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by AlotOfReading 1430 days ago
This whole "you aren't a real <x> unless you suffer through <y>" is just as unhealthy for authors as it is for programmers. Just because someone isn't grinding out leetcode on their lunchbreak or novellas on flights doesn't mean they don't have a genuine love and passion for the underlying art. Sanderson is an exceptional author, emphasis on exceptional. Most people would burn out at the pace he sets.
1 comments
buscoquadnary 1430 days ago
My point wasn't to say your aren't a real writer unless you write like he does it was to illustrate what a real love and burning passion is.

A lot of us here think we would love to but physicists as it is all so interesting but we can't because of our jobs. The greatest physicist since Newton couldn't get a job as a physicist but loved it so much that he spent any spare time he had working on it and thinking about it and obsessing over it.

If you really actually love something you'll find a way to do it, otherwise it's a hobby. Hobbies are good there is nothing wrong with it. But if you really feel a burning desire to do something you'd do it regardless of finances and time because you won't be able to stop yourself from doing it.

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AlotOfReading 1430 days ago
Speaking from personal experience, that's not true. I truly loved being an archaeologist, but I also enjoy the creature comforts of bathing, housing, and having access to the basic institutions of society like voting or dating. Pursuing one effectively meant giving up the others, so I returned to my more moderate (and financially rewarding) love of tech.
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meowzero 1430 days ago
I agree with you to some extent.

There are exceptions like your examples. There are probably others who do have strong passions where they obsess over their art and still want to move to a place where other artist like themselves are.

That's probably why Paris was the place to be if you were an aspiring impressionist painter in the 19th century. Renoir, Monet, etc probably were passionate about their art. And being in close proximity probably helped each other in positive ways.

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