What are your thoughts on "Writing is like prostitution?"

1. 81

   kallini2010posted 13 years ago

   What are your thoughts on "Writing is like prostitution?"
   
   How do feel about the quote by Moliere “Writing is like prostitution. First you do it for love, and then for a few close friends, and then for money.”?
   
   

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2. 60

   Merlin Fraserposted 13 years ago

   I think he got it ass backwards,
   
   First you do it thinking you'll make money, then you seem as if you are only doing it for a few close friends however in reality you are doing it just for the love of it....
   
   As a writer I think I'm pretty good but I think I'd make a lousy prostitute, I'd probably have so much fun I'd forget to charge .....!

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3. 61

   Tirzah Laughsposted 13 years ago

   Depends on how you see writing but I think for many writers it's true.  You start writing because you love it, your addicted to it, it feels so good.
   
   Then you write to help a few people with projects or to give them some fodder for their blogs or to post on pages like hubpages.  IT builds your name with your 'friends'.
   
   Then many start curbing their topics or  changing their endings to make their work more 'sellable' to the general public.
   
   Yourself, Friends, Prostitution.
   
   But some ony write for themselves.  Their writing is true to themselves but when they die, it usually dies with them.  BUt it is usually the best and worse we have to offer.  Work that is created without an audience in mind, is freer to go in new uncharted directions.
   
   So writing CAN be like prostitution.  Some writers like James Patterson write what sells and care very little for the words they churn out.  Others, it's a labor of love and to change any little word would destroy the piece in their mind.  Love or Money--isn't that always the choice?

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4. 0

   blake4dposted 13 years ago

   I think that for one thing your answer will vary greatly depending on if you are a prostititue, if you are a john, if you have been either one or both ever in your life, or if you have not. And unforunately everyone of those persons will be equally unbalancedly bias based on their perspective even if they are not prejudice toward the question. Personally that particular quote makes the writer sound like a regular John and pretty much an idiot.
   
   Writing is like prostitution in that everyone has their own interpretation. And often your best ideas are lost when your pen runs out of ink.
   
   By the way, I got my Adsense account permanently suspended when I used the word prostitution and interviewed such a person about their career. So you should be careful about your question. It is a word that will cause Google to red flag you. Although you are probably safe at this point.

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5. 60

   duffsmomposted 13 years ago

   I think that if what the quote says is true, then anyone who does a job for money would fit into that category.  Truthfully, it is like most quotes, it has only as much meaning as we want it to have.

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6. 62

   Jarnposted 13 years ago

   Guess I was born a whore then, because I was always in it for the money.

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7. 62

   Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

   There are a lot of things people do  because they love something, and figure that's how they'd like to make a living.  There's a difference, though, between loving someTHING and loving someONE.  So that's one point.
   
   Something else is there's a difference between something someone "first does" because he loves someone, and then later does (with someone else) for money.
   
   Most people who "do a certain thing" only with someone they love, don't then do the same thing "for a few close friends".  That's another difference.
   
   The big difference is, of course, that the one thing prostitutes do for money is just that one thing.  It's a completely different thing from writing, and it's something that comes from a completely different motivation than any other professional does.  Writing can come from intellectual, emotional, spiritual, altruistic, artistic, financial, or other motivations.  The motivation for prostitution is financial (or, I suppose it could be physical in some cases).  Another motivation for prostitution can be intimidation by a third party.
   
   So, basically, (and maybe this is "just me") I think the quotation is stupid.   

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8. 61

   Julie Simmondsposted 13 years ago

   I think we all have a little prostitute in us

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