*Do you think you could become an acclaimed novelist and would you be willing to try it?

Do you think you could become an acclaimed novelist and would you be willing to try it?

"I know nothing in the world that has as much power as a word.
Sometimes I write one, and I look at it, until it begins to shine."

~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

https://i.imgur.com/zCheRjz.jpg

do you, black swan?

Nope, I'm too lazy and untalented to write anything longer than a silly poem or a couple of one-liners ... and even if that weren't the case, the chance of commercial success is too slim to make such a labor worth it, imo.

No, but yes, I would try it.

I chased that dream for a while in my 20s. Wrote my first novel and submitted it unsolicited to a publisher who kept it for over 2 years before rejecting it. So I sent it out to another publisher who kept it for a year before rejecting it. I gave up on that novel and wrote another and went in search of an agent. I found an agent and sent him a synopsis of the novel and the first three chapters. He called me at home and told me with great excitement that he could sell my novel right away, send it to him, which I did. After he read it, he said that it had too many science fiction elements to it. I told him it followed the synopsis exactly. He revealed that he hadn't actually read the synopsis and could I rewrite the novel with less science fiction elements. I did. Three months later, he told me the second version still had too much science fiction to it. Could I rewrite it again? I declined. About this same time, I started hanging out with two groups of what I thought of as successful writers. I turned out that even people who were writing and selling multiple novels each year needed to have full time jobs to support themselves. There are essentially 3 layers of authors, A, B, and C level. The A level authors are the famous ones most people could name. B level are the ones that are successful enough to support themselves through writing. Most authors are C level authors, which means they don't make much money for a book. If mine had sold, it would have brought me somewhere around $2,500. My dream of being an author died somewhere around the time I realized all of that.

I probably could be a writer-- I've been told that I'm witty and eloquent-- but I don't consume enough alcohol to make it worthwhile.

I would be able to do so if I had a patron. As I don't have one, I have to earn my living (and care for my handicapped partner) and after work I am too tired to write. But I would prefer writing - I love it! (I know that I need several hours a day dedicated to writing, to be able to write "good" stuff).

I write short stories and novellas but I haven't attempted something really long and serious yet.

two kinda opposite stances on what it takes to become an accomplished writer that can offer the world literature something new:

youtube.com/watch?v=eMTDAHK-tkE
youtube.com/watch?v=bw2KXX7WrOY

which of these views seems to you more convincing?

@Black-Swan-22 said in #1:

Do you think you could become an acclaimed novelist and would you be willing to try it?

You honestly have no idea how much I want to write a massive-scale chapter book akin to the likes of the Inheritance series. I don't care if I become acclaimed; I just want to have that feeling of completing a story. So many rough drafts and ideas have been written yet none bear any fruit. OP also adds an asterisk in the the title of their threads.