Chel Owens

“To be a successful writer and enjoy the perks of paid writing, one must first understand what business they are in – and that is the entertainment business. One does not have to resort to silly antics to entertain, because you can do the same thing with horror or heartbreak, maybe even clever word play or just plain good writing – but in the end, it is primarily entertainment and we as writers are primarily entertainers.”

–Almost Iowa, in the comments of “Why Do You Write?“

20 thoughts on “”

  4. Sometimes I think there is a writer deep down inside me.
    I love to read a well written fiction, or maybe a good law mystery.
    Being an author I feel is a tough job, rewrites, edits, cover, etc., That takes a lot of time.

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  5. One takeaway from the quote is that if you’re writing with the intention of being paid or read, the writer should realize that their work shouldn’t be merely “self-expression” but should also take the reader into account as well. For example, if you’re writing a poem that is just littered with cliches, those cliches might be “true” to what you’re feeling, but no one, especially some who is well-read, isn’t likely going to get much out of it. So I think at least realizing that someone might be reading your work isn’t a bad idea.

    However, I do think there should be a delineation between entertainment and art. While there is often overlap, entertainment, for the most part, is passive while art engages, even if one doesn’t always like the latter. So while I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for a writer to just try to “entertain” the reader instead of writing some drivel, I would also like to see writers strive to do “more.” Even if it isn’t always the most fun/entertaining for the reader or themselves, the end result could still be more rewarding.

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  6. When I was maybe eight years old I thought I wanted to be a preacher. I liked the idea of only working one day a week, on Sundays. Once I learned that wasn’t the truth I abandoned that idea. Now I write but I don’t try to earn a living with it… I do it because I like to entertain myself.
    Hmmmm?

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