15 ms·

This would be an instance of those mimetic "how I got to own a house at 29" stories where the first 6 steps are rational and the seventh is "have rich parents"

by ggm 1y ago

This would be an instance of those mimetic "how I got to own a house at 29" stories where the first 6 steps are rational and the seventh is "have rich parents" For most people, writing is not sufficiently lucrative to sustain a living income and supplements other income streams or is net negative. Also: read "new grub street" by George Gissing, 1891

vidarh 1y ago
But this patchwork of low paid freelance work is the most reasonable way to make it sustainable for most people.
- ggm 1y ago
  Yes. And, if this is your craft, this is how to flex. If you're driven to write, you're going to write, rich or not. There's another piece of journalistic writing about erotic Potter fanfic where the article author realises they're possibly good at it and have recruited followers. It's https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-quest-to-become-a-harry-potter-erotic-fanfic-writer/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-quest-to-become-a-harry-p...
SuperHeavy256 1y ago
This is a negative comment. The author is someone who is clearly struggling, and trying to do her best to make ends meet by working multiple jobs that she makes clear she is desperately in search of. She also can't use her hands and is in chronic pain. Please, have some empathy.
- ggm 1y ago
  I have empathy but it's tempered by realism. Very few people make a sustaining income from writing, almost all of them supplement some other source of income or subsist. Editing and proofing may be a better deal. My partner did this for over 25 years and rarely exceeded the taxable income threshold.
  - cafard 1y ago
    Having done editing and proofing for a few years, I can say that it paid the rent and kept me fed, but didn't do much more than that.
  - ghaff 1y ago
    The perhaps unsatisfactory answer is you land a day job with a company that has a significant writing component, e.g. various content marketing roles but other types of marketing as well or analyst work. It's not the "great American novel" but I was, to a large degree, essentially a professional writer for over 20 years. And latterly I definitely worked with a lot of people who would probably have preferred to be independent writers but found pleasure in having a fairly well-paid career with a company. I do know some successful freelancers but they're the generally fairly well-known exception (and are presumably still not making the kind of money many on this board would consider great).
    - Loughla 1y ago
      Grant writing. I've done that for years. It's using your writing and analysis skills. Again, not the next great novel, but it does afford you the opportunity and income to write in your spare time, while doing a job that isn't too demanding.
- madaxe_again 1y ago
  I have the same thing as her and I built an off-grid homestead with my stupid useless arms, and I type until they’re so numb it’s like watching a hen peck for feed. It never even occurred to me to make it a core part of my identity - it’s just pain and numbness, and they aren’t about to drop off and catch fire, even if it feels like it sometimes.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
windowshopping 1y ago
Have you actually seen someone write an article like that where one of the instructive steps was "have rich parents"?
- ggm 1y ago
  No. I have only seen reddit memes and they generally relate to property ownership.
- abenga 1y ago
  I have seen several. One interesting one was a "how I became an airline pilot at 21" video where the (obviously smart and hard working) young man talked about a life where he went to a high school with an aviation club, interning at an airline while in high school where THE CEO took personal interest in him and gave him one-on-one coaching. "Have rich parents" was not one of the steps explicitly but it was a massive part of the subtext.
  - greggsy 1y ago
    Another classic pilot career hack is to have a parent who is a pilot. Simple.
    - 0_____0 1y ago
      My ex's dad flew for a US carrier. I got to hear a bit about how raw a deal new pilots get these days. Apparently it's much less desirable as a job now as commercial aviation works on tighter margins.
      - greggsy 1y ago
        That seems to be the general vibe on the aviation subreddit. Between the glamorous window shots and plane spotting posts are lamentations of pilots struggling with thier routes, and questioning uncertain careers.
  - Apocryphon 1y ago
vouaobrasil 1y ago
> This would be an instance of those mimetic "how I got to own a house at 29" stories where the first 6 steps are rational and the seventh is "have rich parents" You don't need to have rich parents. I also make a living as a writer, and I'll say an alternative to having rich parents would be to get a high-paying job for a couple years and just save a little. Just for when the initial pay is a little low.
- -__---____-ZXyw 1y ago
  HN in the Common Era 2025: "If you don't have rich parents, an alternative is to get a high-paying job".
  - rekabis 1y ago
    Yes, because those grow all over on trees, ripe for the picking. Like holy f**k, can anyone be more out of touch with reality?

by ggm 1y ago

vidarh 1y ago

But this patchwork of low paid freelance work is the most reasonable way to make it sustainable for most people.

ggm 1y ago
Yes. And, if this is your craft, this is how to flex. If you're driven to write, you're going to write, rich or not. There's another piece of journalistic writing about erotic Potter fanfic where the article author realises they're possibly good at it and have recruited followers. It's https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-quest-to-become-a-harry-potter-erotic-fanfic-writer/ https://www.vice.com/en/article/my-quest-to-become-a-harry-p...

SuperHeavy256 1y ago

This is a negative comment. The author is someone who is clearly struggling, and trying to do her best to make ends meet by working multiple jobs that she makes clear she is desperately in search of. She also can't use her hands and is in chronic pain. Please, have some empathy.

ggm 1y ago
I have empathy but it's tempered by realism. Very few people make a sustaining income from writing, almost all of them supplement some other source of income or subsist. Editing and proofing may be a better deal. My partner did this for over 25 years and rarely exceeded the taxable income threshold.
- cafard 1y ago
  Having done editing and proofing for a few years, I can say that it paid the rent and kept me fed, but didn't do much more than that.
- ghaff 1y ago
  The perhaps unsatisfactory answer is you land a day job with a company that has a significant writing component, e.g. various content marketing roles but other types of marketing as well or analyst work. It's not the "great American novel" but I was, to a large degree, essentially a professional writer for over 20 years. And latterly I definitely worked with a lot of people who would probably have preferred to be independent writers but found pleasure in having a fairly well-paid career with a company. I do know some successful freelancers but they're the generally fairly well-known exception (and are presumably still not making the kind of money many on this board would consider great).
  - Loughla 1y ago
    Grant writing. I've done that for years. It's using your writing and analysis skills. Again, not the next great novel, but it does afford you the opportunity and income to write in your spare time, while doing a job that isn't too demanding.
madaxe_again 1y ago
I have the same thing as her and I built an off-grid homestead with my stupid useless arms, and I type until they’re so numb it’s like watching a hen peck for feed. It never even occurred to me to make it a core part of my identity - it’s just pain and numbness, and they aren’t about to drop off and catch fire, even if it feels like it sometimes.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]

windowshopping 1y ago

Have you actually seen someone write an article like that where one of the instructive steps was "have rich parents"?

ggm 1y ago
No. I have only seen reddit memes and they generally relate to property ownership.
abenga 1y ago
I have seen several. One interesting one was a "how I became an airline pilot at 21" video where the (obviously smart and hard working) young man talked about a life where he went to a high school with an aviation club, interning at an airline while in high school where THE CEO took personal interest in him and gave him one-on-one coaching. "Have rich parents" was not one of the steps explicitly but it was a massive part of the subtext.
- greggsy 1y ago
  Another classic pilot career hack is to have a parent who is a pilot. Simple.
  - 0_____0 1y ago
    My ex's dad flew for a US carrier. I got to hear a bit about how raw a deal new pilots get these days. Apparently it's much less desirable as a job now as commercial aviation works on tighter margins.
    - greggsy 1y ago
      That seems to be the general vibe on the aviation subreddit. Between the glamorous window shots and plane spotting posts are lamentations of pilots struggling with thier routes, and questioning uncertain careers.
- Apocryphon 1y ago

vouaobrasil 1y ago

> This would be an instance of those mimetic "how I got to own a house at 29" stories where the first 6 steps are rational and the seventh is "have rich parents" You don't need to have rich parents. I also make a living as a writer, and I'll say an alternative to having rich parents would be to get a high-paying job for a couple years and just save a little. Just for when the initial pay is a little low.

-__---____-ZXyw 1y ago
HN in the Common Era 2025: "If you don't have rich parents, an alternative is to get a high-paying job".
- rekabis 1y ago
  Yes, because those grow all over on trees, ripe for the picking. Like holy f**k, can anyone be more out of touch with reality?