If you live to write, you will be able to make a living from writing. But if your goal is to make a living from writing and you don`t live to write, you won’t make a living from writing. Natasha Ilic
If this short message sounds vague to you and doesn’t answer the question of what it means to live for writing – maybe it’s not too bad to ask yourself if living from writing is the right choice for you… Because no „real“ writer has ever asked himself what it means to live for writing – he writes, and it is his natural instinct. He also doesn’t ask why he should write – he follows his inner impulse; he doesn’t care how much money the next book will bring him – he’s not a trader, he doesn’t weigh his inspiration in his desire to evaluate it and monetize it faster and better on the market. For those weighing in – the real question is why they want to become writers. What is the motive behind their desire? For the writer, there is no motive; there are no questions; there is no ‚‚goal‚‚ – writing is a goal in itself; there are no dilemmas, hidden strategies and shortcuts. Inspiration drives him to translate it into words; an avalanche bubbling up from within and crying out to be spawned; art that longs to ennoble… That’s why the question How to live from writing is the wrong question: as soon as we ask how – art gives way to commercial strategy; and inspiration is not traded – it occurs – or not; represents God’s gift, fluttering in its fickle fragile nature; not to be molded into the insidious structures of this world… No; one negates the other. So simple. And that’s why, in the world of a writer, there’s no why or how… He doesn’t want to be famous, the concept of success and fame is foreign to him… Ah… He doesn’t care about fame. And that’s why the writer never asks himself how to become a writer – he simply is. And for one who is, there are no questions.
