Give up
lrs said:
The question is, when do you give up the idea of ever making money on writing. I mean actually making it a career? Of course I just might be depressed right now because of rejections, but sometimes I wonder if maybe I am deluding myself. Which, I'm sure everyone has felt. But seriously, how do you know if this is really what you are supposed to be doing?
I think the answer to this is easy. Give up whenever you want. I'm not sure I believe we're supposed to be doing any one thing, but I do know more people fail not because they lack intelligence and talent, but because they apply that intelligence and talent to the wrong things.
I know from personal experience that not everyone can succeed at everything, and desire alone isn't enough. There's always room at the top in the writing world, but it really is an inverted pyramid, and there's darned little room at the bottom.
Honest, brutal assessment of yourself and your abilities is important in every area of life. I do believe we each have a niche where we'll perform as well as anyone, but finding the right niche can be more than a little problematic. It's the old "square peg in a round hole" deal. Desire is important, but no matter how much we want something, square pegs do not fit well into round holes.
I've heard a few pro writers talk about when to quit. It varies with how prolific you are, of course, but I've heard several say that five years is probably the mark. You don't have to get rich and famous within five years, but if you've been submitting regularly for five years without selling something, odds are you are never going to make a career from writing.
This seems reasonable to me.
My own criteria, however, has nothing to do with time. Living life in a state of frustration and/or depression is not a good thing. When writing, or anything else, ceases to be the most fun you can have without a partner, I think it's time to look for something else to fill your hours.
There's nothing wrong with the dream of having writing, or painting, or music, or playing pro football, as a career, but life is short, incredibly short, and one day you wake up old and gray and realize it's nearly over. I'm not sure anything could be worse than looking back and realizing an untried dream has passed by the wayside, that your niche was there and you didn't squeeze into it.
I am not, in any way, telling you to quit. I'm simply saying there's no shame in giving up one dream to find another. I wouldn't be a writer if I hadn't done exactly this.
But it's also about how you want to spend your life. If writing is the most fun you can have, if getting up and wushing to the keyboard each day is still thrilling, whether you sell or not, then giving up would probably be silly. If, however, the writing life is filled with frustration and depression, then it might be time to look for another niche.
