I thought about something the other day. [Yeah, go ahead and insert some rando joke here. I’m up for it.]
What would my life be like if I became world famous overnight? Let’s say my fairy godmother came down, smacked me on my hard head with an even harder wand and suddenly, everyone in the world knows who I am.
Not in a bad way of course, lol, but in a good way. Like, for example, I wrote an amazing book that everybody loved, and that sold tens of millions of copies.
Of course, we both know that instant fame and fortune (because doesn’t fortune usually accompany fame?) is rare if not impossible, I would also add that it’s not something to be desired—or envied.
Why?
The Journey
One reason why “slow growth” is better than a “lucky strike” is the latter interferes with “the journey.”
Conflict, tension, angst…pick one…fiction writers understand the need to make things exciting or interesting for their readers. I’d argue that, as a writer, these same things make our lives more interesting and help feed the writing.
For example, getting a form rejection from a publication or a bad review may not be fun but they are simply signposts along your journey. Your growth. And they’re something that you could miss out on if your writing career quickly took off.
Could you still have struggles down the road after your “insta-fame?” Of course…you likely would…but instant fame could potentially blind you to roadblocks—and solutions to those roadblocks—because you didn’t have an opportunity to work through the struggles that are part of learning and doing anything, let alone storytelling.
And by struggles I’m talking about learning how to tell a good story, how to position your book in the marketplace, and how to navigate rejections both from others and your own inner critic telling you that what you just wrote is trash.
Stress and time theft
Another reason why “instant fame” is not to be desired in my opinion is that—and I’m just imaging it to be the case—there’s an increase in the demand for our time, which can be stressful.
When you slowly build up a writing career you learn how to navigate the natural ebbs and flows that seasoned writers share is just a part of the business. And yes, don’t forget that writing fiction is a business.
While daydreaming about massive book sales and lots of readers loving your stories can be fun, no amount of fame or money is worth losing out on the growth that comes from learning and growing as a writer, and as a person.
Finally, all of this pondering assumes that I’m writing because I want others to read what I write. It’s true, I do enjoy entertaining my readers and there’s no shame in that, but at the end of the day I also write because I cannot do otherwise.
What about you? Would you enjoy becoming famous “overnight?”
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