Devi Laskar said it best: “It’s tax season and this is a perfect time to remember that unless your last name is GRISHAM or KING, it is difficult to make a living writing books. Don’t let it deter you.”
I recently read a wonderful article about how to find a rewarding career path that utilized this graph to help you understand what you really want out of your life:
According to the yearning hierarchy, the stuff at the top, the stuff that goes into your “non-negotiable bowl”, is a thing (or maybe a few things) in your life that you really, really want.
For me, that thing was writing. I’ve always wanted to publish a book. It used to be a book of poetry, but somehow that changed along the way (I still entertain the idea of writing a book of poetry, even if the idea certainly intimidates me).
In short, Devi is right. Writing books likely won’t make you tons of cash (that doesn’t mean it can’t though). But is money really what motivates anyone to make art? There are a lot more straightforward ways to make money. If you’re writing a book, especially for the first time, the thing you want most isn’t money… it’s the book. Duh.
To figure out what’s in your non-negotia-bowl, visit Tim Urban’s How to Pick a Career (That Actually Fits You).
