The dangers of success

Brian G Turner

Brian G Turner

Fantasist & Futurist
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Headline reminds me of Notch.

I do think it can be a serious issue, but right now I'm not going to worry about what to do if I outsell the Bible and have more readers than Tolkien.

I think it might help to have goals which are not solely material/numbers-focused. I'm already worrying whether my current WIPs are up to the standard of earlier work. Hopefully, after achieving a degree of success which could be considered obscene, I'll continue to look at things that way.
 
I'd like to be able to test the hypothesis...

Anyway, I'm not hugely materialistic. A small house in a huge garden and some space for the kids, a Ferrari, and that's me. ;) After that, as much as could be given to good causes, my chums, my family and those I'm remotely fond of. None for any neighbours who kill my garden... :D
 
The reason I mention this is that I can't see myself ever not writing. I could have all the success in the world, but I will still be driven to explore story after story. I've already calculated that I could potentially write 16 novels in the world I've created, and I'm even exploring an unrelated series to research in case I take that up after them.

But in the past I have been without focus and drive, and it can be a horrible place to be. Especially for a creative person. I can only hope that Markus Perrson finds something new to engage himself with mentally.

And if there are any high points that cannot be repeated, that they are treasured and used for whatever value they have, with the generations after.
 
Perhaps Notch could use his money to set up some sort of scholarship to help aspiring games developers through education and their early career?

Well. I'd be better off tweeting that at him than musing idly here, but it's a thought.
 
Many years ago, before the dark times, I read a survey conducted in this country with regard to work, money, V/S happiness. Would you be willing to work less, earn less in order to have an improved lifestyle? The overwhelming response was yah to lifestyle. I'm poor, I mean really poor, unemployable in the current economic climate, and never happier. Without those distractions I am doing what I've always wanted to do. Write.
That having been said ... :whistle:
 
I imagine great success and affluence can be very isolating. Do you ring up your friends and say "who wants to go to an exclusive resort in the Caribbean with me?!" Do you pay their way, and always pick up the tab at dinner? That can't make for healthy relationships. People who buy homes like this are usually trying to fill some sort of void in their life with status symbols and material things.

There are few authors who reach that level of fame and affluence. But I do wonder how happy people like J.K. Rowling and GRR Martin are. Rowling has bodyguards for her kids. Martin can't walk around conventions unmolested anymore. They still write, which is good. However, Rowling is trying to prove to herself and the critics that she can be a successful and respected author outside the children's genre (the jury is out), while Martin seems oppressed by the enormous pressure to finish his series.
 
thaddeus6th said:
Perhaps Notch could use his money to set up some sort of scholarship to help aspiring games developers through education and their early career?

Well. I'd be better off tweeting that at him than musing idly here, but it's a thought.
Click to expand...

Judging by the articles about him and interviews with him over the last few years, I think we have largely heard the last of Notch except periodic updates on how many hundreds of thousands of dollars he gambled away in a single night and so forth.

As for the original topic, it is not something I will probably ever have to worry about. If it were, I would be exactly the sort of person it would be problematic for.
 
It depends what you mean by drive. When I did my interview recently for Tony Ballantyne's 'How Writers Write,' I tried to distinguish between two sorts of drive that I thought I perceived. There's the drive caused by something missing inside you - like Napoleon's drive for power, for instance - or the drive that comes from true inner creativity, which I visualise more like a volcano. Ultimately though, you do have to have tremendous persistence to get anywhere. I've been writing and/or having novels published for thirty years, and am to all intents and purposes unknown. I don't mind that, but it gives a sense of perspective. I think you can always tell a "true author" by the fact that they always write regardless of circumstances and levels of success.

I think it also depends how old you are when success comes along. If you're young, you're mostly sunk, unless you happen to have great perents and are really grounded. But most people aren't. Success in middle age, or later, is I should think a lot easier to deal with, because you have the experience to deal with it.
 
I like to think of it not some much as luck, but either positive or negative coincidence. Maybe that's just me.
 
Brian Turner said:
The reason I mention this is that I can't see myself ever not writing. I could have all the success in the world, but I will still be driven to explore story after story. I've already calculated that I could potentially write 16 novels in the world I've created, and I'm even exploring an unrelated series to research in case I take that up after them.

But in the past I have been without focus and drive, and it can be a horrible place to be. Especially for a creative person. I can only hope that Markus Perrson finds something new to engage himself with mentally.

And if there are any high points that cannot be repeated, that they are treasured and used for whatever value they have, with the generations after.
Click to expand...

I was sort of surprised to hear about this. I think it all depends on what your personality is. If you are a type A personality, you will figure out something to do even before you finish the current project you are working on. I have never really been depressed in my life like this. There are always inspirations out there for my work and new things to discover. If one of my projects ever got successful (which I dream about often) then that would just allow me to have more creative freedom to work on the next thing. AKA I can quit my day job. Of course, you can try and fail many times after your one hit wonder, but at least you can say you tried. I don't think this guy is even trying. He seems to just be sitting in his house all by himself and getting fat! For a millennial video game designer it is quite shocking to hear that he can't find something else to sink his Billions into. I wonder if he regrets selling Minecraft and if the deal bothers him, this could explain his lack of motivation for trying anything new. Fear of repeating that process.
 
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