ARE WRITERS ENTREPRENEURS—(AND CRAZY)?
YES—AND SMALL BUSINESSES (TRYING TO GET LARGER) AS WELL—THOUGH WHERE WRITING IS CONCERNED (NOTE THIS WELL), THE WRITING COMES FIRST
SOME AUTHORS ARE SURPRISINGLY LARGE BUSINESSES. IT’S RARE—BUT IT’S POSSIBLE (though that is not why most of us write)
The following infographic projects an impressively upbeat picture. Since I often write about serious issues, I thought this would make a pleasant contrast. It supports the idea that business—like life—can, and should be, fun.
For all too many employees—particularly those who work for large corporations and are underpaid (not necessarily one and the same—and all corporate employees are certainly not underpaid) work is frequently far from enjoyable and stressful—way more so than it needs to be in many cases. Pay issues apart, having a thoughtless or unpleasant boss seems to be the greatest problem.—and research shows that most people are not committed to their jobs (as in fully engaged). In short, most of us work because we have to—though there often aspects we enjoy such as the social intercourse.
In contrast, running your own business (especially in good times) can be very satisfying and enjoyable.
It’s difficult to set up a successful business—but you have some degree of control over your own economic destiny—and the challenge is part of the fun.
Strangely enough, American entrepreneurship is in decline—and has been for some time—but that’s a topic for another day.
Writing certainly is immensely satisfying—the most fun you can have to with your clothes on. When I get up in the morning, I really like to start the day with a mug of tea (I’m Irish so not really a coffee guy) but tend to write first nine times out of ten. I wake wanting to write.
I hate using clichés such as “the most fun etc.”—but I heard on the radio the other day that where journalism is concerned, where you are trying to convey a great deal of information in limited time and space, they are virtually inevitable—and permissible. Is blogging journalism? No—though it can be—but I’m availing of literary license.
Now I think of it, I have never tried writing naked. Could one write while having sex? I’m not sure January in Seattle is the time to experiment.
Actually, we writers write under any and all circumstances—if only in our heads. We are both involved in whatever is going on—and detached, as in observing and recording it on the principle that it’s all material.
A disconcerting thought, isn’t it.
Mind you, sometimes we think with other parts of our anatomy.
VOR words c.400.
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