Hello. I’m Shaun Finnie, and I’m an author.
Well that’s what I say I am, but I’m not the kind of author you’ve heard of. I haven’t written any bestsellers. If you look for me on Amazon or in your local bookshop you might find just one book published under my name, and that’s non-fiction. Look on the net and you might see lots of articles that I’ve written, but does producing them count as being a writer?
At what point do I become a real author and not just a guy who writes stories and feature items as a hobby?
Maybe selling my first piece takes me out of the ranks of amateur? I did that years ago, but I still feel a little bit like I’m ‘playing at it’.
Perhaps I could view a proper author as one who writes all day, every day? Well I’m preparing to leave my job and step into the big scary world of full-time writing at the end of the year. Does that add more validity to auctorial qualification?
Or maybe I have to be able to pay my bills through my writing to claim the title? That certainly isn’t happening at the moment. It’s nice when people tell me not to worry because there have been many writers and artists who never made a sale during their lifetimes but are considered masters of their craft now, but I don’t want to die alone and penniless in my writing garret. I want to earn enough cash to pay for the garret and the rest of the house, keep my Beloved happy and most of all allow me to do the one thing that I love – writing fiction. If I can provide a valuable entertainment form that takes people away from their normal lives (and I’m not going to even attempt to define ‘normal’) and just for a short while evoke some kind of emotion, then I’m a happy man. If I can get paid for it too, I’ll be a happy author.
Or maybe I have to be able to pay my bills through my writing to claim the title? That certainly isn’t happening at the moment. It’s nice when people tell me not to worry because there have been many writers and artists who never made a sale during their lifetimes but are considered masters of their craft now, but I don’t want to die alone and penniless in my writing garret. I want to earn enough cash to pay for the garret and the rest of the house, keep my Beloved happy and most of all allow me to do the one thing that I love – writing fiction. If I can provide a valuable entertainment form that takes people away from their normal lives (and I’m not going to even attempt to define ‘normal’) and just for a short while evoke some kind of emotion, then I’m a happy man. If I can get paid for it too, I’ll be a happy author.
In today’s economic climate, is that too much to ask?
© Shaun Finnie 2011
