Maybe it\u2019s just the time of year, maybe it\u2019s the times we\u2019re in now, but over the last few days, a couple of people have told me that they are quitting writing.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s never been easier to get your writing out to people, but it\u2019s never been harder to get paid for it. So I understand and while it makes me ever more glad that the Writers\u2019 Guild of Great Britain is fighting the fights it can, I can\u2019t disagree with anyone who gives up.<\/p>\n
Look, since it\u2019s you, I will tell you straight: I regard myself as a pretty complete failure in writing because while I\u2019ve achieved a lot that I\u2019m proud of, not to mention startled by, but I have not managed certain things I set out to do. And not only am I aware that the clock is ticking, but also that in today\u2019s market, they are now a lot less likely.<\/p>\n
Yet I can\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a line in a \u201cStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip\u201d episode \u2014 I think by series creator Aaron Sorkin but I can\u2019t find it to check \u2014 where a writer character says he has to work in Los Angeles, because \u201cin any other part of the country I\u2019m unemployable.”<\/p>\n
I can edit video and I\u2019ve been paid to do so, but if you\u2019re a video editor then I guarantee that you\u2019re better than I am. Same with audio. I suppose I\u2019ve produced events. I seem to go down well on radio lately.<\/p>\n
But I\u2019m always a writer, even in video editing I am using the same mental muscles as writing. I\u2019m hired as a writer and even if I\u2019m booked as a producer, really I am a writer because really, I\u2019m a writer. Can\u2019t do anything else.<\/p>\n
I appreciate that I\u2019m fortunate \u2014 not lucky, never lucky, but definitely fortunate \u2013 to be able to keep earning enough from writing. You and I are not going to get into a discussion about whether my writing is any good, so stop that right now.<\/p>\n
And I\u2019m discussing anything with either of the people who\u2019ve told me they\u2019re quitting because it\u2019s their decision. I know for me that what I need to do is write a day at a time and see what happens.<\/p>\n
This is a more sombre start to the year than I was expecting. But I\u2019m still glad to have shaken off 2025 and there\u2019s always the midterms to look forward to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Maybe it\u2019s just the time of year, maybe it\u2019s the times we\u2019re in now, but over the last few days, … Continue reading