Being A Writer #4: Fortune and Glory

Hey, everyone.

Due to the holiday I decided not to publish anything last week because I thought there would be adverse effects to my views, but now that the holiday is over, we can get back into the swing of things. Speaking of the swing, it hasn't been going well for me in my job search, and speaking of money, let's take a quick look at this week's Being A Writer.

Explanation

When it comes to just about anything, there are good and bad reasons for doing whatever it is, such as marriage, which should be done for love and shouldn't be done for money. Well, when it comes to writing a book, some do it for "good" reasons like educating, entertaining, enlightening, and inspiring others. But there are plenty of "bad" reasons why people write; two of those "bad" reasons include fortune and glory.

Unfortunately, there are some writers out there, often the successful ones who have both plenty of money and fame, who like to drive the point that writing isn't about getting rich or being popular. But here's the thing, while fortune and glory aren't "good" reasons for writing, they're still some of the reasons why we write--it's just the nature of the beast.

I think it could be argued that "fortune and glory" isn't as much about "riches and fame" as it is about "getting paid to do something you like and being recognized for being good at it." However, I also think that so long as you turn out a good story that people want to read, does it really matter why you wrote it? For my part, I know I write for good and bad reasons--I want to tell a story, but dammit!--someone had better pay me for it!

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If you enjoyed this realistic Being A Writer post and you want to stay in the loop with whatever I write, please consider joining my mailing list, and if you agree with my logic, you can also support me on Patreon. Even $1 a month helps me keep writing for money.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
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Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Being A Writer #3: This Book Needs to be a Movie!

Hey, everyone.

Unlike last week's Being A Writer, this one is much more positive. And probably much shorter.

Explanation

When I first wrote Remnants of Chaos: Chaotic Omens, when I finished it, I posted it to Inkitt where it got some great reviews, including one or two people saying it should be turned into a movie.

I quite enjoyed how emphatic they were about it, one claiming ROCCO "needs" to be a movie. It says quite a lot about your writing when the audience approves of it being turned into a motion picture. I know not all cinematic adaptations are homeruns, but when people are saying, "Someone should spend $100 million+ to bring this to life!" you can't help but take it as a compliment. You wrote a story and built a world that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars to somebody, and that could be your hundreds of millions of dollars.

But it's not just about the money. It's about the exposure and recognition. Movies have a wider reach than books, and generally, most cinematic adaptations are fantastic pieces of art and sometimes they're better than the book. The fact that there are people out there who believe your work is worthy of that sort of effort to properly imagine it and they believe you're good enough to be worldly acclaimed are significant feathers in your cap. Compliments like this are why we stay in the business.

The only thing better is if someone says your book is their favorite.

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If you enjoyed this uplifting Being A Writer post and you want to stay in the loop with whatever I write, please consider joining my mailing list or even supporting me on Patreon. $1 a month keeps me from doing "real" work, and I really appreciate that.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Instagram: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Being A Writer #2: A Horrible Truth

Hey, everyone.

So this Being A Writer is a little dour and a little sour, and largely dependent on the individual writer, but for many it's true. Let's look at it a little deeper.

Explanation

Most of the world still carries a bias against self-publishing. To many, traditional publishing is the only way to go--apparently, if people front your cover design costs, you're worth being read. Unfortunately, this isn't a strict maxim. Ever heard of 50 Shades of Grey? I hear it's not that good. Meanwhile, Twilight, while written well, it doesn't deserve the hype. But I'm getting a little off topic here.

For many of us self-pubs, we hardly ever see any real money from our writing. Now, there are ways to boost the odds of course: Facebook and Amazon ads, press releases, podcast interviews, and even having a team of beta readers who buy the book first day and leave their real reviews a few seconds later. But if you're broke and don't have connections, and if you're not big into self-promotion, no one will really care about your book, even if it's the best book in the world.

But! Like I said, these are all conditional from writer to writer. Some self-pubs do quite well for themselves. However, I fall into the group of writers that write on a wing and a prayer. All I really have in my life are a few friends, who don't buy my books, and some family members, who are very supportive, but still don't buy my books. And the only family member I have who does read everything I've self-published doesn't even believe in my future as writer. So... yeah.

No doubt about it, regardless of what stage you're at when it comes to writing, whether it be outlining, writing, editing and proofing, publicizing, or you're already well-established, it is a challenging gig. And from what I hear, it's getting more difficult all the time for traditionally published writers. Apparently, the advance they give you is supposed to be used for advertising, and if the book flops, they may just take the advance back. Yikes...

But, I'd take a bad day at this over a good day of almost everything else. And my intention with this post is not meant to scare you or complain. I admit, I was not in a good place when I created this entry to the Being A Writer meme, but instead of letting this one get you down, use it as an opportunity to prove me wrong. Say to yourself, "Yes, they do. People do care when I publish a book. And they're going to buy it, and you, meme/Bryan C. Laesch, will just have to wallow in your failing career while I go on to make millions."

Good luck.

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If you enjoyed this sobering Being A Writer post and you want to stay in the loop with whatever I write, please consider joining my mailing list or even supporting me on Patreon. $1 a month keeps me from doing "real" work, and I really appreciate that.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Instagram: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar

Being A Writer #1: Concerning the Word "Very"

Hey, everyone.

It's been a while since I last wrote an article for Let's Talk About Writing. Hell, this isn't even a Let's Talk About Writing article. This is a new thing I'm doing where I started to create memes as a means to raise awareness about my "brand." As a result, to help further increase awareness, I've decided to write blog posts further explaining myself for the memes I've come up with. I've already started with my INTJ posts and I decided to expand into writing. So, this is that. Let's get into it.

Concerning the Word "Very"

In some writing circles, they hate the word "very." I don't exactly know why, but my guess is twofold: 1. Because if you describe something as being "very big" or "very pretty," it would be simpler to use "huge" or "beautiful" instead, and 2. "Huge" and "beautiful" are only one word each instead of two, so it cuts down on your word count which in theory cuts down on how many pages need to be printed for your book, which I'm beginning to believe is totally asinine because words like "beautiful" are just as long as "very pretty" is in terms of space used.

Now, while I can appreciate the perspective that "beautiful" is superior to "pretty" and "huge" superior to "big," I personally believe that "beautiful" and "huge" are in their own classes of beauty and size. Ergo, it isn't a big deal to describe something as "very pretty" or "very big" because both are still within the realms of prettiness and bigness, they're just at the extreme top ends without having crossed into beautifulness and hugeness. And in some cases, I would argue that beautifulness and prettiness are not the same thing or that they're not on the same scale, meaning that a girl can just as easily be described as "very pretty" as she could "very beautiful" depending on which scale she falls.

Furthermore, things become even more jostled when you're dealing with an object or thing so big, the only way to describe it is as "extremely enormous" which is practically the same thing as saying "very big." It causes a good editor and eagle-eyed readers to go, "What? You couldn't find one word to take the place of 'extremely enormous?'" Thus, we find ourselves in a vicious cycle of trying to come up with single words to replace an adjective and its adverbial modifier the higher and higher up we go on a scale.

However, what ticks me off the most about getting rid of the word "very" is that I see it as a restriction of creativity. I am a writer and words are my tools. Why should I limit myself in the use of the tools at my disposal? Like I said above, there can be a philosophically and subtle difference between "very big" and "huge" that some people are aware of. Therefore, shouldn't I have access to both terms to use in their specific situations? To not do so would limit my creativity and possibly mislead my readers. The only defense I can think of to that point is that I shouldn't interfere with the imaginations of my readers. I should only give them enough detail to get them started, but then leave it there. But again, the limiting of creativity and subtle differences in specific situations. I can't get around those two.

Therefore, for the sake of my own mental stability, I shall choose to leave my options open and never exclude a particular word for I may need it one day. "Very" stays.

Keep writing, my friends.

More About Bryan C. Laesch:

Amazon: My Author Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
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Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar