In literature it makes no sense to talk of 'a career' in the sense of a life that can be managed by the exercise of prudent thought. Writers who flourish at the peak of their powers for longer than a decade, or even two, are rare birds. ... There are exceptions. Writers who work in a genre, John le Carré for example, or PD James, are more likely to sustain a run of quality and a sequence of winners.Robert McCrum on The Guardian blog examines the reality of an author's long-term publishing prospects and it's quite depressing.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
No Long Term Career for Authors
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I always admire authors and writers (especially women) who have the perseverence...which I don't think I can cahallenge. Your blog is a challenge to my mind. Help to inspire me...
Writing to make a decent income is tough though: unless you are lucky enough to be promoted by a big company.
Hey thanks for putting up the notice!
thanks Noranimah - glad i'm helping to challenge your mind - that's a real compliment.
Au and Target - it is hard work. i never managed to do more than earn some nice pocket money writing, yet the mental effort put a big strain on my little brain!
if you're writing genre fiction rather than literary fiction you might find this article somewhat comforting.
There's no long-term for actors or singers or footballers either, but they seem to do quite well for themselves after they retire.
Post a Comment