I asked Cody today what he would do if he were to have more money than he could ever spend and no longer had a need to work, and it was only after I asked him the question that I realized I didn't have an answer to it myself.
Having had more time to ponder the question, I still haven't come to a conclusion. Obviously, I'd do all the things that are currently beyond my budget: travel, buy a big house and fill it with cat trees for my babies, buy a library of books and really comfortable furniture in which to read them, buy a few cars--a Nissan 350Z being the first, I think, but definitely not the last--gift things to my family that I dream of, donate to the charities of my choice, etc.
But once all those things are said and done, what would I do with my daily time? Would I still write? Would I have the same drive to continue to sit my butt down in the chair every day and type out my beloved urban fantasy novels? The answer, surprisingly, is maybe.
I love stories. I love creating them. Creating them makes me happy. But could that happiness be filled in other ways that are currently out of my price range? Probably for a few years, at least. And if I'm honest with myself (and you), a large part of why I want to write is because I want to make a living doing it. If I don't need to make a living, do I still write?
Hopefully I'll be in a place one day to find out the answer to this question first person.
2 comments:
This would be a more meaningful reply if I could remember anything specific about this quotation, but I'll post it anyway in the hope that it'll help you in your query. :)
I recently read (where? where?) that "your real interests are the things you do when no one else is looking." (It's sort of a play on that quotation that goes, "Character is what you do when you think no one is looking.") The context of the article (or blog?) was about doing activities not really because you enjoy them, but because they might advance your career or status or whatever. I think you could take it to mean, if nobody ever found out you did something (you wouldn't receive credit for it, or money, or fame, etc.), would you still like to do it?
I'd bet you'd still like to write. And that you might need to, because otherwise you might not have an outlet for the (characters') voices in your head all the time! And I can't think of any monetary substitute for that. ;)
TikiBird--I think that even without the sources to cite, you said it very well. If I consider the things I do when no one's looking, I'd definitely continue to read, watch TV, and, yes, write.
I like that definition. Thanks for sharing. Still, I want to be able to test this theory out...
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