“If you won the Lottery, would you quit writing? If not, would the guaranteed income change how and what you write?”
by Rebecca Cantrell
Quit writing when I finally had the money to not worry about how I’m going to subsidize my next book? Are you crazy? As a writer in the current economy, it’s hard not to worry about money.
But I don’t write because of invisible dollar signs. I write because of invisible voices in my head. I write because I am a crazy obsessed person who can’t stop writing. I wrote for years before I even thought to send something out to be published. Being published was the lottery. And I won it and I love it. I think it’s easy to get caught up in worrying about the money and the numbers of books sold (things largely outside our control) and forget about the pure joy of writing.
Don’t get me wrong. If a big pile of money comes out of this whole writing thing, just like the next writer, I will install a pool in my basement full of gold coins and swim around in it like Scrooge McDuck. Although I might have the coins sanitized first because who know where they’ve been.
But even if I had that big pool of germ-free coins, I wouldn’t write anything different. I already write just what I want to write. I don’t try to make it more or less commercial. I write to tell the absolute best version of the story that I can. Period. I hope that publishers will publish it. I hope that readers will enjoy it. I hope to always get a huge thrill when I see a book with my name on the cover right there in the bookstore for anybody to just pick up and buy.
But this does tie in nicely to last week’s question. What would I do with all that money? I would use it to write more. I would hire someone else to clean my house. I would hire someone else to update my web site. I would hire someone else to book my travel, return my library books, book my blog tours, mow the lawn, and drop things off at the post office.
In fact, the imaginary personal assistant I would hire to do all this is named Kevin. I know, other people have imaginary friends. Bucko, I have plenty of real friends, but no real personal assistant. Not yet. When I hit the lottery, I’m hiring him. I don’t know who he is, and he might be a woman, but his/her name while working for me will be Kevin. Every day I make lists of things for Kevin to do. Every day I have to do all those things myself. But if I win the lottery, Kevin will start work.
Kevin, what numbers do you think I should play this week? Remember, your job is at stake…
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If I won the lottery, I’d build myself a roomy studio with a view so I could write to my heart’s content. Money is a way of knowing people like to read your books, so I would still want to be paid. However, I wouldn’t let lack of money make me quit.
Good luck with the lottery.
Thanks, Marilynne!
A studio with a view sounds delightful.
Good luck withyour lottery too!