The Problem of Living on Your Laurels
-For the Uncensored!
(Note: Dr. Dre’s song really does talk about the way people dream about what real life famous people have.)
If being a successful artist is tiring, there’s more that people don’t realize. It’s when being successful starts to precipice the way your art is dictated.
Until the modern age of self-publishing and digital filmmaking, and crowd funding sites, e.g., Indiegogo and Amazon, Lulu, which saw major wins for independent artist to shine, which is undeniable for many, including yours truly. The condition is treated like a soft precarious anamoly. The time of creation is a precarious way for a starving artist. While working a full time job, the angst of never being able to finish something becomes a querulous condition. Between having a family life, a job you don’t want to be at, and then having no free time, it’s hard to compare to artists who were allowed to take their time and be successful. Resulting in books or films that exceed a massive budget and always resulting in no product being made. And if you did it without the publishers help, congratulations, you won. But there are conditions to your success.
The Hunger for More, which is the title of a Lloyd Banks album, is the way of most artists who have a story to tell. Being famous doesn’t make you happy. It’s responsibility. A fun responsibility, but then everyone is flooding your social media page. They want to know how you made it. They want to be your friend. Suddenly you’re getting lots of pussy pics sent to your dm, and suddenly, you feel like you have made it.
No matter how hard you slaved away at your job, you can finally tell your old co-workers to suck a dick, and retreat to the south of France and then live the life you want. But it’s hard being the famous one. To be controlled to a steady mob that will pay you to teach them what it took to be famous.
But that can’t be taught. Even if a writer gave you the secrets, it doesn’t mean the publisher will then accept it. Publishing is such a moving target that often times Twitter is the moving target for authors. They can see what there peers are interested in. But if you’re the type of author who loves post modernists like Cormac McCarthy and Thomas Pynchon, online peers don’t exist for you.
Unconditionally, being famous does help when someone tries to shit on you, and everyone can come to your defense. But that’s just part of resting on your laurels. No amount of twitter bots can make you a better writer. That’s just a tool. Not a facet of what your talent is. Social Media posts, for me, is the same as notepad paper. Nothing is set in stone.
But resting on your laurels also means you don’t have to work as hard or try and create something new that you haven’t achieved before. Laziness is the ultimate distraction to creative people, especially if they have a full time job.
How do you combat this? If you’re still famous, act like you’re not. Ignore it. Delete Twitter from your phone. Go for a walk and touch grass. For writers it’s probably easier because we’re all slaves to the imagination, and not social media hype. Being relevant doesn’t mean you’re always talented. It just means you can get in the door quicker than most people. People will be nicer to you, but you’re always going to be asked for autographs. Or taking screen shots to take a shit on you, to make you mad. Constantly trying to cancel you for everything and nothing. So, it’s not easy, but if all of this means being lazy enough to make the same thing, then you’re not a very good artist. You can still make something for your fans but also move away and make something you didn’t do before. It can be done, and all without resting on your laurels.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 20 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline Part 2: Chaos, The Data Chase, The Disintegrating Bloodline part 3: Solvè, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, The God of Curiosity, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouisBr88881650. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His newest book, The Voices Are Alive is out now: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/louis-bruno/the-voices-are-alive/hardcover/product-mvggdg.html?page=1&pageSize=4. Also, if you can’t subscribe so that you can get members only content, please be sure to share the articles, as well. If you do Subscribe, you have long term access to the paid articles that some readers won’t get to see or access after the articles/books go private. If that doesn’t tickle your pickle, I am also selling merch from t spring, if you want to help support me in other ways. I sell hoodies, shirts, phone cases, and trying to find something there loved ones would like. Links here: https://thereallouistbruno.creator-spring.com/listing/too-many-strings-not-enough. https://thereallouistbruno.creator-spring.com/listing/duck-fuckery. https://thereallouistbruno.creator-spring.com/listing/headless-corpo. Every little like, subscribe share, helps. Thanks for reading.