Writers

In my studies, I've been finding out more and more what it takes to be a professional writer. As much as I would love to get paid to sit around and think of the next thing to write about any given day, I am beginning to suspect that I have no desire to do so, after all. I've always had a romantic notion of being a writer based on the life stories of folks like Kerouac and Hemingway; of being part of some all-too-cool community of artists, of sharing my work with people whom I respect and helping them with theirs. Of course, each of these men took their own lives, so maybe I shouldn't aspire to be like them.

Also worth considering are modern writers. There is a major reason that a number of these famous music critics (Guys like Klosterman and Rob Sheffield) are writing books nowadays: quite simply, it's hard to eke out a living, even if you are a "famous" magazine critic. I think this could be the one main reason that I will never be a famous artsy-type: I freak out when there isn't at least the promise of a steady income. I could pull a Raymond Carver, and write all night after working a blue-collar job all day, but that drove him to drink, and he wound up in an early grave just like the other writers I'd mentioned earlier.

There’s also the issue of editors. I’ve read a LOT of background information on Carver’s editor, Gordon Lisch. Dude basically went through Carver’s work and cut out up to 70% of some stories, he’d cut endings, change all sorts of stuff, and, from what I read, butcher a bunch of Carver’s writing to the point where people have issues calling it “Carver’s work.” If I were connected with someone like that, I’d be more likely to kick them in the nads than give them creative control over something I produced. If I’m driving myself nuts trying to come up with the perfect words to describe whatever it is I’m writing about, I’m not going to let some jackass who can’t write himself (come on, who else becomes an editor?) come in and chop up my work like a cheap steak. Granted, I’ll probably end up working as an editor in some capacity, but still…

So here's the crux of my problem: without becoming the famous writer I one day aspire to be, how will Charlie Rose ever interview me? The clock's ticking, dude isn't going to be alive forever. How can I be the coolest kid on that program for a while if I can't even get anything published? Then there's the other problem: I roll my eyes every time someone I meet in the lit program talks about "their novel" and how many people have been apparently working on the next groundbreaking work of American prose. Sorry folks, if it takes you nine years to write your first book, that second one could take the rest of your life. Just remember, trying is the first step towards failure, and if at first you don't succeed, then fucking quit.