Writing Why would you study creative writing if a good narrative doesn't guarantee popularity?

[Eldoria]

Just share your opinion. There are no right or wrong answers here.

 

[SouthernMaiden]

I have many thoughts. In general, this question could be applied to music, art, anything creative.

For me. I truly love art. I collect physical art from locals in my community. I commission art. Ive been reading forever. Own hundreds of books. I buy all my own music from the artists, large and small. Popularity doesn't figure into it at all.

Also, I want to contribute. Just a tiny bit. I wanna support creative people. I wanna collaborate with creative people. I wanna make people smile, or think with my work. Especially people who belong to my community.

Aaaaaand

Spoiler: This part is a bit schizo

Lastly. I think there are people alive today. Powerful, rich. And deeply evil. Who are trying to stifle human creativity, because they feed on human suffering. Directly and indirectly. They want us to consume want they want, think the thoughts they want, to be content with the scraps they give us. Artists are the ones who fight against this....giving us the ability to think and imagine something more.

 

[WineImmortal]

Lady Luck. When she smiles upon you, even dog poop is gold.

I have always hated the concept of luck, but it sure does exist... All one can do is try to reduce its impact.

Studying creative writing does exactly that. If you find Lady Luck smiling upon you, creative writing will make her smile harder.

 

[Avarice_Of_The_Seven]

A better question would be:

Why would you study at all if studying does not guarantee that you will land a job?

 

[AliceMoonvale]

A better question would be:

Why would you study at all if studying does not guarantee that you will land a job?

Ayyyy there's the real question!
Thanks to that, I've never studied at all!

 

[JayMark]

Because when people tell me to stop and beat me down, I just keep charging until I bleed out and collapse, for better or for worse.
If I survive, I get back up and do it again.

 

[RepresentingAnti-Representings]

Because at least then the 1 star reviews might say something nice about my writing

 

[YukieSama]

I want to look back and see that I improved even if I don't have a hit piece. The one thing I don't want is to look back and see that I remained the exact same and wasted years.

Also writing is complex and studying frameworks gives me the sense that at least I'm doing something right.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

Just share your opinion. There are no right or wrong answers here.

Is not exactly the opposite that a good narrative guarantees popularity.

 

[ThaddeusDeVilliers]

Aren't those two two separate things?

 

[Jerynboe]

Nothing guarantees anything and I don’t get to decide what constitutes a good narrative. Neither does any expert, be they YouTuber, marketing executive, legacy media reviewer, or random person in a forum. Thats a choice made in aggregate by everyone who chooses to engage with the story, and even then people can individually disagree if they think it is shit or that it’s amazing.

I want to make a good story for its own sake. I want to make the kind of story I would enjoy reading and trust that other people would like that too. I want to improve my lottery ticket level chances of turning this into a career or meaningful side hustle by making something that catches the eye and keeps people’s attention. I want to improve my craft for its own sake because this is my hobby, not my job.

There are so many reasons to want to study a subject other than the need for recognition, and almost all of them are more healthy to have as your primary drive than narcissistic desire for popularity.

 

[TheKillingAlice]

Just share your opinion. There are no right or wrong answers here.

That always depends on what "studying" means to an individual. I wouldn't say I'm studying it, per se, but I have been working on writing for over a decade and have held hour-long conversations with other people passionate about the craft, discussing and hypothesizing, reflecting on why you are writing things the way you do, and mirroring stories you read, to see what possible intent could have been going into that.
Whether that can be considered studying or not, I do it because I find it fascinating. Sure, I'm selling my books as well, because there's a certain range to books you are selling. They end up on lists and become "official", but all that depends on how you see it. In general, I just love stories, and I love telling stories. Bottom line is, that's all I care about when it comes to writing, so I try to refine the way I'm telling my stories, because that's why I'm doing it in the first place - to entertain someone, even for a minute; to make them wonder.
Compared to that, a little bit of work is nothing.

 

[Wamba2K]

Just share your opinion. There are no right or wrong answers here.

Because I wanna

 

[CharlesEBrown]

If you wish to be an artist of any stripe, you should study that artform any way you can, to learn what has been done before, what hasn't, and to figure out if you wish to emulate one or more of the Masters or find your own path.

 

[LiteraryWho]

Love of the game.

 

[Corty]

I never studied writing.

 

[Th3Breadnought]

Assuming I had the occasion to study creative writing meaningfully,

Because what's popular and what's qualitative are an overlapping distribution not perfect match, and studying creative writing could potentially help hone craft and broaden perspective. Maybe teach enough of what could help maximize reach without sacrificing creative vision.

But personally, sacrificing the story I want to tell for what is more popular or replicable would kill me inside, even if darkness occasionally claims me as I contemplate the likelihood of finding an audience.

 

[blushiemagic]

I don’t study creative writing, my brain just involuntarily vomits words onto the screen

 

[just_darkjazz]

Nothing guarantees popularity, you just try your best and hope. Writing for a small, or none at all, audience is no excuse to not do as good of a job as you can, nor is it one to not try to improve.

 

[code_sike]

You can write Isekai or gender bender or BL with the perfect formula curated to the masses. You can have your MC be overpowered and have all the things. You can have your readers keep consuming slop. But at the end of the day that will only get you good smuthub engagement (and a bunch of other sites, sure) for so long before you get burnt out on something you're not passionate about, your readers move onto the next work, and what did you end up accomplishing? Does that fulfill your itch to write? Hell no, unless its a great subversion of tropes which I've seen done well on here before. In those cases, cool, you have the wind at your back.

A good narrative doesn't guarantee popularity but it promises longevity, in my opinion. Take works like Re:zero, breaking bad, GOT, whatever. If you mean literally formally studying creative writing, getting experience with it yourself is probably preferable but doing both at the same time doesn't hurt.

It's the same question; do you write for yourself or for others? Both is good, too.

Spoiler: This part is a bit schizo

Lastly. I think there are people alive today. Powerful, rich. And deeply evil. Who are trying to stifle human creativity, because they feed on human suffering. Directly and indirectly. They want us to consume want they want, think the thoughts they want, to be content with the scraps they give us. Artists are the ones who fight against this....giving us the ability to think and imagine something more.

*cough* AI companies lobotomizing humanity *cough*