I'm going to get a bit personal and rant on a bit ... about me and about you. I'll tell you why. I just read a post that hit home with me, so first you have to go and read that:
http://twitpic.com/85rhv2
Right.
What I am going to talk about is debt and what it does to you. How it can twist up your whole outlook and limit your work. We are all trained to get into debt from a very early age. It's part of our culture. We can't function without it. When I was a kid, there were no credit cards. Maybe in your house there WERE credit cards or bank loans or overdrafts. Or maybe you had everything you needed because you were rich? However you lived, you probably learned that you could get what you needed now and pay for it later. In my life there was a man who came to our house every week with his little book to collect payments from my mother for the sofa and the TV and very probably Christmas presents. To get my new bike I ordered it from the shopping catalogue and I got a job in a corner shop after school to pay for it. (And I did pay for it). What it taught me was instant gratification. Now that gratification is taken for granted by nearly all of us. But do you ever consider what it does to your creativity?
The first writer's conference I went to I heard Sheldon Fogelman speak. And what he said has stayed with me for the last two years.
It was this: To do your best work you need to be in a secure place financially.
It struck me that this great agent, who I'd expected to talk about writing and submitting and the whole 'making it' thing, was laying into us (like a great headmaster on speech day) about finances. And it made a lot of sense. Something clicked into place in my head. Call me naive if you like, but I'd never been told me that to create to the best of your ability you have to be on the level financially. And I was 46 for goodness sake. I must have missed this lesson in college. (Probably in the bar). Or maybe I just wasn't at the right college. Maybe it was just how I grew up. Whatever. Somewhere in my foggy career I had learned that I had to be always striving, starving, fighting and then .. one day ... I would MAKE IT. What ever MAKING IT was. Possibly being plucked from oblivion, get the BIG DEAL, get all THE STUFF. Turns out it is not so. Turns out it took me nearly 3 decades to understand.
To understand that putting myself under STRESS financially is not helping me be the best, creative ME. POW!
Here's the irony - I'd put myself under financial pressure to get to a national writing and illustrating conference to hear this simple truth. And I am glad I did! It's probably written in a hundred books. I probably could've have heard it from writers and illustrators right in my back yard. On blogs. On Facebook. From my dentist! But I heard it at an SCBWI conference and I am thankful I did. To get there I maxed out what was left on my credit card. I ate cheap and filled up on the free pastries (oops) before the conference. I couldn't afford to stay in the conference hotel, so I stayed in the YMCA (somewhere in deepest NY miles away) in a foul room with a bed with wheels on that shot across the room every time I turned over. So give me points for not maxing out my my credit cards on expensive rooms. Of course, a million motivational speakers will tell you to do whatever it takes to get the information you need. I'm not knocking it, and hell I needed to hear what I heard. Even if I couldn't really utilize that information until now.
Alright, I'm not trying to tell you how great I was for doing this. I don't want to preach to the converted ... I know many of you are striving and scrimping and saving because you too need the inspiration to reach the next level, get you THERE, keep you going. And that is just fine! (Are there levels? Yes, we all have levels and we know them when we see them. But your levels and my levels are different,
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By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 3/1/2012
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By: Hazel Mitchell,
on 3/1/2012
Blog: Hazel Mitchell (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: illustrating for children, Hazel Mitchell, New York., writing and illustrating a book, the journey of writin, building a writing career, conferences, Inspiration, Debt, Add a tag
18 Comments on How much will you spend on your writing and illustrating career?, last added: 3/3/2012
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Just terrific and candid! Thank you for your honesty and talkin' about the elephant in the room, Money!
There is something to being verrrrrrrrrrrrrry poor - even maxing a card is - what is a card, again?
Reading is a key, free reading is a blessing, friends even more so and linking is another doorway to getting where you need to be - selling YOURSELF as you continue to hone your craft into the avenues it needs to stream.
Unfortunately, in the arts media, the only few who make it to the 'big time' on this side of the river, are in Hollywood not behind an easel or a type-pad. But, recognition as good in a smaller market may explode into greater appreciation BUT the goal is not where we live. The joy of doing and experiencing the minutes of creation given to us is the ultimate goal.
This very much echoes where I am at so thanks for posting, dear. I have stepped back from a lot of conferences and feel a bit empty. There go my pals to Asilomar: there they go to Tahoe....here I sit, WAH! But wrong attitude. I've done tons of conferences and loved 99% of them and learned from all of them. A person may be able to buy his/her way into publication, or success or however you define it, but Patchett (love, adore her work) is right. Can't buy passion/creativity and creativity means alone. solitude time. You and your pen/computer.
So you're right, too. Thanks for ranting...it's contagious!
Hazel, Great post~thanks. Kudos for sharing your story and thoughts and for including the link to Anne Patchett's tips. Lots of good fodder to chew on :-)!
Good thoughts .... thanks for commenting. Hurrah for libraries!
Thanks Monica ... yes the stuff we don't talk about.
It is hard Linda ... sometimes post publication can be as hard as pre!
As I balance my day job with my creative dream job, I am fortunate to have a space in my home to create. I'm grateful for an alarm that gets me up at 4am weekdays and dogs that get me up at 4:05am on weekends to get myself in my studio to work. Anne and you are spot on with "showing up". Carving out "time" is sometimes harder than finding "money" and if it means 4am, then 4am it is.
I'm also extremely excited and grateful to be accepted into the Nevada SCBWI Mentor Program. I plan to spend the time and personal evaluation to see if this is the path for me. My odd art jobs cup paid for 1/2 the fee. Which was a bit spendy, but for six months of mentorship and two retreats, I'm thinking it is a bargain.
Thanks so much for this little rant. Totally hits home!
Oh debt is horrible, horrible, horrible!! We are still paying off a home equity loan that we had to take out for our younger son who is on the spectrum. Oh, we had lots of insurance, but what people don't realize is that insurace caps what you can get for things. All the testing and therapies were done before we knew we'd capped. Then my husband was unemployed, for two years! So I took on every assignment I could get, and needless to say, going to a conference, as much as I'd love to, isn't in the cards for me, right at this second. Creatives need to think about those things too. What hasn't happened yet, to be more prepared, especially if they have children. But I don't think you need a conference, or a seminar, or a workshop, or even an agent, if you have it in you to just keep making stuff and getting it out there : ) Thanks for a fab post Hazel!
a : )
I so appreciated the heart, honesty and truth in this post, Hazel. You challenged me! Not about being in debt. I have never been in debt and I have lived for 12 years as a volunteer with no salary, so I know what it is to be with very, very little. I have a small amount of savings from frugal living the past few years since having a salary (though forget ever having a pension LOL) and I have invested in the LA conference and now the Nevada Mentor Program..... I think both have been good decisions, but I also see how easily I could get caught up in this in my first year or so and I want to heed your advice and ensure that all decisions truly lead to my heart and creativity. I am in a financially in between place now and hear Sheldon's words loud and clear. Thank you.
Thanks for reading Edna and for commenting!
Donna, good for you .. it's hard finding the time and getting up while everyone else sleeps. I find that especially hard. You are right.
You will have a blast on the mentor programme, I know I did ... you sound like someone who knows how to budget. It is a bargain. All the best and thank you for commenting and reading. Means a lot.
Andi - hugs. Life can be so hard sometimes, I so relate to you. Thanks for reading and commenting. Glad to know you ... hugs. Your work is a testament to YOUR heart.
Hi Jo ... and I nearly deleted it after I wrote it, thinking I had got to close to the bone. I am glad I didn't. Your amazing, I had no idea. I think the investments you have made ARE good decisions, and I know the mentor programme will be fantastic for you. But yes, listen to your heart when it gets a strain and you are longing for another 'hit'. The real work, as they say, is when you are sitting in the chair, writing. I'm just passing on what I have heard and learned. It's easy to be pressured into following the crowd. I am glad to know you.
Excellent post, Hazel. I've not attended any writing conferences or creative anythings, because i'm in the place where i'm working a full-time job that uses some of my skills and some of my creativity, but not all. Since i stare at a computer screen all day, the last thing i want to do when i'm done with work is to stare some more, even if it's for me. And then, i decided to start a blog. At least it would get me writing about this and that, it would be a repository for some of my scribbles, and it might spill over to returning to creative writing.
Yes, i have debt, it's all real estate debt, but still it's debt, and for now, i need to have the job i have in order to keep all the plates spinning.
So, from a financial perspective, i'm not a starving artist, but the Muse has been for quite some time. I'm taking steps now to correct that.
megan
Thanks for such a great post. My situation is a little different. I hadn't drawn for years, and I recently got back into drawing last year. I've been wondering the best way to network and see if any of my artwork has potential, but I'm reluctant to spend a lot of money to do that. I invested $$ in my drawing tools (Wacom Intuous 4 and a Wacom 12WX), and I don't regreat that at all. It's the same as if I went out and purchased oils, acrylics, or watercolors, as digital drawing is my preferred medium. As far as spending $$ on conferences and such though, I pretty much decided to just enjoy drawing for myself and sharing it with my friends and family. I'm following artists such as yourself on Google+ and FaceBook, reading articles, following tutorials, etc. There absolutely is a ton of FREE information, and I'm embracing it! I can learn a lot this way and also share from my heart with anyone wanting to reciprocate. I'm glad I read your post as it just reinforces that I don't need to spend a lot of money to meet such wonderful writers, artists, and others such as yourself. Thanks again! Lisa Shaffer - Doodletoons by Lisa is my FaceBook page.
Thanks Megan and thanks for commenting. It sounds like you have a great plan and best of luck! Hazel.
Hi Lisa, thanks so much for commenting and your thoughtful words. I think investment in your tools is the best thing you can do! I can't live without my wacom and good screen. Enjoying what you are doing is the thing. yes, we should embrace what's available to us without breaking the bank ... you go Lisa!