Is it for joy? Or money?

Hey everyone!

Today has been an interesting day. Earlier this morning I was messaged by a person who had asked me a very deep question. It seems as though this person has read both of the Power Zombie interviews that were given to me as of recently. In these interviews I talk about how my creations are not about making a lot of money.

Sure money is nice, but if I was only writing for money, it would be just another job and the stories would be bland. People don’t want to read bland, I don’t want to read bland. I only produce what I want to read or what I want to see come to life.

I know for a fact that if I just wanted the money, I would not have picked writing for a top end money maker. More importantly, I wouldn’t be doing anything that I am doing now. I would have either gone to Law School, Med School or have even tried dabbling with computer engineering. Writing, by far is not one of your higher paying jobs.

I create to immerse others, as well as myself into a story that is rather mind blowing. If I write non-fiction, that too goes into a deeper thought and will wrap someone into dwelling on what they can get out of it. This is how I write. It’s a selfless feature. Of course everything takes money, so yes that is and will always be involved. The support is always great too, but at the very least on my conscience I don’t have something wicked sitting there prodding me to make more money at a faster pace.

Writing is not my only “profession”, in fact I wear many hats when it comes to professions. I can do everything from business administration and advertising all the way to graphic and web design. This is what I do on a regular basis. With this being said, no, writing is not my main supplement of income. Normally people are afraid to speak about things like this, as you can obviously see, I am not. Comics, books, manga, technical writing : All of this is something that will come secondary in my life until I can claim it as a lead source of income.

For anyone who is just starting out in either the art field or the writing field, you have to be kidding yourself if you think you can survive solely on this. In time, you can most definitely, but those first starting out, you must have something else going on in the background.

I say this because no one else will. They think it’s a “secret”, when it truly is not. In the end though, this is my conclusion over all. If you are the type of person who writes or does art work because “it’s just a job and puts food on the table” I suggest you stop now, no matter how great you are. Why? The main reason is because your fans will see this in the work that is presented. If not through the work, they will see it through you. Fans are a prime example of how well something will become.

Anything can be hyped, but if it doesn’t live very long, we all know the real reason and tendencies behind the red curtain. Also, let’s say it does go far, are you ready to face the fans and actually get deep into conversation with them over your own title? These aren’t accusations and telling those who are like this that you are terrible people, this is about trying to motivate those to create for the right reasons and not the wrong.

The best example I can give of these things happening is any of the major movies that were hyped and then flopped, any major MMO video game or video game of the sort that was hyped then flopped or any comic/book you have read that had great reviews from the critics but fell short of good.

To end this here, I create what I do because I enjoy it and I feel as though I am a part of these worlds and universes, and that I am able to share them with all of you.

This is Sean signing out.