Is it impossible to be wealthy and successful, and also be a great writer?

Is it impossible to be wealthy and successful, and also be a great writer?

So I'm 27 and I'm earning close to £100,000 already, yet I also intend to publish novels at some point in the future. I already have various contacts in the London publishing scene so getting my work read shouldn't be a problem (when I begin to submit it).

Do you think my wealth and background will be against me when it comes to pitching the first novel I write to agents? Or, will readers read an interview by me and feel less inclined to read my work due to my success?

Wealth =/= success

I don't think it really matters.

What I mean is that socio-economically speaking (and socially etc) I am doing far better than most of my peers. Granted I expected to be in this position considering my background, but still I realize how insidious class resentment is. Especially perhaps in the UK.

No, of course not. Seneca for example was extremely wealthy and one of the greatest Roman authors.

Read a fucking book, ignoramus.

It would definitely help for you to play down your class. Don't try too hard to conceal it, but try to avoid mentioning it except vaguely and in passing if asked directly.

no, of course not, although most rich authors inherited. you should ask yourself why you want to be a "writer." also check out nescio

I'm really just talking about contemporary fiction. I can't think of a single author from the past fifty years who succeeded in the world of business (specifically finance) and then went on to become a best-selling author. The closest examples I can think of are: Madison Cooper and perhaps Sherwood Anderson.

But might this not be considered duplicitous? I would rather be frank about my background, and of course I am by no means guilty or embarrassed by my success, it being down to hard work after all.

The whole "they might hate me because I'm better than them" attitude makes you seem like a twat. I'd worry more about that coming across in your work.

An author is almost as much a "product" as his actual work. This is especially true in the UK. If you were some old-money tweedy sort of creature that would be alright, but people will tend to see you as some flyboy, flashy, arrogant type. Saying that it's all the result of hard work is also not helpful.

Again, I'm not saying that you should put on a flatcap and take up smoking. On the other hand you have to make sure not to come across as arrogant, because the term "posh twat" will always be in the back of their heads.

>of course I am by no means guilty or embarrassed by my success, it being down to hard work after all.
No, you don't sound embarrassed, though you certainly seem insecure. I mean, why else would you feel the need to humblebrag about your success?

>"I just want to know if my success will be an impediment"
Cut the shit. What is this REALLY about?

Well to deny the fact I have worked hard from 8:30am to 7pm for the past four years in an intense, high-pressure work environment would be to do myself a disservice I'm afraid. i could perhaps have settled for a less stressful, boring office job which ended at 5:30pm but I am naturally an ambitious kind of guy. Also I'm not necessarily "old money", and don't fit that stereotype considering I'm not the son of a duke or royalty. I am a hard-working person from a hard-working family, I just don't want that to count against me when the time comes to start pushing my work out there to the public.

Why don't you ask your buddies in the London publishing scene instead of a bunch of NEETs on the internet, big shot?

I am not really bragging, I am merely stating that relatively speaking I am very successful for my age, and earning far more than most meaning there are grounds for others to resent me or dismiss me as unworldly or out-of-touch with the life of the average person.

>finance
>London
>contacts in the publishing world

Are you Jewish OP? Don't lie.

I visit this forum from time to time and find it quite insightful on certain issues. I also acknowledge that Veeky Forums itself provides something of a frank mode of conversing which is otherwise lacking in much real-life discourse. I am merely curious about your thoughts, particularly fellow Brits.

Why is that an issue? I don't think my religious background is that important. At least here in the UK we Brits have no real interest in such things any more.

that's because most people who are reasonably successful in one field and then go on to become writers tend to write about the thing they were successful at. examples: john grisham (practised law for several years, writes novels about lawyers), edwina currie (MP for several years, writes novels about politics)

but the world of finance doesn't tend to produce that many interesting stories unless you do something daft like nick leeson or bernie madoff in which case the after dinner speaking circuit is probably more likely (once you get out of prison)

many successful business people have published autobiographies or non fiction books about their specialist areas, of course.

You're larping again.

>I am not really bragging
Uh huh. I work with a lot of successful people. People often tell me I'm successful, too. I find it hard to believe that people can get so far in their careers without learning that people will be able to read between the lines and discern people's subconscious motivations. But I guess there are always exceptions. Let me spell it out for you: truly successful people who possess true introspection don't make blog posts like this.


Anyways, to answer your question, plenty of bestselling authors were successful in another career path before going into writing. Michael Crichton was on his way to becoming a very successful doctor. Isaac Asimov was a professor of biochemistry. I could go on, but I have a strong feeling you're going to say "but that's different! You see..." How do I know this? I know it because I know how to read between the lines.

Aha, gotcha. The thing is I don't work in a major corporation, so I am out of the loop, so to speak, in regards to the potentially sinister goings-on within said companies. My own writing is similar to that of Graham Greene, Ian McCewan and Julian Barnes.

I wasn't aware of Michael's Crichton's past. Fascinating. Thank you.

This is either someone with limited pschological development or a troll with limited psychological development. So that is what it is really about.

Kike alert

I mean, there’s tons of rich successful authors, even if they aren’t from business.

I highly doubt Pynchon is hurting for cash, and he still gets published.

He means pre-first novel obviously.

nassim taleb

not fiction

bump

There are literally books about elves killing goblins and shit by professors of Anglo-Saxon literature, you earning 4x the average salary isn't going to blow minds any more than me writing a book whilst having a big dick

>I also intend to publish novels at some point in the future. I already have various contacts in the London publishing scene so getting my work read shouldn't be a problem (when I begin to submit it)
>yet I also intend to publish novels at some point in the future
>I already have various contacts in the London publishing scene
>so getting my work read shouldn't be a problem
>(when I begin to submit it)
Yeah I'm sure everyone is eager to read your unbelievably obnoxious garbage you stupid fucking cunt, sage.

>Well to deny the fact
>would be to do myself a disservice I'm afraid
>I am naturally an ambitious kind of guy
>I am a hard-working person from a hard-working family
>start pushing my work out there to the public
Oh please give us a sample of your 'writing' you insufferable retard, have you ever even read a book let alone written one?

>Yes I am a jew

Is this the same individual? I don't understand the hostility, though I apologize if my tone appeared to be somewhat arrogant. I didn't mean it that way, nor did I create this thread in order to boast. I am simply curious about you guys think about the subject of artistic background / biography and so on.

I mean yes, I am. Though again I don't see how that's relevant?

Tolstoy was fuckin rich

NiBBa u must be bait
Anyway, why the fuck do you want to comercially succeed in the field of literature given the fact that you don't need it? I don't think you'll have to worry about having to confront the public opinion on your biography at less you plan on becoming a crappy best seller author. Why don't you just focus on your literature being actually good instead of convincent? Why do you even worry about whether you'll be allowed to go in the literature game with all of your professional and financial credentials or not? It's like you just want to add literature to your CV. You could just write with a pseudonym or self publish. Even starting your own small independent and comfy publishing house.

Because I know that financial success, as reassuring as it may be, is not the be-all-and-end-all of life and that personal satisfaction involves more subjective achievements, in my case travelling (i.e. ticking various cities / countries off my bucket list), marrying and having children, establishing a home of my own, and publishing a novel or three.

>i dont see how me being a jew is relevant

hmm
>starts thread off asking whether the fact that he is "successful" will make him a bad writer
>clearly oblivious to the fact that you can be a good writer no matter where you are in life
>subtle, humble brag about personal accomplishments but not any submission of his work for critique

its all stinks of kikeberg and virtue signaling. thread is over please do not give him any more attention, he didn't deserve any to begin with.

>have nothing written yet
>already worrying about being a best selling author

Never gonna make it.

No issue but every single Jewish person I know in the UK is well-connected and easily middle-class. Good for you guys I guess.

Jews are objectively superior to "whites". Jews should in all seriousness be allowed to rule over us like the cattle we are. We are nothing without the based Jews.

This was a fairly interesting troll, in terms of what usually passes for that here. You made the dweebs on here pretty insecure at least. I wonder if I know who you really are. Does your name start with the letter T?

Why would you know the first name of a troll?

This sounds like a guy I know.

Wealthy? Yeah, sure. Successful? Nah, people who led unsuccessful and unhappy lives usually tend to write more interesting stuff. I'm guessing whatever you write will be probably boring shit and not worth reading unless you led a suffering life.

The only one I can think of is TS Eliot, who did work at a banking firm in London before going to work at a publishing company, but he was an old school WASP with a great inner life and calling to poetry.

No, think about the authors who went into law first. I’m sure John Grisham was doing pretty well for himself before he wrote his first book.