8When people ask me if I am an aspiring writer, I always feel as though I do not give them the answer they expect to hear.
No, I do this for fun. Because I can. Because it’s a hobby.
Then why bothering writing? they want to know.
What? How can you ask that question? Why do you do anything other than what you need to do in order to survive?
Look, do I have to justify my hobby? Is it wrong to try to improve in an area that may not have a primary impact in my life?
I don’t know what to think sometimes. I get the impression many people see fanfiction writers lumped together as “wannabes” and “overly egotistical people without real talent”; this pains me because I know/have been introduced to a lot of fantastic writers/people through fanfiction. Most of you guys may not be professional novelists but you create stories I can enjoy, whether they are short or long, silly or serious. What is wrong with wanting to be a part of that awesomeness?
Related Posts:
- Some RL Things – from July 19, 2015
- The Season Should Be Over But It’s Not Really – from January 7, 2015
- Happy New Year’s, Everyone! – from December 31, 2014
- McSpirk Gift Exchange – from December 15, 2014
- This Person Needs Help – from July 25, 2014
NOTHING. Let’s be awesome together. And mad props for giving people the not-easy answer.
We are all awesome. I don’t care how amateur we seem. My most hated question of all time: when you are finishing your education/have recently finished your education: What do you want to do? I never have known that answer so I always said “I don’t know.” One would think it’s taboo to actually admit that.
So many people seem to think that what one does for money has to be the primary focus of one’s life. I even saw a quote from Steve Jobs to that effect: something about “don’t settle for a job you don’t love with all your heart because you will be miserable.” Whereas, really. I can’t make money knitting (I wouldn’t want to) or reciting poetry or writing fanfic – I’ve sold an orig!fic story, but it was the worst dreck I ever wrote – and while I do love geology, it’s not Moar Important just ’cause I can make money at it once I get my degree. o_O
I agree. Setting aside personal time to do something I enjoy but won’t profit from is not a mistake or a travesty. It’s a right. I am of the opinion that if I made money at my favorite thing in the world, it wouldn’t be my most favorite thing for long. When outside forces place demands on your creativity, you lose some enjoyment of what you do. I would rather work a job that is good but not thrilling and keep my more passionate work to myself. :)
There was a guy on the internet I used to talk to who said he got a history degree because he wanted to learn about history. It boggled my mind. I couldn’t understand why anyone would go through all of that trouble and money for something they didn’t plan on using. I mean I know there are people who don’t use the degrees they have but it’s not because they didn’t want to that’s just how life turned out. So I can kind of see where these people are coming from. We also live in a society where everything we do is meant for a particular outcome, connected to some end goal. Schools are slowly moving away from creative activities like art because they don’t think those classes are useful. There are also studies that show Americans are afraid of many of their emotions and don’t know how to express them. Currently we live in a society that is very practical that lacks creative expression. So I can understand why you get those questions so often and it makes me sad.
Ha! I got a math degree because I wanted to know more about math. I got a master’s for the same reason, and partly because I always wanted that level of education and also since a BS in Math is, well, somewhat unimpressive unless coupled with statistics or education. But in the end, my degree has helped convince people I am “smart enough” to hire. There are also studies that show Americans are afraid of many of their emotions and don’t know how to express them. I can buy into this. Sometimes it’s like we are expected to lead cookie-cutter lives, and if we don’t, to at least pretend we do to our significant peers. It drives me crazy to give the impression I am “one of the crowd” with the same agendas and same goals, when really I would rather tell everybody I am “doing fun things in my life and damned proud of it.”
Nothing is wrong with that. Also I would never say fanfic writers are wannabes. Most who write are wonderful at it. In fact fanfic has some of the best stories. ^^; I hope those people don’t bother you much.
Fanfic does have some of the best stories, mainly because fanfiction is not censored by a company trying to make money. What you want, you write. Chances are other people have the same wants and you are fulfilling yours as well as theirs. That’s what I love about it. No rules. To me, fanfic writers are those who dare to put their dreams on paper, so to speak. And that is awesome!