“Don’t be seduced into thinking that that which does not make a profit is without value.”
American playwright and screenwriter, Arthur Miller, was born on this day in 1915 (died 2005).
Well, sure. But could it at least pay the mortgage on the beach house?
There are writers who make their living from the keyboard. And, some of them turn out to be quite wealthy.
I am not one of them.
Yet.
And, that’s okay.
I may never be one of them.
And, that’s still okay.
Mostly.
I mean, you know my goal is to figure out a way to do this full time, But even when that happens I know that part of my income will come from my pension and, before you know it, Social Security.
But none of that means that my work isn’t of value.
True, it’s probably more valuable to me than anyone else but you don’t have to be unkind about it.
I’m coming off of a weekend where I got to do a good bit of writing. And I made it through two edits of my script.
It was one of those weekends when I just managed to get a lot done. Mainly because I didn’t have a lot on the agenda. So much so that by Sunday afternoon I was at a bit of a loss as to what I should work on.
Don’t get me wrong, the list is always a mile long, but there were no pressing deadlines, no places that I was required to be.
I found things to do.
But for one brief shining moment, the prospect of not having any deadlines, or rehearsals, or performances that I absolutely had to see was quite refreshing.
Speaking of not having things to do, I have opted to not try Nanowrimo this year. For multiple reasons. Mainly that I don’t have time to spend the full month of November working on a new project. Not until the script is finalized at least.
However, I have decided to add something else to my list. Beginning sometime this week, one of my writing goals will be to crank out a short story every week. I might even post them here. Then again, I might not. It’s an attempt to focus more on that creative aspect of writing that has stagnated just a bit with the focus on the script. So, we’ll see how it goes. And you know that, one way or the other, I’ll write about it.
On a side note, I also cancelled my attendance today at a conference that I determined is not relevant to anything that I actually plan to be doing for the next forty or fifty years.
Not to give you too many details, if you know, you know. But my eyes were already rolling just reading the topic descriptions.
Call me jaded, but just remember how long I’ve been doing this.
Sadly, it wasn’t a retirement seminar.
I digress.
Or maybe not.
I have reached that age where a couple of things happened.
For one, I’ve lost most of my filters. Don’t get me wrong, I think a lot more than I say…or even post…and I can still function in somewhat polite society.
But second, my time is valuable. Don’t waste it. Especially for bull crap.
See? I filtered that one.
But you knew what I meant.
My writing is of value. My time is of value.
And, I’m not willing to waste it. That’s probably a whole ‘nother post. Or book.
Maybe that’s the book that will make me rich.
AND, FINALLY
American singer-songwriter Alan Jackson, was born on this day in 1958.