Unrealistic Writing Success Fantasies

audibob1

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(I searched and couldn't find this topic anywhere, but if it does exist somewhere on here, my apologies!)

So my question for all you is... what's your unrealistic writing success fantasy? (Because we all have one. Admit it. Just admit it.) We know they're not going to happen... but they're certainly fun to think about.

Mine looks something like getting famous enough to have someone ask for my autograph. (And even farther out there, casting Matt Damon, Millie Bobby Brown, Scarlett Johansson, Emma Watson, etc. etc. in the movie version of my story that claims worldwide applause.) :cool:
 

J.Catherine

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Ha! I love this game.

Have my own panel in comicon. Direct my own series of movies with the final credits song being Holding Nothing Back by Jesus culture, the mid-movie containing the Vitiman String Quartet cover of I know what you did in the dark by Fallout boy, and George Blagden/Kit Harrington being cast as the supporting role, Sean Bean/Billy Connolly being cast as the kind of aslan type figure, Natalie Portman, Jamie Murray, Chris Pine, Dylan O'Brien, Tom Hiddleston, Robert Carlyle, Tony Curran, and Lucy Lawless as other characters in the 12-movie saga.

Oh, and donate £2 mil to the Yes2 Campaign.
 

Tazlima

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I don't care about fame. I've performed enough to be familiar with the experience of strangers walking up to compliment me on my work, and I get embarrassed at being fussed over. Fame just seems like more of that. I'd prefer to go the pen name route and keep my privacy to some degree.

However, fortune? Yes please. I don't need to be a millionaire. I just want a quiet patch of land out in the countryside somewhere. Wake up late each morning, sip some coffee on the front porch, spend the day writing to the backdrop of hens clucking outside the window (as opposed the dulcet sounds of "neighbors screaming at each other again"), and polish off the day with fishing or horseback riding. I want to live someplace you can see the stars, with a work schedule that lets me set my own hours so I can indulge my night-owl nature and stay up late to enjoy the view.

Edit - Hmm. I suppose this isn't really writing-specific. It's related, but it's not about my dreams for the writing itself, and theoretically I could achieve such a lifestyle with other forms of income.

So, as far as the writing itself goes: I'd like, someday, for my book to be somebody's absolute favorite book.
 
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CLEasterwood

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I don't necessarily want the fame part, but mine is movie rights. Dream big, right? On more personal notes: I'd buy a few acres of land in my hometown & a two month trip to Egypt.
 

underpope

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Oh, let's see. For my epic space opera/fantasy, I'd love to sell the movie rights, though I'd want to maintain creative control over production; there would simply be too many opportunities for Hollywood to white-wash the story and drop important storylines.

Then, the panels at major science fiction conventions.

A modicum of fame.

And the money, of course. Not a whole lot is necessary, just enough to pay off the house so that my wife and I can both quit our full-time jobs.
 

J.Catherine

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Could we have the comicon/money/movie rights aspect without fame? Maybe we can all shape shift into a different human being after we've left our comicon panels....



...or is that too unrealistic for this thread?
 

AR_Kingston

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Oh boy! Haha, don't most of us have the "movie version of our story" dreams? :p Or the rolling in cash in my three mansions fantasies?

Honestly, I'd be happy with half the success of Dan Brown, or have my book be half as popular as Twilight. But you know, I think I got a better chance at winning the lotto...so perhaps I need to go buy a ticket.
 

Snitchcat

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Fame and money, but more than that: global recognition. And to be a living legend, then an eternal legacy after death. At which point, the grave marker will be a tree and a permanent embossed plaque that says, "This world will never see one such as this again" or similar but infinitely more graceful.

(Think: the late Sir Terry Pratchett, but without being known for the anger.)
 

J.Catherine

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Fame and money, but more than that: global recognition. And to be a living legend, then an eternal legacy after death. At which point, the grave marker will be a tree and a permanent embossed plaque that says, "This world will never see one such as this again" or similar but infinitely more graceful.

(Think: the late Sir Terry Pratchett, but without being known for the anger.)

When I get the money I want a park to be created in my memory for the general public to visit, a gravestone that is a giant statue of myself to be created and kept private until my husband (if he's still alive) and the rest of my family decide otherwise, but my actual remains to be compressed into a diamond (they can do that now apparently) and made into a ring that will be given to my husband or child.

Living legend stuff is cool.
 

Marissa D

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Don't care about movie rights or fame...but yes, I would so love to make enough money from writing that I could do something like what Maggie said and create scholarships for women writers to attend writing conferences and workshops (and in general be able to support the causes I care about with more than token donations.)
 

KellyAssauer

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Once upon a time I had an unrealistic writing success fantasy.

Then one day, after much hair-pulling, editing, and finding a voice...
I very tentatively posted another piece in AW's Share Your Work (SYW) area

and...

everyone loved it.

I guess I need new goals.
 

Night_Writer

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First the book is a success in hardcover.

Then it's a success in paperback.

Then the movie comes out, and that's a success.

And then a whole ton of people go out on Halloween dressed as characters from the book.

That's all I ask.
 

audibob1

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Oh my word you guys I didn't even THINK about Comic con!!! I totally want to do that now.
 

MaeZe

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My fantasy is that my book goes viral, spreads by word of mouth, maybe I even hear the librarian telling someone it's a good book when that person is checking my book out.

Anything beyond that is cake icing.
 

Brightdreamer

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Going through a dry patch where I can't seem to finish a story to save my life - at this point, getting something ready to submit seems like an unrealistic writing success fantasy...

Otherwise, I have a few fantasies I toy with...
- Seeing one of my books go through the sort at the library shipping facility where I work.
- Seeing a good animated movie made of one of my stories (always preferred animation - reality is so limiting...).
- Earning enough money to enable me to do Things: help family, have a quiet house, buy a hybrid or electric car, afford good insurance and maybe a gym membership for health, take a few trips, afford a degree without the burden of making it pay itself back the moment I graduate or sink under impossible debt, give to a few charities, own a pet... (People can say what they want about "money can't buy happiness" and all that: in this society, unfortunately, money is a necessary means to most ends.)

I could do without much in the way of face-time fame, though... hate the sound of my own voice, let alone what I see in the mirror.
 
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Harlequin

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I want to write a book which meets my personal standards, and inspires a few keen fans to make fanart.

Not bothered about fame or money and I absolutely wouldn't want a film made. It'd be the shittest film ever. Agreed that animation is usually better--especially for surrealist anything.
 

Keithy

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Being on the same panel as (famous authors). But who knows, that might happen.

Less realistic is the "movie/TV rights" thing. But it would be nice to be known as an author, even though the idea of fame scares me.
 

Shoeless

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My unrealistic success fantasy is pretty typical; NYT best seller, a chance to go on a book tour at least once to see what it's like, the ability to write fiction full-time, all that good stuff. The only change to my unrealistic success story I've had in recent years is giving up on a movie. It really doesn't seem like that's such a good idea anymore in a world where networks like HBO or streaming sites like Netflix can actually give you multiple episodes and entire seasons to tell your story properly, rather than try to compress it into two hours or less. I'd rather have Game of Thrones than The Dark Tower.
 

EmilyEmily

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My fantasy is that the book is good enough to land an agent, then sell, and is published. It gets a few decent reviews, but goes out of print in a year or two. However, the publication allows me to quit my full-time teaching job and, with this new frill on my resume, land some kind of cushy, high-paying administrative/advising job at an elite school or university somewhere lovely. I will teach a single English or writing class, but never again will I deal with 65 essays to take home and read/mark each week. I will be so relaxed and happy.
 

nightunderstars

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Mine is simple, but has been the dream for a long time: when someone I don't know has my words tattooed on their body, I've made it.
 

jj528

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Aside from the typical shoot to NYT bestseller list immediately, gain fortune, etc., for me it's becoming a household name even in houses were not everyone is an avid reader (a la JK Rowling or Stephen King). Or, not only having a movie/Netflix show/cable show, but being able to cast it (which doesn't happen, ever, unfortunately for most authors).
 

Loke1997

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I wouldn't mind being approached by a Japanese animation studio asking for the permission to make one of my novels into an anime. Or even having the book translated into one of the languages I speak; that'd be amazing.
 

Byeka

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With the lack of success I've had getting published I feel like my "unrealistic" writing fantasy is to have my novel traditionally published. Hopefully this forum can help change that!

Honest answer though, I dream about having a movie made after it. I feel it would translate quite well. :D