The Grasshopper #22, Being Normal
Are writers and artists different?
This is a tough one. I’ve been surrounded by artists all my adult life. I sought them out but I never considered myself one until it could not be denied. I was obsessed with playing music for a long time and learned an instrument, something I could not do until my music passion got so intense that I simply had to do it.
And, though I never thought of myself as a musician, I played on records, did lots of gigs doing our band’s original music, played in front of thousands, and even owned a recording studio. So, I guess I was a musician.
The interesting thing about that self-doubt is that I do not have it as a writer. If a stranger asks what kind of work I do, I say I am a writer. It’s a simple statement but it reflects that writing is my true passion, even mundane writing if the topic interests me and gets read.
Being in a band was a way of developing a denser social life in my twenties. I needed to break away from high school and my pretty terrible experience in college. The music scene (original punk and new wave) gave me a whole new set of friends and experiences that are unforgettable.
You might say I learned to be comfortable in my own skin. Confidence. I’d been painfully shy when out of my comfort zone as an adolescent, but the music and social experience that came with it helped me grow out of that shyness. And when I did, I started writing.
The really odd thing about it is that I have very little interest in music these days, something I can’t really explain except to say that I grew out of it because the music itself was not my passion. It was the process of learning how to be an adult human.
This may not be a normal path, except that I think it really is.
Turning points
Writers and artists tend to see turning points as those times where our work changed and evolved. I gave myself the topic of normalcy this week, but I really do not know the answer to whether creatives are ‘normal’. To me my life seems really normal but I know it is quite different from the lives of people I talk to everyday.
I think there may be two kinds of normal. There are people who resist change and people who require it. I can’t judge those who prefer the status quo because I can see the appeal of stability, but as a writer I cannot get too settled. As I’ve said here before, I was not really a writer until I had readers. And some interaction with those readers, interactions that were measurable.
A musician without an audience has only explored one aspect of being an artist. The same applies to writers. We need an audience. I had not thought about it this way, but writing is a form of performance. Unlike musical performance, which is very ‘in the moment’ for the players and the listeners, writing performance is between the writing and the reader, a very intimate experience on the reading end.
Knowing you have readers helps you, as a writer, understand the stakes behind putting words out there. You’re displaying some of your inner being to the world. So how do you get readers?
This is a question I see a lot of writers wrestling with. In fact, among many writers, getting published takes on an air of desperation. Because I started out doing more commercial writing, how-to books and ad copy, I resolved from the beginning to never write for free, but many writers will swallow their pride and take work that doesn’t pay.
They say this is a way to build a portfolio, except that those pieces have only limited value in raising your profile.
By the way, it’s normal to expect to get paid, but a lot of artists are shocked that their work has value to others. This is a case where being normal is preferable.
The good news is that writers have new options for finding readers and getting paid but it takes time to build into a viable source of income. For example, it took me a few years to build a decent following on Medium but now that following is large enough that it is helping me build subscribers for the Grasshopper.
And, if you are trying to find a literary agent, you’ll find that having a following is practically a necessity to get in the door. So, another thing ‘normal’ writers do is view their writing as a profession or business that takes time to build into profitability.
My writing is my business and I treat it that way. Starving artists are artists who have not worked to turn their art into their profession. If you feel that some kind of vision of purity is preferable to getting paid, you’re probably not normal.
You have to do the work, plain and simple.
Btw, this is why I do not keep a journal. I write for an audience and, frankly, most journal writing is not that interesting to others. It may have therapeutic value but I honestly don’t have time for that.
My writing is intended to be published and read. And to earn me money. I guess I am boringly normal. I suspect most professional writers are too.
Sorry, if this snuck into rant territory. But here are a few takeaways:
Describe yourself as a writer, first and foremost. It can be a confidence builder to say it with confidence.
Don’t work for free if you can avoid it and as you gain experience, raise your rates.
It’s a cliche, but you need to write every day. Music and writing both require constant practice. Learn to love it.
Be normal when it comes to the business of writing and Abby Normal when generating ideas.
Find a way to build a following. The best path is to work to find a voice and subject matter that resonates with readers. This is where my band experience comes in. We were a little obsessed with publicity. That was before the Internet which makes it a hell of a lot easier!
It’s ok to be normal, but don’t be boring.
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Hmm.. Interesting. I'll need to let my thinking about your thoughts ferment for a while, especially the ones that have another perspective.
In any case, now I remember why I followed you on Medium.
Your writing is helpful to me, an aspiring writer. I've always written in a journal. You're nudging me to think I might spend that time writing to be published.