My Writing Goal Is To Become The Best Asian Writer Of All Time. What's Yours?
Why we should set bigger targets.
“At the end of the day, you have to feel some way. So why not feel unbeatable. Why not feel untouchable. Why not feel like the best to ever do it?” — Conor McGregor
I’ve always been a grandiose kind of guy.
I’ve been like that for as long as I remember. When it comes to things I don’t care about — maths, school, other people’s opinions, I cannot bring myself to give a single fig. But I am ultra-competitive when it comes to things I do care about.
And I care about writing. So much so that I took the leap to become a full-time writer last month. There’s very little money in this (for now) but things have reached a boiling point in my life. I no longer enjoy fighting or entrepreneurship the way I used to; I can no longer even pretend to enjoy it. Like Bukowski said, “I have one of two choices — stay in the post office and go crazy…or stay out here and play writer and starve. I have decided to starve.”
Things are not all doom and gloom, though. I am enjoying the ride, terrifying though it may be. And I have spotted a chink in the armour, a ray of light, breadcrumbs on the forest floor leading away from Baba Yaga’s hut towards the promised land.
I believe that the literary scene — particularly the Asian literary scene, is ripe for disruption. Ripe, in other words, for the taking. Here’s why.
The Rise Of Self-Publishing Means Writers Have More Power
Nicolas Cole has written about this at length, and I agree with him.
Just two short decades ago, if you wanted to make any money at all as a novelist, the only route was through a publisher. There were two criterias you had to fulfil to be considered a successful author:
- To be signed to a big publishing house, and
- Be gifted a fat advance.
Self-publishing was seen as a fringe, almost shameful thing to do back then, but things are different now. With the advent of the internet, self-publishing is increasingly popular for one simple reason — it can be much more lucrative than traditional publishing.
Business savvy authors are able to leverage the internet and use simple marketing tactics to ensure their books sell well; either on their own website or on third party sites like Amazon, thus cutting out the middleman that are traditional publishing houses. This not only allows authors to keep the bulk of the profits, it also allows them to retain 100% creative control of their work.
This is an extremely powerful thing, and writers are only just beginning to wise-up. With the rise of the internet and consequently self-publishing, I believe that the age of the starving artist is over, and that the future is very, very bright for writers — and indeed all artists who understand the game and know how to play their cards right.
I believe that in a couple of decades, content creation will not only be seen as a viable career but a highly-regarded one, equal to the doctors, lawyers and dentists so lauded in Asia.
Which brings me to my next point…
There Is Very Little Competition In Asia
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe I’m the top Medium writer in my home country of Singapore.
I’m not trying to brag. I’m trying to highlight how ridiculous it is that someone with a handful of thousand followers like me, who only started writing seriously on Medium a few months ago, can literally be the best in his country on a huge platform like this.
The reasons for this are manyfold, but the biggest one is that Asia as a whole still retains a very conservative mindset when it comes to one’s chosen career path.
I’m going to get laughed at for suggesting in my previous point that artists will be regarded with the same respect as professionals, but my dear haters, if you understand your history, you wouldn’t be so quick to mock.
In Ancient China, artists were highly esteemed. Poets like Li Bai and Du Fu were venerated wherever they went, gaining the patronage of lords and Emperors alike. It was only in recent times, with incidences such as Mao’s crackdown on intellectuals that people would rather slave their lives away in factories rather than strive to be the playful creators they were born to be. You’ve been robbed of your own history, and your mockery is born out of willful ignorance.
But as I’ve mentioned in the first point, I believe that art is going to undergo a massive paradigm shift in the next couple of years. I believe that a new cultural revolution is coming, one where Asian artists who display the best combination of business acumen and artistic moxy will regain the rightful wealth and prestige that was lost to us so long ago.
And I look forward to leading the charge.
There Is No Reason For You Not To Be The Best At a Long-Term Game
Next year, I’ll be moving to Thailand to become a full-time novelist. My goal is to be a standout writer, the standout novelist of Asia, and be mentioned in the same breath as my heroes. Hemingway, Bukowski, Fante, Wilde, King, Hesse, Gaiman, Rothfuss, Martin.
Some might say that I’m getting ahead of myself, seeing that I have yet to publish a single book and all. To these people, I have two things to say: Number one, I am only 25. Like fine wine and great writers, I can only get better with age. I have decades to refine my craft, and the finished product shall be infinitely better than the one you read before you now. Number two, I believe in something that can be best summed up by this Tim Ferris quote:
“Ninety-nine per cent of people in the world are convinced they are incapable of achieving great things, so they aim for the mediocre. The level of competition is thus fiercest for ‘realistic’ goals, paradoxically making them the most time and energy-consuming.”
Before this story ends, I’d like to reiterate that I’m not trying to come across as an egoistic kid. I am a big proponent of the power of positive affirmations — hence the name of my publication. And besides, this is, like it or not, the way I am built. Like Tyson said, “I’m a dreamer. I have to dream and reach for the stars, and if I miss a star then I grab a handful of clouds.”
I’m a grandiose kind of guy. The kind of guy that must do his best to get to the top. The kind of guy that’s gunning for the title of the best Asian writer to ever do it. And if I miss, overreach, and fall?
Then I’ll satisfy myself with a handful of clouds.