4 ms·

As a former writer, the only market with real cash to spend for writing is commercial b2b/b2c. Everything else is a pittance unless you're the next twilight tha

As a former writer, the only market with real cash to spend for writing is commercial b2b/b2c. Everything else is a pittance unless you're the next twilight that hits critical mass and sells off the movie rights. if you're writing for the creative thrill, b2b works a good way to kill the soul. creative writing basically has no real market, and even the best are going to be scrounging mid 5 figure incomes.

unicornfinder 7y ago
I think that's true of a lot of creative professions to be fair. Musicians don't have much of a market unless they're exceptional, same for artists. But there are ways to adapt your skills to be more valuable than they would be otherwise. That said, programming is, in my opinion very creative as well, and that clearly does have a market.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  Writing, music, and art are like other businesses. You have to actively find customers and a market fit that works for you, rather than putting something out there and hoping someone notices. There's much less information on how to make this happen than there is on on creating the work. And success can depend as much on chutzpah and on working out how to bypass the usual selection processes as on talent. Unlike software, they're extreme power law businesses. A handful of extremely successful people earn ridiculous money, a slightly larger number are comfortably professional, and an absolutely gigantic ocean of dabblers, wannabes, and part-timers earn little or nothing. You can a completely mediocre developer and do just fine. It's not easy, but it is possible. You can't be a completely mediocre creative. You have to stand out in multiple ways, through confidence and charisma, talent, originality, timeliness, presentation, and/or self-promotion. The ability to do that is - by definition - not mediocre.
  - notfromhere 7y ago
    you can be a mediocre developer and there's a decent job waiting for you making CRUD apps somewhere. You can be an amazing/well-above-average writer/singer/other creative and make absolutely no money doing it despite all your efforts. the irony is that everyone wants to consume art but also wants to pay no money for it.
- notfromhere 7y ago
  plumbing can be creative, but i wouldn't call it art.

unicornfinder 7y ago

I think that's true of a lot of creative professions to be fair. Musicians don't have much of a market unless they're exceptional, same for artists. But there are ways to adapt your skills to be more valuable than they would be otherwise. That said, programming is, in my opinion very creative as well, and that clearly does have a market.

TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
Writing, music, and art are like other businesses. You have to actively find customers and a market fit that works for you, rather than putting something out there and hoping someone notices. There's much less information on how to make this happen than there is on on creating the work. And success can depend as much on chutzpah and on working out how to bypass the usual selection processes as on talent. Unlike software, they're extreme power law businesses. A handful of extremely successful people earn ridiculous money, a slightly larger number are comfortably professional, and an absolutely gigantic ocean of dabblers, wannabes, and part-timers earn little or nothing. You can a completely mediocre developer and do just fine. It's not easy, but it is possible. You can't be a completely mediocre creative. You have to stand out in multiple ways, through confidence and charisma, talent, originality, timeliness, presentation, and/or self-promotion. The ability to do that is - by definition - not mediocre.
- notfromhere 7y ago
  you can be a mediocre developer and there's a decent job waiting for you making CRUD apps somewhere. You can be an amazing/well-above-average writer/singer/other creative and make absolutely no money doing it despite all your efforts. the irony is that everyone wants to consume art but also wants to pay no money for it.
notfromhere 7y ago
plumbing can be creative, but i wouldn't call it art.