Money
(a creative essay)
A
real gentleman, even if he loses everything he owns, must show no
emotion. Money must be so far beneath a gentleman that it is hardly
worth troubling about. Fyodor Dostoevsky
Was
this really how Dostoevsky felt? He was under the gun most of his
adult life, deep in debt from gambling, and nearly had to write a
best seller just to survive. Some of his works did not receive good
reviews, like The Idiot, a book that both my daughter and I have read
and thought, there really is no plot here. It seems to me, the
pressure he was under was sizable and probably did effect his
writing, despite reaching acclaim.
Edgar
Allan Poe lived in dire poverty as well, and really almost abhorred
the fact that he was writer, or couldn't make it as a writer, and his
attitude was such that he hated the world with a passion. So many
that we read today were not rich the way Dean Koontz is today.
Nicholas
Sparks told a room full of people, “Yes, I made a million dollars,
but you know when it comes right down to it, that's not a whole lot
of money.” I almost walked out when he said that, and such a crime
to the lives of the greats who had so little.
Her
voice is full of money. Scott Fitzgerald
When
Scott and Zelda didn't have a lot to live on, even after his big
break with Gatsby and all that money going quickly at the Riviera,
and the bills piling up for experimental treatments for Zelda, Scott
made his bread and butter through his short stories, Scribner's.
Again, as a writer, it was essential that he produce lasting works
that the public wanted to read. Both Scott and Zelda wanted to be
known, but they became, 'remembered'.
These
writers I've mentioned, sure they were thinking of their story, but
were writing simply for money, which is a different way of saying, I
must do this. I must say this. Dollar signs. It seems to me that
writing just to get paid a triply hard occupation. But many can do
it, and many do do it. I couldn't begin to put a price tag on some
things I've written. I've been recognized, and that is just as good
as a paycheck.
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