Must we love to write?

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jsoc1

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I'm going to get a little weird here, if I may.

I've been trying to put some research into my new hobby, instead of just winging it, hoping some natural talent miraculously floods from my fingertips. So, today I was reading over several interviews conducted with prominent authors, and one of them said something that brought me pause. I won't name who it was, only mention they are an extremely successful novelist, but they said, "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Maybe I should just hang this up now.

Does anyone see what they're trying to say here?

I somewhat get what they're getting at, although I think it's a stretch. It did, however, dig up a worry I've had considering my MC's. I'm a very flawed person. I wouldn't expect any character to come from my subconscious absent of undesirable personality traits, and be believable, anyway. Has anyone else ever worried about this?

Maybe I'm thinking too much about this. However, I thought it was a pretty bold statement. I just kinda wanted to hear other's thoughts on the comment.
 

Jan74

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That sounds so pompous, and what does unconditional trust in the human race's decency even mean? Now I'm curious who said that. How would anyone know how the author feels anyways? I have no idea what Alice Hoffman believes regarding the human race....I read her books because I enjoy them. I highly doubt that all successful authors share this point of view. Don't stop writing because of one persons opinion, everyone has an opinion. Every writer writes for their own reason, some could care less if they sell books, they write because they have a story in their head and they need to get it out, some writers never publish, they write for themselves only. I've written many stories that I would never dream of sharing or publishing, they were for my eyes only.

How an author views the world may affect how they write, but what success is is different for every author. I think you are thinking too much about it, don't let anyone stop you from writing if its what you want to do.
 

Brightdreamer

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+1 to Jan74.

That's one author's opinion, and maybe the reason they write. Doesn't mean it's the reason you write - and nobody, no matter how many bestsellers they have under their belt or how many awards they've won or how often they've been on national TV, gets to tell you why, how, what, or even if you should write.

Write if you want to write. Don't write if you don't want to write. It's that simple.

JMHO...
 

BethS

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I won't name who it was, only mention they are an extremely successful novelist, but they said, "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Well, whatever floats their boat, but that just seems like pretentious nonsense to me. I'm not sure what one has to do with the other.

Maybe I should just hang this up now.

Please don't. It's one person's (strange) opinion and yes, you are overthinking it. :) Just write and allow yourself to learn and grow in your own way.
 

Qwest

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jsoc1, please PM me the name of that writer!

Honestly, I think that's one of the most ridiculous things I've heard about writing. Frankly, I write to figure out why humans do what they do. But lets not go down that slippery slope...

Besides, the most important line there is about becoming a "successful author". For some authors success is huge sales and adoring fans. For other writers, it's having time to do ones art: to figure out ones self and the world through writing, or to engage with their creativity and relish the experience of being alive. Not all of us will make it big, but the one thing we can control is how we chose to engage with writing as an art. It is an art. That's where we can find success.

Sounds a bit preachy - but I'm trying to learn to control the things I can...

Keep writing, to me it sounds like you're doing it for the right reason.
 
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cornflake

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I'm going to get a little weird here, if I may.

I've been trying to put some research into my new hobby, instead of just winging it, hoping some natural talent miraculously floods from my fingertips. So, today I was reading over several interviews conducted with prominent authors, and one of them said something that brought me pause. I won't name who it was, only mention they are an extremely successful novelist, but they said, "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Maybe I should just hang this up now.

Does anyone see what they're trying to say here?

I somewhat get what they're getting at, although I think it's a stretch. It did, however, dig up a worry I've had considering my MC's. I'm a very flawed person. I wouldn't expect any character to come from my subconscious absent of undesirable personality traits, and be believable, anyway. Has anyone else ever worried about this?

Maybe I'm thinking too much about this. However, I thought it was a pretty bold statement. I just kinda wanted to hear other's thoughts on the comment.

Yeah, you can totally feel the love and trust flowing from, say, Thomas Harris.
 

Ari Meermans

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I agree with everyone above. It's difficult to address such a statement without full context. Still, the quoted portion does read as a bald opinion based on a personal philosophy and that's fine if it works for that author. For THAT author. You are you and you have your own worldview and philosophies; those are what you have to offer just as every other writer does.

Many times as you trawl through the internet looking for advice for writers you'll encounter these kinds of "must be" and "must have" statements or rules. Be cautious about taking those on; such rules don't hold for everyone. The single piece of advice I've found the most helpful—gleaned and summed from many sources—is this: To be the best writer you can be you must work diligently at improving your craft. (Learn and apply what you've learned. Rinse and repeat.)
 

Putputt

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Yeah, you can totally feel the love and trust flowing from, say, Thomas Harris.

Lol, I was just gonna say, "Yeah, when I read Stephen King's books, they always make me think, 'Wow, this guy has so much love and trust in the human race's decency...' :D "
 

lilyWhite

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I imagine most "successful authors" have experienced the "decency" of people who can't stand that something they dislike is successful, or who can't stand an author who made one thing they like making another thing that isn't exactly what they want, etc.

Not to mention, I'm guessing George R.R. Martin doesn't have much trust in human decency and that's working out pretty well for him.
 

I.M.Lost

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It completely depends on what kind of book you're trying to write. I highly doubt the majority of people who write slashers or horrors have "an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency." (I felt pretentious even just typing that ...). Keep writing your flawed characters!
 

KTC

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I'm going to get a little weird here, if I may.

I've been trying to put some research into my new hobby, instead of just winging it, hoping some natural talent miraculously floods from my fingertips. So, today I was reading over several interviews conducted with prominent authors, and one of them said something that brought me pause. I won't name who it was, only mention they are an extremely successful novelist, but they said, "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Maybe I should just hang this up now.

Does anyone see what they're trying to say here?

I somewhat get what they're getting at, although I think it's a stretch. It did, however, dig up a worry I've had considering my MC's. I'm a very flawed person. I wouldn't expect any character to come from my subconscious absent of undesirable personality traits, and be believable, anyway. Has anyone else ever worried about this?

Maybe I'm thinking too much about this. However, I thought it was a pretty bold statement. I just kinda wanted to hear other's thoughts on the comment.

"only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author."

Sometimes I get all manic about my love of the world. Like crazy love...and I start thanking my younger self for being so horrible at carrying out suicide. Because had I not botched it, I wouldn't be here to love the world and all of mankind and have this unanswered unequivocal trust in the beauty and the decency of all mankind and stuff. And I think to myself in these golden idyllic gloaming times THIS IS WHY I WRITE, BY GOD! THIS!

I get what the writer was saying. He/She was probably just talking about the spirit that moves them, the passion they feel for the beauty of the universe at times and how overwhelming it is and how it pushes them forward to create something passing for an homage for what it is they see in that beauty. I dig it. This is why I walk across countries to feel a part of the everything that country has to offer in the way of story. It's a passion for the world I live in that spurs me to write better and better and better. I read that quote and I hope it wasn't a writer attempting to be pompous and butt-stupid by being loftier than everyone else just to be so. I hope it was someone like me who gets high enjoying the beauty and reaches to write about it because he believes in it and believes in everything and everybody. It was the quote of someone enjoying life and the task he/she had in reaching to elevate their vision into a world of words.

Either that, or, yeah. Maybe they're an asshole. That's what we like to think about people anyway, right?
 

buz

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I'm going to get a little weird here, if I may.

I've been trying to put some research into my new hobby, instead of just winging it, hoping some natural talent miraculously floods from my fingertips. So, today I was reading over several interviews conducted with prominent authors, and one of them said something that brought me pause. I won't name who it was, only mention they are an extremely successful novelist, but they said, "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Maybe I should just hang this up now.

Well...maybe that was what got them through. Honestly, I think anything anyone says about this -- it's just what did or didn't work for them, personally. It's true for them. But it may or may not be true for you.

Myself, I don't see that those things are necessary for writing, or even that having one is necessary for having the other. Developing compassion for human beings in general is, I think, a worthwhile thing...but I don't see how it would be a requirement to be a successful writer, unless you defined success in a very specific way...

Which they could do, I imagine. :)

Does anyone see what they're trying to say here?

I somewhat get what they're getting at, although I think it's a stretch. It did, however, dig up a worry I've had considering my MC's. I'm a very flawed person. I wouldn't expect any character to come from my subconscious absent of undesirable personality traits, and be believable, anyway. Has anyone else ever worried about this?

I don't think that having love or trust for humanity, or individual people, relies on them being flawless; in fact I think that would run counter to the point of compassion. Most everyone has undesirable traits or flaws; most everyone makes mistakes. The point of compassion is to love in spite of this. If it meant "to love but only when someone has no flaws" then it would be easy, and probably inapplicable to most people on the planet :p

I would guess that the love for humanity bit is more about being...fascinated, I guess, with people and their behavior, and trying to apply a broad understanding in order to get behind why they do what they do--exploring motive that drives and contorts a story. You could easily write a book of characters that you don't attempt to understand--just move them around like little cardboard pieces on a board--but better writing comes of knowing why they're there, yeah? Or something.

But that's a total guess. I'm not sure. You'd have to ask them. :)

That "unwavering trust in humanity's decency" thing isn't something I understand, so I'm putting that aside :)

Anyway my point is -- even if this statement were true for everybody, which I don't think it is, it would not exclude having a flawed character. In fact, I think it would encourage it.
 
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KTC

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Anyway my point is -- even if this statement were true for everybody, which I don't think it is, it would not exclude having a flawed character. In fact, I think it would encourage it.

THIS THIS THIS. It is the flaws that I celebrate the most in writing. I love the flawed brokenness of mankind the most.
 

talktidy

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...and one of them said something that brought me pause. I won't name who it was, only mention they are an extremely successful novelist, but they said, "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor.

Yeah, in terms of quality my stuff has more in common with Vogon poetry.

I write as a hobby and I have no knowledge or experience of the publishing world, but my advice is to write for yourself first and foremost and not get hung up on philosophical navel gazing. Literature is a big tent. There is plenty of room for the literary types and those who write more commercial styles of fiction.
 
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autumnleaf

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Personally, I'm with Jonathan Swift: "But principally I hate and detest that animal called man, although I heartily love John, Peter, Thomas, and so forth. "
 

Willer

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I googled it. I couldn’t find the author. Would you mind telling us his name ?

If it's true then there still is nobility in the world and it must be the higher level of conscience or awareness that those writers acquired. Generally all people are good -they are born that way .There's nothing wrong to have love for humankind - you have it for your pet why not humankind. Neither is it wrong to believe in human race's decency. For example your mum is decent a lady. So you probably misunderstood the quote. You may have all these moral virtues and still write about horrors the evildoers commit. But the quality of your writing will flow from your moral values that make difference - people are bound to notice and applicate it - and it's the wayof a successful writer
 

Maggie Maxwell

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IMHO, absolutes are the most dangerous words anyone can use when it comes to the arts. "You can ONLY be successful if you fit X, Y, and Z box." "It's IMPOSSIBLE to do [thing] unless you do this first." "You HAVE TO-"

No. Sorry, you don't "have to" anything. You don't have to love humanity or even another person to be a successful writer, just like you don't have to write at a desk made of 100-year-old mahogany or have a masters degree in creative writing or even a high school degree. The only thing absolutes ever do is push people away from something they may love and be good at because they don't fit some arbitrary qualifications one successful person got in their head as a "MUST DO" and go around preaching as the word of the writing god. How many potential greats have we lost because someone said, "Unless you fit inside this box I've made, you can't/shouldn't"?

Prove them wrong.
 

morngnstar

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I don't think Jonathan Swift or H.L. Mencken had unconditional trust in the human race's decency, and they did okay. There's a market out there for writing about quite the opposite.
 

blacbird

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"only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

Right. That explains the reason why Mark Twain, Albert Camus, Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, Thomas Hardy, Nathanael West, Flannery O'Connor and Georges Simenon were such failures.

caw
 

DeleyanLee

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A Nietzsche quote is my mantra with such statements: "You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, the only way, it does not exist."

Whoever's speaking is speaking their truth, which works for them. Writing is an Art, which means there's a few techniques which are semi-universal, the actual act of creating art is completely unique to the individual writer. That's why writing cannot be taught. Techniques can be, but the only "truth" I know to actually creating stories is that the writer must be so emotionally moved by Story, it's imperative for them to get into words. Whether or not they share those words doesn't matter, the creation of Art is enough.
 

Fuchsia Groan

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Only with a willingness to break whatever "rules" for being a successful author you are given can you ever hope to become a successful author. :)

I interpreted the quote the way Buz did: the author is saying a successful author needs to care about people enough to have empathy for them, flaws and all. And I do think that's important for most writers. But anyone trying to write horror is probably better off not putting their faith in humans' essential decency. You can be an intense pessimist about humanity and still experience empathy and love for everything people can be when they choose to be their best selves.
 

Siri Kirpal

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

"unwavering trust in decency" I'm not so sure about. But loving humanity enough to give all flawed people the time of day -- and our writing time -- THAT I can buy.

Personally, I'm not so sure I would bother with writing if I didn't feel that other people were worth connecting with. (If that makes sense.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal
 

Samsonet

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Sat Nam! (Literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

"unwavering trust in decency" I'm not so sure about. But loving humanity enough to give all flawed people the time of day -- and our writing time -- THAT I can buy.

Personally, I'm not so sure I would bother with writing if I didn't feel that other people were worth connecting with. (If that makes sense.)

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

This is what I was thinking. Being willing to share one's creative works with others can take a lot, especially for someone new and shy. Trusting that one's work is worth sharing and that people are worth sharing with -- that feels like an important mindset to have.
 

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... "only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author." :Wha:

IMO, that's about as far off the mark as one can get. As someone else mentioned, it comes off as pompous, and I'll add that it's a load of crap.

To the OP: do your own thing for your own reasons. Trust your own instincts.
 

Snitchcat

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"only with an unwavering love for mankind and an unconditional trust in the human race's decency--wholistically-- can one hope to become a succesful author."

I learned long ago to take such quotes at surface value. If they make sense to me, I'd look at it further; if I didn't understand it, and didn't feel particularly inclined to research it, I'd let it go.

For some things, that attitude doesn't fly. But when it comes to my writing, I write as I need to, using the method(s) that work for me.

Personally, that quote is... not understandable without context. It makes little sense to me, and I don't have the time or interest in analysing it to the point where it would.

IMO, write as you need to, and define success using your own definition of success. As everyone else has said: success means different things to different people.
 
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