Blogocentric Formulations

Anyone can become a writer

A writer acquaintance of mine is putting together a research project that has such an intriguing premise that I felt obligated to steal share it. The project focuses on the maxim that anyone can become a writer. We've all heard the stories. Diablo Cody was a stripper, but then she wrote the screenplay for JUNO and became an overnight success. John Grisham was a trial lawyer before penning his first novel, A Time To Kill. And we look at these stories and think, "Wow, it's really true; anyone can become a writer!"

But the theory behind this project is that, since writing is such a difficult industry to break into, and so very hard to earn a living at, almost everybody - inevitably - finds other jobs to pay the bills in the meantime. While they're waiting for their big break as a writer, they take jobs as executives, accountants, salespeople, customer service representatives, nurses, etc. And since they do these jobs first before their writing takes off, it perpetuates the myth that "anyone can write" because they're seen as professionals in other fields who decided to all of a sudden find success as writers. What they really are, however, are writers who temporarily take jobs in other fields while they hone their craft.

That's not to say that writers have to always know they want to be writers from a young age, but I think it definitely explains the misconception that "anyone can become a writer" as if anyone in the world can sit down, crank out a few pages, and make money from their words. What's even more interesting is that this dynamic doesn't seem to apply to other fields. Many actors are employed as waiters or baristas or in other service jobs between auditions... but when they break out and become famous, you never hear stories about the waiter who decided to become an actor. Or the grocery store clerk who decided to become a singer. So why are writers defined as their day jobs first, and as writers second; as if the choice to become a writer is an afterthought or a hobby compared to the job that pays the bills? Is it because writers often have better day jobs? Many aspiring actors and other performers will take jobs in the service industry because it affords a flexible schedule to accommodate their auditions, performances, etc. But writers can come home after a full day at the office (or get up beforehand) and write without worrying about venues or audiences or making an appointment set by someone else. We write when we can, and we send our work off for consideration independent of our own schedules.

This also relates to the idea of an "overnight success." Did that doctor, or investment banker, or hostess at the local IHOP really just decide to all of a sudden try their hand at writing and managed to sell their inaugural effort in only a few months? Or are these people who have spent years, maybe even decades developing their craft and building the relationships, only to "finally" have things click into place at one point?

I think it's an interesting concept for a research project. I suppose every writer is different, but I'd be willing to bet there are remarkably fewer examples of "someone becoming a writer" than there are examples of writers who do something else to make a living while they hone their craft and wait for their big break.

So is it true that "anyone can become a writer?" Or, when we find these examples out in the world, are we actually just seeing a writer who no longer needs to hold a day job?