One of the core conflicts for creative
artists of all kinds is the tug-of-war
between art and commerce. Frankly, an
artist needs to make money, and it is
preferable to make it from his craft.
A writer who must work a full-time job
to support himself will struggle to find
the time to work, and often eventually
gives it up altogether. On the other hand,
being able to write on any project at
all can polish valuable skills, and teach
one the rules of the publishing industry.
On the other hand, I've met writers who
were clearly working on projects, or toiling
away at a career, that was burning out
their souls. I remember meeting one such
writer. His business card read "freelance
hack and literary mechanic." Sadly, but
not entirely unexpectedly, he was dead
of alcoholism within a year.
How to avoid such burnout? Well, in my
own career, in addition writing the books
I cared about the most, I've written Batman
comic books, a Star Trek novel, and a
Star Wars tie-in. In my television career,
in addition to writing for "Outer Limits"
and "The Twilight Zone," I also wrote
four episodes of "Baywatch"(!)
And never for a moment did I feel that
I was selling myself out. Let's get something
straight: Shakespeare wrote for money.
One can keep a careful eye on the bank
account, and still reach the heights of
craft. But again, how?
In my own case, the answer is fairly
simple. Envision the thought process like
this: I draw two circles. In the first,
is everything I would like to write (and
there are always dozens of projects in
the mental hopper!). In the second is
everything someone else is willing to
pay me for. Where the two circles overlap,
I write. In other words, are there projects
I'd love to write, but can't get paid
for? You bet, and I generally don't write
them unless they are quite short. And
there are projects that producers or publishers
might want me to do, but don't touch my
heart at all. Having learned through experience
that there are limits to my creative flexibility,
I turn those down.
But from time to time, an opportunity
arises that is in the no-man's-land between
the circles. There is money, but the project
isn't exactly something you have ever
considered writing. What then?
Then, you ask yourself if the project
is something that you could be proud of.
If you would read it, or respect someone
who did. For instance, when my agent called
and said that the producers of "Baywatch"
wanted to talk to me, I had the office
send over six hours of video on the show.
I sat on the living room couch and watched
them with my daughter, who was about six
at the time. After a few episodes, I asked
her what she thought. She liked it. I
asked why. She said: "Because it's about
nice people working hard to make the beach
safe for us." I thought about it, and
then replied, "you know? There are worse
things than that in this world, by a long
shot." And decided to try writing for
it.
Every show, every project has its limitations.
You must use certain characters, must
get them into certain kinds of situations,
and must avoid certain topics. That can
be restrictive, but you can also decide
to take it as a challenge. After all,
you could give Fred Astaire a stage of
any kind, and props of any kind, and he
would find a way to create dance. Should
you be committed to a lesser level of
skill and vision? No.
You must find ways to amuse yourself
while writing, to stretch your skills
by trying something you've never done
before, by empathizing with a younger
audience if necessary-never ever writing
"down" to your audience. That is the death
of art. But if you can be truly flexible,
you'll find that more doors are open to
you, more opportunities arise, that brass
ring comes around more often. A writer
ready to leap at any opportunity to show
his skill, and who finds it easy to fall
in love with about a project will often
out-perform a brittle "genius" who must
have everything exactly his way in order
to write.
And if that approach is good enough for
the Bard, it's good enough for me.
| About The Author
NY Times bestselling writer Steven
Barnes has lectured on creativity
from UCLA to the Smithsonian Institute,
and published over three million
words along the way. For a FREE
daily writing tip go to: http://www.lifewriting.biz,
or http://www.lifewrite.com.
|
This article was posted on December
08, 2005
