This is just for fun. But, come on now, we've all thought about it. Dreaming what you would do with money and/or fame. I would pay off my parents' mortgage, all my student loans and buy a condo in a city or a cottage in Vermont. As you can see I have a lucrative and thriving writing career in my daydreaming. And, yes, the movie deal really changed my life. In two years when the movie hits theaters, I can expect to be in high demand for future project. Can you hold? The New Yorker is on the phone. LOL. Wouldn't it be nice? I don't know. Maybe if I publish in some quarterly it could help me get a date with a hipster. Dreaming big. That's what I'm doing.
I'm not sure I'd ever be happy with the fame. I'm not deluded into thinking it's a possibility, but I think we've all toyed with the idea of being famous for one thing or another. I'm a really private person, introverted, quiet. I don't think fame would work well with my personality. I'd be one of those people in the tabloids for losing my temper in a public place, haha.
I wouldn't care to be famous but it would be cool to quit my day job. All I'm really interested in is a log cabin on private land. The more money I had the more acres and better land (a stream, pond, etc) I would go for but nothing over the top. I'm a simple man but I'm sure if I was rich I would find new things I would want
I wouldn't say I'm deluded. I'm a realistic person, but sometimes we have to ask ourselves why we are doing this. And by "this" I mean all the crazy attempts to get published. And then it's kind of nice to think what if all writing I've done pays off big time? What if? That's all.
N No, no, man. You misunderstood what I mean by the deluded comment, haha. I didn't mean you were; I was just qualifying my post because I would have felt lame talking about it without having said that first, haha. It's great to think about the what-ifs.
Of course not. I have unrealistic goals. Me, a famous and successful writer? Big acreage in the Pacific Northwest (probably southern BC), big dream house with the world's best den/library! Wood-burning fireplaces! Music room! Home theater with giant screen! I actually have a big, big wish list.
I'd retire and work on book two, small house on a cliff overlooking the Puget Sound, or maybe a place in Big Sur, definitely small. I've been in a large house for the last 25 years. I want small with a view and someone else to do the yard work. The biggest difference, finally take down the shingle and focus on writing.
Well, now that we're being honest. The day I become a famous author is the day I subtly (but firmly) reveal to everyone my intellectual superiority. There are ways to rub it in- interviews, dinner declinations, etc. I also have a letter for WF written in my head.
Interesting thread. I think my advancing age (67) has something to do with it, but I certainly don't want fame. I would hate being recognised on the street. I hate being at the beck and call of people. I like people, make no mistake, but I like a modicum of control over my interaction with them. I might accept a few invitations to be a guest at book festivals (if it didn't involve traveling a lot) but that's about it. Okay, I could do a few book signings as well, but again, not all that far afield. What I would really love is a special place to write, and to dream. Someplace with a lovely view of nature (but not a busy view) that is mine. A comfortable old-fashioned room with plenty of places to store all my books and research materials, a comfortable big desk for my desktop computer (which I prefer to a laptop), a comfy chair at the desk, plenty of storage space. A comfy recliner armchair. A mini-kitchen with a fridge and hot plate where I could make a cup of coffee and have a snack or two during the writing day. Maybe a pull-out bed where I could take a nap, if the mood came on me. And of course an ensuite bathroom, just for me. This getaway could be an upstairs room in my old-fashioned Victorian dream home (with bay windows and a window seat.) Or a separate small house that's just at the end of the garden, that's easy to get to in all weathers. Most of all, I want this to be a place I can retreat to, and that NOBODY BOTHERS ME. I would have a phone in case I needed to call somebody, but I would keep the ringer turned off. The problem with fame is ...when do you find time to write? If everybody is pestering you all the time, and you have to be out and about promoting yourself, when do you write?
I'm split. The more restrained side of me would probably keep a relatively low profile. Work under a pseudonym... nice house away from it all... experience life with as little publicity as possible. The 20-something year old side of me would probably flaunt the money and fame and constantly look for sex. I suppose I'd have my days. Maybe one house in the country and one downtown somewhere? Drive my lambo from one to the other with a model in the passenger seat?
Haha, a truly intellectually superior person would have no desire to do any such thing. Only people who feel inferior to others try to prove how superior they are.
Thank goodness you're wrong. Can you imagine how many scientific discoveries would not have been shared if you were right? :O
Nah, there's a difference between making achievements and using those achievements to hold oneself up as superior to others. More capable in a given field, maybe. But superior -- that's just insecurity and vanity talking.
Honestly nothing would change for me other than buying a studio apartment for myself to live in. I'd still game with my friends (on X-Box Live like I did this morning or board games like Forbidden Island like I did roughly two hours ago at a friends game night get together) I'd still try to experience new things like raves (was dragged to one on Wednesday night but it ended up being pretty fun) and I will still write and try and keep a low profile. As far as anything else changing I think I'd visit the U.K. or move there like I have always wanted to but really other than that not really much to say about it. If people come up to me knowing my work I'll try and be as good a person as I can and as nice as I can but I can say I'd probably still be an asshole to anyone who is that way to me. I honestly just want people to read my stories and be entertained by them, I don't much care about anything else.
See I don't see that, I see my "famous" days the same as my "future" days. Some crappy apartment in the big city, taking the bus or walking everywhere and wearing old clothes and generally keeping to myself. I like people but I would hate the attention of so many people (hence why I love the idea of living in a big city, you can easily disappear in one to get away from everything).
That probably would mean your writing would stay afloat, which is good. Sometimes living the idealised life can wreck your contact with the real world, which might be what got you writing in the first place.
- Living someplace remote at the ocean - any ocean, just not too southerly. I like my UK rains and the cold. - University enrollment with regular classes - Days like clockwork, with mind-blowing holidays in between That's about it.
Have my own house in Wales or Scotland (two bedroomed at most, not too big). Go camping and walking regularly. Get some of those really posh notebooks. Ah, bliss.
Because those discoveries weren't shared to prove your superiority. Mostly. They were for the benefit of their use. And no, it's not an absolute. Some smart successful people like to rub it in and revel in it. But most don't feel they need to prove it or show it off, because it's already kind of stated. It's a bit petty to do since admiration is best when properly earned, kind of a cheap goal. "Any man who must say I am the king is no true king."-Tywin Lannister.