Creativity comes with a price. And the stakes rise exponentially when you are forced to pursue a career that rewards you in monetary terms, but shoves your creativity in the closet. But, there is a ray of hope breaking through in the Indian publishing industry, guiding closet writers and aspiring authors towards literary fame and creative satisfaction as many new authors with regular jobs are releasing book titles.
This trend rivets at author Hugh MacLeod’s Sex and Cash Theory, which propounds that creative people balance their need to make a living and maintain one’s creative sovereignty with a regular day job and a creative outlet, such as writing, paintings, or as in the author’s case, making cartoons. Vikas Rathi, who penned Resident Dormitus, says, “Having a job gives you the financial stability that allows you to take your time to write, and allows you to write what you are most intrigued about.” Amish Tripathi, the author of The Immortals of Meluha adds, “The sad truth is that writing is not really a lucrative career. And it’s not possible for anyone to ignore his responsibilities.”
However, mostly when opportunities come knocking on the door, time becomes a constraint, especially with a nine to five job to tend to. What follows is the circumventing of the social circle. “Whenever you take up something new you will need to give up something else. I gave up on my social life for a while,” says Rathi. The financial security also helps writers deliver quality content. “I can wait for the right publisher and continue writing whether the novel is a bestseller or not,” says Rathi.
On a different note, Ruchita Misra, the author of (In)eligible Bachelors, feels that it is not necessary to have a job. “It is tough. But the way out is to find a support system,” she says.
{{/usCountry}}On a different note, Ruchita Misra, the author of (In)eligible Bachelors, feels that it is not necessary to have a job. “It is tough. But the way out is to find a support system,” she says.
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