You misattributed my quotes to jaksen, so you should edit your post.
Difference between being an author and most other jobs
a) you only get royalties twice a year, instead of a weekly paycheck
b) anyone can be an author, because only people who want to be authors are authors. Ergo, nobody who isn't passionate about writing becomes one on purpose
You can say that about any job. Your job should be your passion. But lots of people go to work every day and aren't passionate about their job and still get the job done and get it done well.
Difference between being an author and most other jobs
a) you only get royalties twice a year, instead of a weekly paycheck
b) anyone can be an author, because only people who want to be authors are authors. Ergo, nobody who isn't passionate about writing becomes one on purpose
I don't know how Danielle Steele feels about her books, because I'm not her, and neither are you. So I'm not going to draw conclusions about anything to do with her.I guarantee you there are authors out there who feel more passionate about the money they make off their writing than they do off their writing. What about someone who writes formulaic schlock like Daniel Steele but who made a fortune doing it? Do you really think she was feeling passion for those books?
When people buy books, they're not looking to buy a "product", they're looking to buy a story. When I go to Barnes and Noble and pick up a novel to read the synopsis, I'm not thinking, "How efficient is this?"Listen, you see yourself as an artist. I see myself as a manufacturer of a product that people want to buy.
You won't know how much you know of your story until you actually try writing it down. You might think you know the whole thing, but once you actually move from mere images in your head to words on the page/screen, I guarantee you will be surprised. Writing it down doesn't only help you convey the story to other people, it helps you see what kind of story it is in the first place. Where do you think the phrase "It sounded better in my head" came from?Why should you be writing for yourself? I already know my story. I made it up. I don't need to write it down since I already know it in my head. Writing it down only helps me to convey it to other people.
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