is sort of an exercise in futility these days. Or is it? There are fewer and fewer outlets that will pay for your work and yet more and more places to put it out there and get responses. It is an interesting time for those of us earning a living in the creative fields, especially those of us who are older, for times, they are a-changing.
I seem to always pick something to do that has little or no commercial value. I paint watercolors....the only thing that sells for less than watercolors is pencil drawings. And yes, there are some folks who make big bucks selling their watercolors but there aren't many. Watercolors are considered impermanent and hard to keep from fading or changing color so they are worth less than oils or acrylics. I make paper, I do collages, I sketch and I write short pieces. None of these are things that make any money any more. These days people are giving them away for free or almost free and it is not only difficult to compete with that, but exhausting and often not worth the effort.
I'm feeling discouraged, that my continuing my creative life is more or less a waste of my time....and yeah, I know all about creative expression being good on it's own and all that....but I used to actually earn my living with my art work. That is no longer true....even the business I had became irrelevant as styles and materials changed. And that's okay. I was bored with it anyway. So now what? I wish I knew....I wish I had the energy to even be interested....
It is true that for the moment I get paid for writing several nature columns but every paper I write for is being threatened with financial problems that are huge and causing them to cut way back. They pay very little but one of these days they may not pay at all...
So what next? In an age where everyone gives away their creative work for free on the internet....what will the artists and writers do for a living?
I would love to hear your ideas and comments on this.
3 comments:
I agree that times are tougher for writers. I'm lucky that I've had a steady freelance writing job with a major automaker for the past 10 years, but the workload has of course suffered with the economy the past couple of years. I've started to think of my writing skills as a potential way to market my ceramics business, so the blog is a way to use my writing skills to profit, albeit indirectly. You are obviously creative; I guess it's a matter of trying to find creative ways to maximize your writing talent. Is there a Realtor or HOA in your area who needs a newsletter written? You could highlight some of the nature walks in your town.
I would pay to read your work. Perhaps you could put past columns in a book? Your essays deserve a very wide audience.
thanks for both your comments--and Carolyn, I am actually working on a book ;-)
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