Write for money or readers?

[xDemode]

I'm having a debate on a different forum (not a writing forum. I don't cheat on AW).

I'm trying to explain to everyone that authors shouldn't write with money in their eyes, but because they enjoy writing and they want for everyone to read their story. I personally feel that an author of a series has somewhat of a personal obligation to their readers.

Meanwhile, the majority of the forum replies that an author should write for money and shouldn't keep their readers in mind.

My question to all of you is this:

Should someone write for money or for readers? Does a series writer have any obligation at all to their readers?

[willietheshakes]

It's hardly an either/or...

But then, few things actually are.

[ottorino]

You write because you have a story. If it gets published and makes money, then you try to do it for your living. You don't change anything except maybe stoping whatever else you did for a living before you started making a living as a writer.

No one writes for money. But everyone who writes feels they should be paid for it.

If you write a novel, you write it with the hopes it will be published. Therefore, you hope you will be paid for it.

This question is ridiculous and you know it.

[xDemode]

This question is ridiculous and you know it.

I feel like I'm losing my mind on this other board and had to come to AW for solace. Thank you for assuring me that this entire "debate" is petty.

[Smiling Ted]

I feel like I'm losing my mind on this other board and had to come to AW for solace. Thank you for assuring me that this entire "debate" is petty.

It's a false dichotomy.
If the readers like your work, you make money.

The real dichotomy is between writing what you think readers will want, and writing what you think the story should be. If you're lucky, the two are the same.

[Shweta]

Moved to Basic Writing Questions because I'm guessing that more people will engage in it here.

I do wonder how one can write for money without keeping one's readers in mind. But I guess that's something people might not really think through in a non-writers' forum? :)

[IceCreamEmpress]

No one writes for money.

I do. I mean, I make my living by writing one kind of thing, and I would like instead to make my living by writing a different kind of thing entirely. But the "make my living" thing is uppermost in my mind here.

And the readers vs. money dichotomy is a false one. The money comes from the readers, after all. If readers aren't interested, then no money.

[lucky8]

I read recently that the average income for novelists is around the £10,000 mark. If you factor in the superstar megabucks novelists like King, Rowling, Brown, etc there are probably an awful lot of people not even hitting 10k. So I don't think that writing for money is really a practical thing to do. Sell homemade pillows on eBay rather than write novels if you want to make money.

Whether to write for yourself or readers is a more interesting debate. Personally I write the first draft for myself and do the edits for other readers.

[xDemode]

Moved to Basic Writing Questions because I'm guessing that more people will engage in it here.

I do wonder how one can write for money without keeping one's readers in mind. But I guess that's something people might not really think through in a non-writers' forum? :)

Ack. I had a feeling it belonged there.

Thank you.

[dizz]

Personally I do not write for money or recognition. I write because I love a good story and I feel that I have a few of my own that I want to share with the world. My ultimate goal is not to make a living off of writing but to leave behind stories and worlds that people will enjoy for years to come, so you could say I write for readers.

[Sean D. Schaffer]

I'm having a debate on a different forum (not a writing forum. I don't cheat on AW).

I'm trying to explain to everyone that authors shouldn't write with money in their eyes, but because they enjoy writing and they want for everyone to read their story. I personally feel that an author of a series has somewhat of a personal obligation to their readers.

Meanwhile, the majority of the forum replies that an author should write for money and shouldn't keep their readers in mind.

My question to all of you is this:

Should someone write for money or for readers? Does a series writer have any obligation at all to their readers?


I write for myself. I want to make money and make readers happy, but my main reason for writing, is a guy named Sean D. Schaffer. I simply love to write. :)

[Mumut]

I started out writing because something inside told me to. When I received good feedback on the stories and realised I could publish them, I had to consider the accounting equasion. I need to sell books so I don't lose money. But I really want people to enjoy the stories. So both are true for me.

[Inky]

Pfff. I write because it enables me to get these irritating characters out of my head. See, people who talke to themselves, they're not crazy. They just haven't figured out they're an author-in-the-raw. Give 'em paper & pen, and they'd probably have some amazing stuff.

If I couldn't write, even jot down a scene, anytime night or day that my heart desires, I'd jump off the edge of the world--it is TOO flat!!

Now, the money. Oh yeah, show me the money. Infact, I WANNA CHECK THE SIZE J.K.ROWLING GETS!!!!

AND I WANT PETER JACKSON TO DIRECT THE MOVIE!!!

Okay, in the real world, I can't wait to experience the euphoria of having an agent...I even have a bottle of Dom Perrignon (sp?) that I've saved these past 10 years--worth a small fortune--for the celebration of a publisher buying my work. Oh, it will happen. I'm like a dog with a bone...I'll get down to the marrow before I give up.
My financial dream is simple: husband gets a fishing boat.
Why?
Who do you think pays for princess to be a full time writer?

[Ken]

...a combination of the two.
Modern-day audiences are obsessed with sex and violence.
So I stick those things into my stories because I know that'lll sell.

[writin52]

I'm having a debate on a different forum (not a writing forum. I don't cheat on AW).

I'm trying to explain to everyone that authors shouldn't write with money in their eyes, but because they enjoy writing and they want for everyone to read their story. I personally feel that an author of a series has somewhat of a personal obligation to their readers.

Meanwhile, the majority of the forum replies that an author should write for money and shouldn't keep their readers in mind.

My question to all of you is this:

Should someone write for money or for readers? Does a series writer have any obligation at all to their readers?

I find I write for myself first. Second, you write for readers, when you get them the money follows. If a series writer tries to stay true to the premise of the series, he fulfills any obligation he has to his readers, I think.

[Glenda]

I write for both; the reader so the money will flow.

[Mayntz]

Honestly, I think it depends on the type of writing you do. Many of the responses here already seem to be regarding novels; I write nonfiction, and yes, I write primarily for money. I also love my work, researching new things and learning about a wide array of topics, but suffice it to say if there were no money at the end of the articles, I wouldn't write them.

As for writing for the readers, I think every writer does that, whether they're crafting a novel to sell, articles for a specific target audience, or just working on a series with beloved characters whom readers want to know better. It's all relative.

[Potluck]

Who cares about the readers? I can read my work just fine. Why should I spend all this time making sure it's clear, concise, imaginative, compelling and meaningful? They’re a bunch of ungrateful space monkeys. They don't like it, too damn bad. Where's my check? DOH!

[Shadow_Ferret]

No one writes for money.
I do. I don't write for free. Since the moment I started writing, I was submitting hoping to make money.

But you don't get paid unless the readers like it.

However, it's my story, I write the best story I can. It's my vision. I just hope that the readers love my vision and then send me boatloads of money.

[jannawrites]

<snipped>

And the readers vs. money dichotomy is a false one. The money comes from the readers, after all. If readers aren't interested, then no money.

Excellent point!

**

My first goal is always to write something my readers will enjoy, because I haven't done my job as a writer if they don't. But at the same time, it's ever-present in my mind that money could be a great benefit.

[Pup]

As others have said, definitely a false dichotomy. The usual debate is writing for money, fame, or readers on the one side, and writing for yourself, the art, the story, on the other side.

If you please readers, they'll want to pay for what you write. If people are paying for what you write, they're probably reading it.

[inkkognito]

I write because I love to write. Once I realized that I could make money at it, too, that was the vanilla icing on the big ol' chocolate cake. I separate my general writing from my business writing, as they are two different animals. I would always write for myself, but I don't care if anyone ever reads that work. I care about my readers in my business because they are my ultimate customers; by writing what appeals to them, I make my work more marketable and my editors more happy.

[Stew21]

I write for myself.

[C.bronco]

I write for readers with money and readers with library cards, for fame, for glory, for riches and for the millions of molded plastic action figures that I will unleash upon the world. I also write for my own entertainment, for the entertainment of those near and dear to me, and for social justice as is relates to oversized poultry (see Capon Frank).

[Luc2]

How do you write for money?
By writing what sells? How does that work; trying to jump on the bandwagon of trends? Once you finished writing, found an agent, made the editor's changes, good chance the trend is gone.
Trying to write "mainstream? Harder to get noticed in the slush pile.

I write what I love, so I'll be sure that at least one person will be happy with my novel. ;) After that, who knows?

[padnar]

you write because you love writing . If yu dont love yu
cant write and earning money is an added bonus and what
is the use if yu store all yur writing in yur compute
padma

[Phaeal]

You can't write for money without writing for the readers -- it's the readers who pay you the money, including those critical early readers, the folks at the publishing house.

But you are the very first reader of your work. Can you write well enough to sell if you yourself despise the story? I suppose it's happened. What a sad, soul-killing life that would be, though.

Write what you love, with clarity and passion. If what you love is the high-concept thriller, you could make a lot of money. If what you love is highly experimental literary fiction, well, hold onto that day job. Each type of fiction has its readers, but there are a lot more thriller readers.

On the other hand, there's the "you-never-know" factor. I don't think there were a lot of agents or editors out there who were telling themselves circa 1996 that what would set the reading (and bookselling) world on fire was the story of an orphan going to a British boarding school for witches and wizards.

[JacobWorld]

Writing - only to be famous
Of course money is a factor but it will come .
People will notice you . My dream would be well known and work for the radio just reading peoples stuff

[kzmiller]

I think what lucky8 wrote was brilliant. Writing for yourself, editing for the reader.

Think about where the ideas and passion for stories comes from. They come from our hearts. If you're thinking about ways to make money, look at the Wall Street Journal and see what aspects of the economy might be best to invest your time and effort in.

When you get down to basic storytelling, you're talking about sitting around with your friends telling them about how the a neighbor's dogs killed an elk and lived inside the carcass for two weeks, how their fur looked pink and how no one could get near them because they'd essentially gone feral, but once the carcass was no fun they were normal dogs again and came home. The story excites you, and your friends are laughing and grossed out and everyone is having a great conversation. Sometimes elements are exaggerated or left out because they're too nasty or the events are mixed up because we don't remember them in the right order. That doesn't matter as much as the interaction.

It's often been said that a great story is a riveting conversation with people you'll never meet. I think that's a neat way to look at it. If the story has heart, chances are you'll have an audience. I mean, come on, we're talking dogs living inside a dead animal! Can you imagine the stench? The weird hilarity, and the horror you want to dodge by letting them have their way and deciding that it's not worth trying to wrest them from their kill? That's what's writing's all about to me. I wouldn't know how to write for money. I think I'd make a lousy journalist for that reason. But maybe journalists write the stories that they're passionate about too. ?

[KikiteNeko]

Honestly, I write for the story. For myself. And I want my story to be read. Of course I daydream about my novels being read by total strangers, but their money isn't important to me. If they buy my book used at a garage sale or on half.com and I get zero profit, that's okay with me.

I wrote a fanfic a few years back, just for the hell of it or whatever... It's been up on fanfiction.net since 2004 (I'm kinda embarrassed about my clumsy unedited writing so I don't exactly share it with new people I meet). And every few months I will still get a message from a total stranger who just found it and wanted to thank me for writing it, or wanted me to know they enjoyed it. And yeah, it feels really nice. If I'm ever fortunate enough to be published, for each copy of my book that's sold, I'll wonder about the person who bought it. I'll wonder what they thought, if they enjoyed it, if they hated it, if it comforted them or gave them small talk with a stranger in an elevator.

I'd really love that feeling, and the not knowing.