the world needs another writer. The world needs another of any type of artist who has a unique personal viewpoint and something to say. Keep at it.
posted by xingcat at 6:19 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by xingcat at 6:19 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
The world has a lot of stories in it. But there isn't a finite amount of space for them, and it doesn't yet have the stories you'll write in it. And if you don't write them, it never will.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 6:26 AM on May 12, 2014
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 6:26 AM on May 12, 2014
The world always needs more writers.
I never finish anything, mainly because there's already so much fiction out there.
That doesn't make sense. By quitting before you finish, you don't give people the opportunity to choose for themselves.
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." ~ Cyril Connolly
posted by headnsouth at 6:27 AM on May 12, 2014
I never finish anything, mainly because there's already so much fiction out there.
That doesn't make sense. By quitting before you finish, you don't give people the opportunity to choose for themselves.
"Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self." ~ Cyril Connolly
posted by headnsouth at 6:27 AM on May 12, 2014
Best answer: Disagree with everyone here. The world doesn't need more writers. It needs more social workers and primary care physicians and elementary school teachers, but it definitely doesn't need more aspiring writers self-consciously huffing around and agonizing over their Art.
It's not an altruistic enterprise, writing. If you want to give back to the world, go volunteer at an animal shelter. And then, on your own time, come home and write because you want to, and for no other reason. If you can't be *selfish* about it, you're always going to lose your motivation, and you will never finish anything, because you're right - the world does not give a good goddamn about whether sam_harms becomes a writer or not.
That's not really the point, though. How much do you read? Do you read as much as you write? Of course there's a surplus of words out there, but as hard as this is to believe, if you read omnivorously in a particular sub-genre or style for most of your life, you will eventually come to the end of the really, really good stuff. You will want more, or you will want something slightly different from what you can find. There will be a gap, and you'll be hungry for someone to fill it. And then one day it will occur to you that you don't have to sit around hoping that someone else will get around to writing that very particular story you're craving - you can go ahead and write it yourself. So you do.
The world doesn't need more writers.
Readers need more books.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 6:35 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
It's not an altruistic enterprise, writing. If you want to give back to the world, go volunteer at an animal shelter. And then, on your own time, come home and write because you want to, and for no other reason. If you can't be *selfish* about it, you're always going to lose your motivation, and you will never finish anything, because you're right - the world does not give a good goddamn about whether sam_harms becomes a writer or not.
That's not really the point, though. How much do you read? Do you read as much as you write? Of course there's a surplus of words out there, but as hard as this is to believe, if you read omnivorously in a particular sub-genre or style for most of your life, you will eventually come to the end of the really, really good stuff. You will want more, or you will want something slightly different from what you can find. There will be a gap, and you'll be hungry for someone to fill it. And then one day it will occur to you that you don't have to sit around hoping that someone else will get around to writing that very particular story you're craving - you can go ahead and write it yourself. So you do.
The world doesn't need more writers.
Readers need more books.
posted by pretentious illiterate at 6:35 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
Professional film, tv and games writer and author here. If you have to ask whether the world needs to hear your stories, you may not be a writer at heart. People who make writing their life do it because we love to write. We love the process of writing. We have a jones for writing.
We also do it because we badly want to communicate something to other people. If you're not sure, then I would say that you should do something else. Writing for a living is a tough row to hoe, especially novels. My third published book was a novel. I really enjoyed writing it. I wrote it off and on over ten years. It did not set the world on fire, or buy me a car, though it did get translated into German. I like to joke that "you can make hundreds of dollars writing novels. When I bitch about it, my wife reminds me how many people do not get their novels published, or have to self-publish them.
A famous violinist, when asked by a young person if they had talent, made a point of always telling them they didn't, on the grounds that if they could possibly be discouraged by someone's opinion, they weren't going to make it as a professional violinist anyway. I would never tell someone they don't have talent, but I do tell people, if there's anything else you could stand to make a living at, then go do that. I literally do not know what I would do with myself if I couldn't write for a living in some form.
Does the world need your stories? Only you can answer that question, really. If you don't know what you can add to the tens of thousands of books in the local bookstore (and that is a daunting sight), then maybe you haven't figured out what you want to say yet. I wouldn't write a novel until I did know that.
posted by musofire at 6:35 AM on May 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
We also do it because we badly want to communicate something to other people. If you're not sure, then I would say that you should do something else. Writing for a living is a tough row to hoe, especially novels. My third published book was a novel. I really enjoyed writing it. I wrote it off and on over ten years. It did not set the world on fire, or buy me a car, though it did get translated into German. I like to joke that "you can make hundreds of dollars writing novels. When I bitch about it, my wife reminds me how many people do not get their novels published, or have to self-publish them.
A famous violinist, when asked by a young person if they had talent, made a point of always telling them they didn't, on the grounds that if they could possibly be discouraged by someone's opinion, they weren't going to make it as a professional violinist anyway. I would never tell someone they don't have talent, but I do tell people, if there's anything else you could stand to make a living at, then go do that. I literally do not know what I would do with myself if I couldn't write for a living in some form.
Does the world need your stories? Only you can answer that question, really. If you don't know what you can add to the tens of thousands of books in the local bookstore (and that is a daunting sight), then maybe you haven't figured out what you want to say yet. I wouldn't write a novel until I did know that.
posted by musofire at 6:35 AM on May 12, 2014 [3 favorites]
Do *you* need to be a writer? I think that's the more relevant question.
posted by mskyle at 6:38 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by mskyle at 6:38 AM on May 12, 2014 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zdravo at 6:09 AM on May 12, 2014 [2 favorites]