"Holly Lisle - Mugging The Muse" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lisle Holly)

Could vs. Should and the Price of Your Dreams
A friend of mine is going through a crisis of faith right now. Not a religious crisis. A
writing one тАУ though from where he's standing, it probably feels much the same. He's
written several books and a slough of short stories, and he has prepared them
professionally, and he has diligently and tirelessly sent them around in the correct
manner. He's done everything right, and he has a growing collection of rejection slips
to show for it, and an upcoming publication in what he calls тАЬthe smallest paying
market in existence.тАЭ

And he's starting to wonder why he's doing all this; as he points out, he has a great
job that he's lucky enough to like, he's happily married, he makes good money and
has what he needs in life. He's putting a lot of time into something that is feeling
more and more like smacking himself in the forehead with a ballpeen hammer.
Repeatedly.
Is he wasting his time? I have no doubt at all that if he sticks with his writing long
enough, he'll start selling his work. He's smart and talented and funny, and I think it
would be impossible for him to keep writing without those qualities showing in an
irresistible combination on the page eventually. Sooner or later, an editor is going to
fall in love, and he is going to find a publishing home.
If he is willing to pay the price.

The price?
Every dream has a price. You need to know this now, because the price can be
enormous, and if you don't know about in advance, you can wake up one day to find
that you have paid with everything you ever loved, and what you have to show for all
of that isn't enough.
HOLLY LISLE
 MUGGING THE MUSE: WRITING FICTION FOR LOVE AND MONEY 20

How much will you have to pay to be a writer? There's no way you can know in
advance. How much might you have to pay?
You might have to live in poverty. You might lose your job, your friends or family,
your children or your spouse. Your dream might cost you your health. Your
happiness. Your life. Perhaps you think I exaggerate, but writers suffer from
depression and die of suicide far out of proportion to our numbers. We have high
divorce rates, far too many substance abusers, and as a group we are pathetically
poor. I'm not saying that if you want to be a writer, you need to run out and get a
divorce and take up heavy drinking. Far from it. A strong, stable relationship can get
you through some desperate times. And only fools look for inspiration in the bottom
of a bottle. What I am saying is that if you pursue your dream, some other parts of
your life will fall by the wayside. You can't know what those parts will be yet. But if
you persist, you will find out.
How much is your dream worth to you?

Could you be a writer? Yes.
Should you be?