Life Lessons

[ysabetwordsmith]

... from some folks who know how to live it.

The main reason I'm not wholly satisfied with my life is that what I do isn't valued enough to provide security for my family.  But I would rather deal with survival insecurity than a soul-destroying job.  My work?  That, I'm thrilled with.  And even though I'm not making enough to live securely  I have definitely disproven the claim that "there is no money in poetry."  It usually pays the regular monthly bills.  In today's culture that is an impossible accomplishment.  I did it largely by ignoring the claims that nobody likes poetry anymore.

Sometimes you CAN edit reality.

Comments

Better than you think

[dialecticdreamer]

You may not be as financially secure as you would like, but you're definitely in a position to influence other writers, especially those like me who are just getting started with crowdfunding.

Re: Better than you think

[ysabetwordsmith]

I really like being able to help and encourage other creators. It's one of the things I loved most about my editing jobs.

[cmcmck]

Nobody ever got rich writing history unless their name is David Starkey (and he writes the kind of Whiggish 'great man' history that doesn't appeal to me at all) but I get by!

Talking of poetry, I'm still wondering just where this Orkney set is taking me- it just keeps right on coming! :o)

[quennessa.livejournal.com]

*fistbump*

Rock on.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

*fistbump*

If I haven't mentioned it recently, I admire your photography and publishing.

Re: Yes...

[quennessa.livejournal.com]

*blushes bright red*

That means a lot to me, coming from you.

Thank you very much.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

*hugs* One of the awesome things about having creative friends is that you can encourage each other.

Re: Yes...

[quennessa.livejournal.com]

WORD. I honestly don't know how I would survive without all of you (especially you). When I have days where I feel like I'm in this alone, I can just go to the computer and show myself:

"See? Not alone. Keep swinging."

It helps beyond words.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I know the feeling.

This is why I've made communities like crowdfunding to help creators and supporters find each other. We don't need the mainstream if we can build our own support networks that are helpful instead of abusive.

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

You are but the latest person I know paying the bills with your art. As Heather Dale put it in her TED talk on the subject (Yeah! An actual TED talk!), you've found your niche, your tribe... and you're making a living at it.

It's just that the culture of corporate slavery doesn't want us to know that.

Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

>> You are but the latest person I know paying the bills with your art. <<

Part of it is because, increasingly, this is what people do when the dayjob quits them. A dayjob requires someone else's permission to make a living. But you always have your skills; you can freelance without needing anyone's approval to make a try. The challenging part is finding an audience willing and able to support you. But no matter how slim the chance, it's better than sitting on your ass and just starving.

>> As Heather Dale put it in her TED talk on the subject (Yeah! An actual TED talk!), you've found your niche, your tribe... and you're making a living at it. <<

It's a good niche. I like the companionship.

>> It's just that the culture of corporate slavery doesn't want us to know that. <<

Too true. The rise of de facto slavery bothers me.

Re: Yes...

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

This is why I don't mind having a well-paying day job... I can use a fair chunk of that dough to support you lot. And, yeah, the craic is *grand*.

Re: Yes...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I appreciate that very much. And when I have spending money, yes, I enjoy directing it to creative friends also.

[rhodielady-47.livejournal.com]

You know what, I hate it when someone makes a vague claim and then doesn't back it up with facts and figures. We've all been told that poetry doesn't pay over and over again but the people who keep telling us this aren't discussing the how's, what's, and why's behind their statements.
If it were really true that poetry doesn't pay then our modern music industry would be in huge trouble. After all, what's a song but a poem set to music?
Your poetry is good stuff. It's easy to understand and you have a wonderful gift for choosing good topics and then writing about those topics so that people want to read what you've written.
I remember my experiences with trying to learn to write "modern poetry" while I was at a college in LA. My early efforts got laughed at a lot by the more advanced students and no one--neither the professors nor the more advanced students--seemed to care that I found their poetry inaccessible.
I finally gave modern poetry up as being a personal lost cause. No matter the classes or my efforts, it never 'clicked' into clear view.

I think that for most people, abstract modern poetry will never click into clear view. It's a different story for more traditional forms of poetry though. Men always say they hate the gushy flowery stuff but there's a lot of traditional poetry out there that's written by men and about manly topics such as war (The Charge of the Light Brigade) or hard work (Mending Wall by Robert Frost).
And here you are writing poetry with lots of different science fictional and fantastic topics Who knows? One hundred years from now, some of your poetry might be included in English textbooks.
:)

[sagaciouslu.livejournal.com]

I would say that I am envious but, more accurately, I am inspired by your example.

You rock...

Yay!

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I want to inspire people, so that makes me happy.