and on reading the biography of Jane Austen and other authors like Philip K Dick and Truman Capote, I thought I would throw a few more tough twisted evil existential questions out in the open.
1)Would you rather keep writing knowing you'll be famous after you die or be famous for a short brief while and then die? LOL.
2) Would you rather let your life fall apart or let your writing fall apart?
3) Would you rather be famous for a piece of writing you hate or infamous (criticized massively by media and audience) for a piece of writing you love?
4) Would you rather write knowing you'd only be read by a few and keep at it or read by a lot knowing the outcome/success/pressure would made you stop writing?
Twisted I know.
http://www.rachellegardner.com/2011/06/would-you-rather/
1)Would you rather keep writing knowing you'll be famous after you die or be famous for a short brief while and then die? The first. Personally, I'd rather not die but if I have to, I'd like to know I was leaving behind something that people will read and love for generations.
ReplyDelete2) Would you rather let your life fall apart or let your writing fall apart? I don't think you could let your life fall apart and not have it effect the other. When my life is in the toilet, my manuscript seems to head there too. I think writers need to be in a good place (not having a perfect life or anything, but a place conducive to writing) in order to be productive.
3) Would you rather be famous for a piece of writing you hate or infamous (criticized massively by media and audience) for a piece of writing you love? Neither. I don't think I want either of those things. Although I do write what I love and part of me writes for me, I do want people to love the scenes I loved.
4) Would you rather write knowing you'd only be read by a few and keep at it or read by a lot knowing the outcome/success/pressure would made you stop writing? Oh boy. I think if the pressure got to me, I'd withdraw from the public eye but I don't think I could stop writing because the plot and characters would eat at me until I wrote again.
My answers to your 4 dilemmas:
ReplyDelete1. Tough one. If I'm honest I would have to go with being
famous/successful in my own lifetime, even if it was for a short time.
Olympic athlethes were once asked a similar question - would they
prefer to win a gold medal and die shortly afterwards or never win
gold and live a long life. A lot of them went for the first option!
2. I woud prefer the writing to fall apart.
3. Infamous for a piece of writing I loved/ was proud of.
4. Would be happier to be read by a few over a long period as long as
I had sufficient income to keep writing.