Writing – the hardest game in town

Ever wondered what is the hardest occupation you can take on? Brick layer, Lumberjack or Roustabout maybe? None of these. 

While the aforementioned occupations are physically dangerous, writing leaves all others in its wake. To be a writer you need a hide thicker than a rhinoceros, mixed with a grim determination to carry on despite everything. Very few of us actually make a living out of it. Most of us sit in the doldrums, fortunate indeed if just a handful of inquisitive readers wish to sample our work.

There is no magic formulae for success in the writing game, unless of course, you are a so-called celebrity. Then the public will lap up anything with your name on it, no matter how vacuous you may be, which says it all about the public’s current taste. Sadly these days well written works of fiction sit on the shelves, be they the physical or electronic kind, largely unread.

The only way things will change is when the reading public grow tired of celebrities, and want to read something worthwhile. It makes little difference what genre you write in. If you are largely unknown, given the current mania for ‘shallow’, you will remain so.

If you have an uncontrollable urge to write, do so. Just don’t delude yourself into thinking that taking up writing will bring you fame and fortune – it won’t unless you are the next Dan Brown or J.K Rowling in waiting. What it will do however, is to boost your own sense of self worth. It will give you an enormous amount of satisfaction, especially when you see the product of all your hard work finally in print.

Want my advice – go for it…