Recently I reread some old texts. I have these notebooks full of old writing from 2012 to 2016, where I scribbled ideas, started books, detailed worlds and characters, but never finished anything. It may sound a bit silly, but looking at those texts made me reflect on my career as a whole, and that is what I wanted to talk to you about today.
When did I decide I would be a writer? A question like that popped up in a Q&A box I posted on Instagram, and it is kind of strange to think about the answer, because, in fact, I never decided it. It happened. You know when you trip? You did not decide to trip; it is like an accident, it just happens. And as much as I love writing, making it my profession was almost a stumble in life. Actually, I would say it was a series of stumbles.
I studied physics for a few years, and I liked the science behind those numbers. I always believed scientific knowledge could change the world if it were better spread, and of course that is why I left physics for journalism: I really wanted to communicate science. After two years of journalism I realized that was not quite it… What I actually wanted was to write science fiction and leave everyone amazed by it. I was just masking a personal fantasy with reality.
Notice that at no point did I think “I want to make a living from writing”. I just wanted to write something cool; it did not even need to be big, or more than one book. Some people ask me whether life is easier when you know your purpose, as if I accepted that my purpose is to write until I die. I know it is not, but then what would it be?
Sorry, but throughout this text I will ramble a bit more than usual. I hope you do not mind, and of course, I hope you relate on some level.
The day I left everything behind…
On 10/26/2022 I saw an opportunity in a Facebook group. It had nothing to do with my field, nothing to do with anything I understood, but I still commented something like “Hey, I write some stories. If you want, I can help you with your project’s background.” It is funny to remember that, because I had no idea how much it could change EVERYTHING.
I had just moved out and made the smart decision to live with my girlfriend, now my fiancée. When you put yourself in a situation like that, your head starts processing information differently. First you start to understand that 99% of things are solved with money, then all you think about is making more money. That is dangerous.
The guy who made that post was an American businessman living in Texas, the son of Brazilians, and together with a partner he was starting a very bold project: building a competitor to the biggest webcomics site in the world. I did not know that when I commented on one of his random posts. He answered with a private message, asked a few questions, and we soon set up a meeting.
Of all the meetings I have had in my life, this was one of the fastest and most impressive. We spoke in a mix of Portuguese and English and agreed on a few simple things. He needed someone to manage a comics production team, and I needed money and knew how to write comics. It was the beginning of something “beautiful”. Suddenly I had a full-time job with an American company, leading a webcomic production team and writing scripts every single day. I could no longer pretend I was not a writer, and of course, I could no longer “waste time” in the journalism course.
I made the heaviest decision the next day, when I asked a professor I really like to talk and explained the whole situation. He replied: “Man, put the course on hold and throw yourself into what you love. If it works, it will change your life forever. If it goes wrong, you come back to the course.” He gave me the confidence I did not have, and he does not even know it. I agreed, put the course on hold and devoted myself to that job.
It was one of the decisions that most changed the course of my career, which makes it a good decision.
It was the decision that most hurt my career growth, which makes it a lousy decision.
It was the professional decision that earned me the most money, which makes it a great decision.
It was the decision that most took away my sleep, my peace and the psychological security I had, which makes it a terrible decision.
From then on, I started calling myself a writer.
Does writing pay?
Well… that is quite a question. I would say it depends. Most writers would probably say no. I say “it depends” for a few reasons I will list here.
1- If you only write books and publish them, whether with a publisher or independently, then no, writing will not make you rich. It might make some publisher rich, or maybe, with a lot of luck, effort, talent, magic and miracles, you manage such an absurd success that you earn more than you spend and it becomes your main source of income. But in general, without meaning to discourage you, writing to get rich is a far bolder ambition than people imagine.
2- If you write books, short stories, chronicles and poetry, publish it all, make some money (probably not much), and manage to monetize your knowledge through courses, mentoring, consulting and educational ebooks… yes, you can make some money from that. But I will tell you up front that I, like other professionals in the field, see huge red flags in the words “mentoring, consulting, course”, because the market really is saturated with charlatans who sell these things as magic formulas and miraculous “methods”, getting rich off other people’s ignorance without actually helping. I know a lot of them.
3- If you expanded your writing beyond books and studied scriptwriting, creative writing for games, comics, and so on. Now you are saying something that makes a lot of sense. This is where the trick is: broadening your horizons is what makes money in writing, knowing how to write more than one thing and doing it well. And by “doing it well” I do not mean going around saying you do it well; I mean showing results, having a portfolio. That way you can make money providing services. I have done that myself: I have written everything from American comics and short stories to dialogue for Chinese games and social media posts, and I made money from all of it, sometimes at the same time.
That said, “it depends” is the most accurate answer. I know how I made money from writing; I do not know how others did it, but I also know how others lost money, and that helps me point out where NOT to go. It is a complicated process, but it is a process, and like every good process it has stages, a step by step (which I could sell in a 997-real course, but here I am talking to you for free, because, as I understand it, democratizing knowledge helps me gain credibility as a person and as a professional).
Anyway… Let us change the subject a bit.
Writing games and the future of my career.
Right now 80% of my time goes to Asleep, and that is good. I have a job there, and writing Asleep is one of the high points of my career. I am VERY happy writing interactive narratives. But… what comes after? Well, at some point I will have written all the text this game needs. Maybe Black Hole Games will have new projects and new paths we can walk together, and it will be amazing to make more games with them. However, I do not know if this is the career I dreamed of, if I ever dreamed of it at all.
You see, I am a writer, and although I have made more money writing comics than games, there is a third path that was always my real dream, a path I set aside because it does not pay as well as the others and, above all, because it is more common, more competitive and much less fun. Books. I think I want to write more books. In fact, I have said this to my fiancée before: I feel that somewhere, at some point, there is or will be a person who will need to read something of mine. I do not know why or what for, but that person will need it, and I need to write that “something” so that, at the right moment, they read it and it helps them. Maybe it saves them.
That is the feeling that has been guiding my career, whether in games, comics or books: I need to write something, and I have not written it yet. When I do, I will know, and at that moment maybe I will stop. Then I will teach, or I don’t know… sell courses, mentoring and consulting hahaha.
That said… On to the announcement.
A new book
I have started writing a new book. That is right, I am writing a new book, and it is not a sequel to Contos de Anayr or anything like that. It is something unique, and I have never shown even a tiny excerpt of it.
It is an idea that has been gnawing at me for a few years, and I believe it is a great idea for my debut in print books. It is also one of those things I feel needs to be written, and that will help me sleep better when I finish it, no doubt. For now, this book is called “Project Crystal Tears”.
Soon I will share more details on my social media: the synopsis, chapter 1, maybe a prologue, and of course the cover too. I have just started and I have many plans for this story. For now, what I can say is that it will be a standalone book (no trilogies here :D) and it will be inspired by well-known universes from the world of fantasy literature.
For those who want to follow more of this writing, I will keep a video writing diary in some posts on my Instagram. I will alternate the diary videos with some reels about books, creative writing and fun facts. I hope you enjoy them. And if you get there because of this newsletter, let me know in the comments, I would love to know.
Reading recommendations
My goal is for this newsletter to be shorter than the previous ones, more direct, without so much “planning”, so it sounds more natural. Even so, I cannot help recommending two great books.
These are books that still help me today when I write anything.
ESCREVER FICÇÃO (WRITING FICTION): LUIZ ANTONIO DE ASSIS BRASIL
SYNOPSIS: “This is a book designed to help those who want to write fiction.” Writer and professor Luiz Antonio de Assis Brasil records here his experience over 34 uninterrupted years running the Literary Creation Workshop at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, and also the graduate program in creative writing at the same university.
From the perspective of a fiction writer talking to other fiction writers, he presents tools that are essential to a writer’s development. Averse to formulas, Assis stresses the role of constantly reading literary works for anyone who wants to become a fiction author ― and those works are the main references of his courses and of this essential handbook, written with the collaboration of writer and former student Luís Roberto Amabile.
WORDS FOR PICTURES: BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
SYNOPSIS: One of the most famous writers in contemporary comics, Brian Michael Bendis reveals the tools and techniques he and other top creators use to make successful comics and graphic novels. Bendis uses cult works such as Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, X-Men and others as examples to guide aspiring comic creators through every step of the production process — from idea to script to finished sequential art.
That is it, folks.
See you, explorers!
PS: If you are the author of any of the images posted in this issue of Prosa & Pixel, send me a private message so I can give you proper credit.
Originally published in Prosa & Pixel, on Substack. See it on Substack · Subscribe to Prosa & Pixel · All issues