Its Okay to be a Writing Sellout

Its Okay to be a Writing Sellout A long time ago I had high artistic ideals. I wanted my work to change the world, to bring awareness to important issues, and to be great. That lasted until I was out of college. Thats when I realized that I had to eat, pay rent, and fill up my gas tank. High ideals went out the window in favor of any job that paid. And since I graduated in the middle of the 1990s recession, the bar wasnt all that high. I took a fair amount of advertising and marketing work, shilling useless products to people who probably didnt need them. But I got the bills paid, even if my work wasnt world-changing in any way. A few years out of college, I met a former friend who was still clinging to his ideals. You can guess the state he was in. He didnt have a job and was living with his parents. He had no social life or real work. But, dammit, his ideals were still pure. He was still cranking away on his literary masterpiece. In his parents basement. While I was far from rich, Id managed to cobble enough money together to have my own place, a car, and a few extras. I felt superior to him in just about every way. You sold out, he accused me. I had no choice. Work of high artistic merit doesnt pay the bills. That stuff isnt important. Your work should change the world. Be important. Not just be some drivel on the side of a cereal box. Yes, but I also need money to live. These jobs pay my bills. Sellout, he said, shaking his head. I think I was supposed to be insulted. I wasnt. While I dont live for money and I dont chase the Joneses, Im well aware that everyone needs money to exist in this world. Earning money through legitimate work isnt a terrible thing to do. In fact, its pretty darn noble. Im sure if youd asked my friends parents they would have preferred having a sellout for a son over a mooch. There is nothing wrong with taking jobs to pay your bills. You may not be crafting life altering prose when you write that ad for weed killer, but you are earning money with your skills. You only become a sellout if you let that kind of work permanently derail your higher dreams. If youre writing marketing brochures by day and working on your novel or Pulitzer winning article by night you havent sold out, youve just made a realistic decision to keep your head above water and feed yourself/your family. You might even find that selling out can be a good thing. Work that gives you a credit can be a pathway to better things. You never know who will see your work and ask you to work for them. One job may lead to another until you are suddenly being paid to produce work of high artistic merit. (Incidentally, some of the greatest artists in history became famous after they sold out.) The money you earn from selling out can also be used to buy more education or better supplies which may speed you on to that ideal job. Getting yourself out there and earning money is rarely a bad thing. The exception is that you should never take work which goes against your moral principles. Sometimes you have no choice but to work against your beliefs, as when your jerk of a boss demands that you work on a campaign for fur or be fired, even though youre vehemently opposed to the fur trade. You may have to do it because you dont have enough money saved to tell the jerk to shove it. (But youll quickly learn to save money and find a better job so that youre not in that position again.) If you have a choice, though, dont sell your soul. Try to find jobs that align with your beliefs, if not your definition of great writing. And try not to take work that will impact you negatively later. Writing that script for a hard core porn movie may net you a boatload of money, but chances are someone down the road is going to frown on that one. Just try to look forward and think about how this job will be seen later when youre applying for another job. Most employers wont care that you took sellout work like advertising, low budget movies, brochures, and infomercial scripts, but they may not look so favorably upon things written for certain industries or fringe causes. (In other words, if you have to write the porn script to pay for groceries, for heavens sake, use a pen name.) Artistic snobs like to call those of us who get paid for less-than-ideal jobs sellouts. But theres nothing wrong with selling out. Id rather be a sellout with a place to live, food to eat, and a cared-for family than a parasite living off of my parents or society. High ideals and great writing have their places and are certainly worth striving for. The reality check is that you have to pay your bills. Fortunately, we live in a world that requires a lot of words to explain (ads, manuals, web sites, easy to read books, brochures, etc.) and offers a lot of jobs for those who are willing to do the work. Id rather work than not. I still work on my idealistic projects, but I admit that I took the money and ran a long time ago. Im a sellout, but a sellout with a good life.