I can honestly say that I love all the writing work I do. Every article I wrote for Ars Technica was a labor of love, even though I got paid. My novels are as well.
I still have a day job (although I did write full-time for Ars for a couple of years) so this is a luxury I can afford. But I’m still happy to be able to do it.
I would also posit that the only way to be successful as a writer is to write about things you love. If you try to chase popular topics or genres without loving them, this cynicism will show in your writing and it won’t be much fun to read.
Your comment got me thinking about what I love to write.
And it produced this, which I am loving to write.
Because it is transformative (for me).
Because the realization that what I love to write is writing that transforms me -- a new reification of several ideas that oscillate in my low frequency thoughts.
Which puts writing for money in the light of is-the-money-tranformative? I mean the statistically likely best possible option is getting paid enough to write to quit a less satisfying way of making money. The choice is between proverbially pumping gas and writing for most people, not between two amazingly fulfilling creative options.
To me, the real question is is producing nothing more fulfilling than producing the best I can?
I still have a day job (although I did write full-time for Ars for a couple of years) so this is a luxury I can afford. But I’m still happy to be able to do it.
I would also posit that the only way to be successful as a writer is to write about things you love. If you try to chase popular topics or genres without loving them, this cynicism will show in your writing and it won’t be much fun to read.