I keep hearing people say things like, "You should be a writer!" and while I am certainly flattered (oh, who am I kidding? I'm hella flattered), I always take this with a grain of salt. In my overconfidence, I sometimes entertain the idea of actually writing for a living. Then, I wake up from my daydreams, and reality returns.
It's cynical, but what success can really be had from writing? I look at my ability to write with others' ability to draw. It's not a perfect analogy, nor is it the only one, but I think it's the closest one to writing.
I've known many people who are extremely talented artists. Among those, very few of them have pursued a career in art. In fact, I can only name 2 from the top of my head. But, out of the dozens of talented artists I know, very seldom do I hear people tell them, "You should draw for a living!"
It could be that people do say that often to each other and that I'm just not around to hear it, but I think it's because people know that artists have an extremely difficult time making money from their craft.
In fact, I think my friends are just as talented at art as I am at writing, if not more so. Their skills involve perspective, shadowing and a controlling colors to make their compositions exactly how they want. Likewise, I have honed my own skills, like learning syntax and grammar rules and the mechanics of the various parts of speech. I feel smug saying that I'm a good writer, but it's the same thing as people showing off their drawings on their blog (or so I try to justify).
Anyway, that's why I don't think I'd make it as a writer, the same way people who are very good at drawing wouldn't make it, the same way great musicians are discouraged, the same way athletes eventually give up.
I don't have the gumption, and the unknown terrifies me back into reality.
Here's Dudamel conducting Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns's Bacchanale.
