Thank you for posting this while you're still mad and struggling. Being broke and working in a creative field is so lonely and its hard to find much writing from inside the Struggle, cos most people do come from money, and the rest are too tired or too busy or jaded to write it. (and the scrappy survival methods are shady and/or stigmatised). Also seeing people I respect in a similar position to me reminds me that you can be both brilliant and sometimes broke- they are not mutually exclusive :)Really felt this one !!
Honestly, I get it and I guess I am one of those people that are part of the problem because I read a lot of good writers but am not willing to pay them much. I pay a bit to Dan Rather’s Steady on Substack and have given a donation to Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but the rest of the writers that cross my jn-box, I don’t feel I want to pay for. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t excellent, it’s just means there are too many vying for my reading time and dollars. I say this with the best of intentions.
Hi Bonnie!!! Honestly I don’t think it’s up to individuals to fix it at all, kind of like how useless it is to ban single use plastic and tell us to stop using straws... the rot runs much deeper! I think it’s very touching when people pay for my newsletter and it feels like a much more intimate patron+artist relationship... I place the blame on institutions ALWAYS!
I come from the world of professional dance and have seen and experienced what happens when people aren't compensated in a way that reflects their talent. It is awful, and unfortunately not isolated to writing. My best friend just finished her first novel and after some publishing success in another genre is realizing not everything comes as easy. The poor girl is getting her spirits crushed and her teeth kicked in, but I will say that part of it comes from a narrative we get fed (honestly it feels almost like an ideal we hope for as a culture), one where the most talented person DOES get the job and IS rewarded for their gifts, and the dissonance between that what ACTUALLY happens.
I think some of us are meant to call out the hypocrisy, but I also found that my everyday life is way more comfortable having accepted that there really isn't a correlation between talent and payout. Sure the art needs to be passable, but if you have worked in the entertainment business (which it sounds like you have) you know that plenty of people who aren't that great get to work as often as there is unrecognized genius out there. If we can accept that, then it doesn't become an ego blow, and what I would say to you is, its quite literally not your fault.
Commercial success is a crapshoot of the hand we are dealt, how we play it, and a confluence of other circumstances that really aren't in our control (not all of us have family inventing hot tubs, I certainly don't). Sometimes we benefit, sometimes we suffer. Personally, my life has become far more comfortable though after laying a foundation of financial provision in the form of a side business. I do not come from money, and neither does my immigrant husband, but what we had (and what I am sure any creative person reading this has) is oodles of creativity. And it is absolutely possible to channel that into some sort of business model (ideally where the time input is not tied to the monetary output AND your clientele is other businesses of some sort--everyday consumers are notoriously price sensitive). That should give you a cushion and enough freedom to play. I am not a business guru either (I literally am still figuring out how to do taxes as an adult), but I am someone who believes artists can and should live with dignity while the world figures out how to compensate them properly. It's not a perfect solution, but it's been working for me so far.
Lovely read too, you have plenty of talent. Don't let the insanity of the market get you down. You can outsmart the system and rail against it at the same time :)
Thank you for posting this while you're still mad and struggling. Being broke and working in a creative field is so lonely and its hard to find much writing from inside the Struggle, cos most people do come from money, and the rest are too tired or too busy or jaded to write it. (and the scrappy survival methods are shady and/or stigmatised). Also seeing people I respect in a similar position to me reminds me that you can be both brilliant and sometimes broke- they are not mutually exclusive :)Really felt this one !!
Honestly, I get it and I guess I am one of those people that are part of the problem because I read a lot of good writers but am not willing to pay them much. I pay a bit to Dan Rather’s Steady on Substack and have given a donation to Kareem Abdul Jabbar, but the rest of the writers that cross my jn-box, I don’t feel I want to pay for. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t excellent, it’s just means there are too many vying for my reading time and dollars. I say this with the best of intentions.
Hi Bonnie!!! Honestly I don’t think it’s up to individuals to fix it at all, kind of like how useless it is to ban single use plastic and tell us to stop using straws... the rot runs much deeper! I think it’s very touching when people pay for my newsletter and it feels like a much more intimate patron+artist relationship... I place the blame on institutions ALWAYS!
this came at the exact right moment cuz i’m ready to light some fires myself for many of the same reasons. onward and upward!
It meant a lot to read such an authentic rant, much much needed in those uncertain financial times
Wowwwww 1000 times yes to all of this !!!
Yes! THIS. 100% this.
Struggling with the same things at the moment in a different field. Hate it but at least we’re not alone…?
Really loved reading this. Agree with every word 100%
I come from the world of professional dance and have seen and experienced what happens when people aren't compensated in a way that reflects their talent. It is awful, and unfortunately not isolated to writing. My best friend just finished her first novel and after some publishing success in another genre is realizing not everything comes as easy. The poor girl is getting her spirits crushed and her teeth kicked in, but I will say that part of it comes from a narrative we get fed (honestly it feels almost like an ideal we hope for as a culture), one where the most talented person DOES get the job and IS rewarded for their gifts, and the dissonance between that what ACTUALLY happens.
I think some of us are meant to call out the hypocrisy, but I also found that my everyday life is way more comfortable having accepted that there really isn't a correlation between talent and payout. Sure the art needs to be passable, but if you have worked in the entertainment business (which it sounds like you have) you know that plenty of people who aren't that great get to work as often as there is unrecognized genius out there. If we can accept that, then it doesn't become an ego blow, and what I would say to you is, its quite literally not your fault.
Commercial success is a crapshoot of the hand we are dealt, how we play it, and a confluence of other circumstances that really aren't in our control (not all of us have family inventing hot tubs, I certainly don't). Sometimes we benefit, sometimes we suffer. Personally, my life has become far more comfortable though after laying a foundation of financial provision in the form of a side business. I do not come from money, and neither does my immigrant husband, but what we had (and what I am sure any creative person reading this has) is oodles of creativity. And it is absolutely possible to channel that into some sort of business model (ideally where the time input is not tied to the monetary output AND your clientele is other businesses of some sort--everyday consumers are notoriously price sensitive). That should give you a cushion and enough freedom to play. I am not a business guru either (I literally am still figuring out how to do taxes as an adult), but I am someone who believes artists can and should live with dignity while the world figures out how to compensate them properly. It's not a perfect solution, but it's been working for me so far.
Lovely read too, you have plenty of talent. Don't let the insanity of the market get you down. You can outsmart the system and rail against it at the same time :)
Keep making things!
Thank you. I'm so TIRED.