Is it even worth it to try to become a writer when even the best

I sincerely hope you don't believe DFW is among "the best of writers."

>>8979537
i seriously hope you don't believe that DFW isn't a fun little meme that fits every occasion

>>8979528
How is being a rich Chad any more interesting than being a piss bottle collecting NEET writer?

>>8979648
can you repeat the question?

>>8979528
>Wouldn't a billionaire who's constantly fucking hot babes and spending cash with the bros and revelling in his superiority to other people have a better time overall?
Well, that certainly isn't going to happen to you and even if it did, I'm sure you'd find some reason to be unhappy.

>>8979982
yeah but it's just as likely as being the next great writer, if not more so, so both are worth pursuing as ultimate goals

>>8980009
>so both are worth pursuing as ultimate goals
Haha, man you need to get a handle on life, man. Neither is worth pursuing because the amount of luck involved is incredible. You can put in all the work in the world to being rich or being a good author and 9,999 times out of 10k (or probably even statistically worse odds) you will not get it.

You should just focus on doing something that gives you peace and satisfaction rather than aiming to be something so ridiculous.

>>8979951
yes, no....maybe. idk

Literally 0 (zero) billionaires live this life that you described.

>>8980066
I meant renowned author.

You can write the next great American novel but getting someone to read and appreciate it and then give you money for it is where the luck comes in.

>>8979528
You write for the god damn art. If you write for your ego rather than for your readers just fucking stop right now.

>>8980066
>give up

>>8980088
>writing for readers
>art
As if. That's just pandering.

>>8980106

It's not pandering if you're able to communicate with your readers at a deeply personal and emotive level. If you don't have something to share, then this is really the wrong kind of work.

>>8980096
That's not what I'm saying. If you enjoy something you shouldn't give up on it.

Writing is something a lot of people enjoy as a cathartic and artistic form of self expression.

What I am opposing is you claiming that you want fame and fortune which I suspect is more important to you in your naive mind than any actual quality of your work.

Notice how you said you want to be a billionaire so you can fuck babes and spend lots of money. I hate to break It to you but unless you inherit, that's not happening.

Bill Gates didn't set out to be a billionaire, he had a passion for computers and built an operating system that happened to catch on. He was in the right place at the right time. Same with Mark Zuckerberg. Palmer Lucky, was an absolute VR nerd, before he stumbled into a $2bn deal for oculus.

The point is, you're not going to be a self made billionaire except by luck and in order to even be in the position to take advantage of a once in a hundred million lifetimes opportunity you actually have to have something you are passionate about. AND, if you have a passion that gives you meaning, money won't be your top desire anyway.

TL;DR: if all you want is recognition and money, you're an absolute fucking imbecile destined to have a vapid depressing existence.

>be very good programmer
>make like...150k
>get a few high end escorts per year
>read philosophy in spare time as hobby
>only other hobby is gym
>profit, live like billionaire

>>8980137
Is this a meme to console middle classers?

Like, morality is an actual virtue, right? Not a fiction created by the ruling elite to keep the plebs docile?

>>8980106
It is assumed that your readers have taste. Writing for such an audience basically means to write well.

>>8980153
>a few high end escorts

Vs. Non-stop drug fuelled debauch insanity a la Wolf of Wall Street.

Not the same thing, buddy.

>>8980155
How rich are your parents?
Did you get a perfect on the SAT/ACT?
Do you have a perspective on the world that allows you a unique (and I stress unique) viewpoint?
Do you have any actual passions or interests?

Nearly everyone here has read Nietzsche and Stirner. You aren't special, no matter what you're parents told you. Even the smartest men to ever live were idiots.

>>8980189
How does this relate to the questions you quoted?

>>8980207
With your demonstrated lack of ability for abstraction evidenced by this post, I can tell you right here right now, that you aren't an ubermensch.

Napoleon would be 10 steps ahead of me already.

I'm not the smartest man to ever visit this website but I'm probably the smartest on this board right now and certainly smarter than you.

To answer your question, these are the barriers to entry. To be afforded the opportunities to succeed you need one of three things: Money, Natural Ability, or Passion. More often than not, you need all three.

Without these, you are incredibly unlikey to succeed.

File: 1484267316801.gif (1MB, 273x322px) Image search: [Google]

1MB, 273x322px

>>8980088
>Inbound

>>8979537
there literally hasn't been a better book to come out since Infinite Jest

>>8980239
You obviously can't even tell where the other anon stopped and i started, so stop wanking yourself off.

Notice how nobody ever claimed to be the ubermensch or even have the abilities to "make it"? You're shutting down a figment of your own imagination. That's how I know you're not as smart as you claim to be (aside from the obvious pointer that you even felt the need to say that).

You have not actually commented whatsoever on the creation of an ideology to stop people even trying to succeed, you're only propagating it.

>>8980239
societal paladin strikes again

>>8980239
God damn you're annoying and pretentious.

Like just fuck off already, m8.

You can really do whatever you want.

>>8980255
You have realized this is an anonymous board, right? I merely assumed no one would actually care enough to comment back to me other than some ego bruised little bastard.

The key problem with OP's worldview is that all satisfaction in it comes extrinsically. It's all just stuff. Stuff doesn't do anything for you. It's just stuff.

Usually when people are searching for "stuff" they want it because they feel some emptiness inside, some lack of purpose, or some existential dread. Stuff acts as a distraction from those feelings but will never actually cure it.

If you want absolution and meaning in your life then you better have something else going on, because if you actually did get to the point where you have all that money and $10,000 a night hookers, a ton of adoring fans, eventually the novelty is going to wear off and then you can't even self medicate. Then you're really fucked.

>>8980263
I like this.

I will this day vow to be the most annoying and pretentious trip this board has ever seen.

>>8980311
are you even the same guy? probably not.

>>8980329
You mean, the same as >>8980239 ?

Yes, I am.

>>8980299
The belief system providing you with internal meaning is just as arbitrary as any hedonistic worldview.

Deep down your values are all psychological self-medicators, the same as booze and pussy juice. Keep telling yourself that you're smart and purposeful, mmm, that's good shit!

BTW, why are you pitching "meaningful" goals (Spiritual? Societal? Evolutionary? Altruistic?) as mutually exclusive from materialistic goals?

>>8980340
no no, someone else from a day ago.

>>8980370
A hedonistic worldview might be as valid conceptually, but in actuality it is constrained by human nature.

Humans are social animals. We like contact and meaningful relationships with other humans. We also, like to feel as if we have power over our own lives so we like to see that we have actually affected change in the world around us.

Consumerism is part of a system that actively abstracts the result of most modern work from the worker. In most modern office jobs, you simply don't do anything tangible and at the end of the year, you can rarely point to something in particular that you actually did. Most jobs are effectively either services or some sort of support.

Consumerism is an outlet for this through which you can spend a little money in order to have something. The act of purchasing feels kind of like an achievement (you can look at the many stack or bookshelf threads here for evidence of this) and a lot of people substitute this feeling for having meaningful work.

Now, it's not necessarily impossible to enjoy consumerism and still have meaningful work and human relationships but it is altogether superfluous to those things which I think anyone would agree are much more important to happiness.

I mean what realistically do you think the difference in standard of living is between someone with $1bn and someone making $200,000/yr?

How much money can someone realistically spend in a year without buying absolute nonsense?

>>8979528
Not if you're an introvert, which most writers are. We get our kicks from reading, intellectual effort, and peaceful moments, and noncommittal sex and constant socializing would burn us out.

>>8980405
You are equating billionaire to office job, but in reality the people who need office jobs are the ones dreaming about becoming a billionaire to avoid it.

>Humans are social animals. We like contact and meaningful relationships with other humans. We also, like to feel as if we have power over our own lives so we like to see that we have actually affected change in the world around us.
People with money can have meaningful relationships too, anon. And they can embark on philanthropic efforts way more than someone stuck trying to pay the bills.

>Consumerism is an outlet for this through which you can spend a little money in order to have something. The act of purchasing feels kind of like an achievement (you can look at the many stack or bookshelf threads here for evidence of this) and a lot of people substitute this feeling for having meaningful work.
Love this point, really well said.

>Now, it's not necessarily impossible to enjoy consumerism and still have meaningful work and human relationships but it is altogether superfluous to those things which I think anyone would agree are much more important to happiness.
I don't agree with this part. You think people stressed about paying the bills, who can't afford daycare or expensive medical interventions, you think they are just as psychologically capable of building good relationships? You think that less money equals MORE choice over the kind of work you want to enter into? I don't think so.

>I mean what realistically do you think the difference in standard of living is between someone with $1bn and someone making $200,000/yr?
Fucking huge. If you honestly don't know how you would spend that extra money to create a magical life rich with adventure, intimacy, and self development then I just don't know how you could have reached some of your other insights...

>How much money can someone realistically spend in a year without buying absolute nonsense?
The fact that being rich is not the goal does not mean that being poor isn't a huge barrier towards the goal.

>>8980412
Fucking this, how has no one addressed this yet?

You want to know the difference between a writer and almost anyone else?

The writer may suffer a life of ignominy, toil, hardship, discomfort, penury, and so forth. But he will understand why. If he discovers happiness, he will understand that too. He is infinitely engaged with life.

A CFO will find money, status, power, popularity, perhaps even fame. He will surround himself with glamorous people, he will luxuriate in the finest silks, he will fall in love with all his heart with life.

Yet when both men find themselves weeping in the middle of the night, the writer will get up and express that pain. The CFO will shoot himself.

>>8980137
>>That's not what I'm saying. If you enjoy something you shouldn't give up on it.
found the hedonist

>>8980412

But most writers weren't introverts, stop the memes. They were very popular in their time and highly respected, and often contributed to publications as well travelling around the world giving lectures in their younger (hamsun) and older (wittgenstein) days.

Stop the introvert meme.

>>8979528

Don't write. It's not for you. Do a business degree and fuck off.

>>8980512
DFW literally killed himself tho

>>8980074
literally 0? you sure

>>8980565
An introvert is different than a NEET shut in. You can be an introvert and travel the world giving lectures. Hell most professors probably are introverts.

>>8980611
He had MDD, not just your average despair.

>>8979528
It will be a marvellous thing – the true personality of man – when we see it. It will grow naturally and simply, flowerlike, or as a tree grows. It will not be at discord. It will never argue or dispute. It will not prove things. It will know everything. And yet it will not busy itself about knowledge. It will have wisdom. Its value will not be measured by material things. It will have nothing. And yet it will have everything, and whatever one takes from it, it will still have, so rich will it be. It will not be always meddling with others, or asking them to be like itself. It will love them because they will be different. And yet while it will not meddle with others, it will help all, as a beautiful thing helps us, by being what it is. The personality of man will be very wonderful. It will be as wonderful as the personality of a child.

- oscar wilde in The Soul of the Man under Socialism

Better to be a musician. Less effort, more fun, respect and pussy

>>8980686
He certainly makes life in the gulag sound wonderful.

>>8980565
Hamsun and Wittgenstein were both introverted. What exactly do you think an introvert is?

>>8980405
In my experience, the "meaningful work" I have achieved would have been impossible without the human relationships I have had that made such work a reality. The "act of purchasing" was a fulfilling result of that work and while I agree it is superflous to the work itself, I hesitate to disparage it (as I feel you have) when I've witnessed the practical benefits those "acts of purchasing" have had on myself and those that made such work possible.

On the other hand, maybe I'm retarded and I just don't understand this thread.