Thursday, August 30, 2018

Writer TV: Lifestyles Of The Poor & Wannabe Famous




Robin Leach, once the host of the entertaining television show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, died at the end of August.  With his passing, I was inspired to imagine a show dedicated to authors:  Lifestyles of the Poor and Wannabe Famous.

Most writers know that penning books is not a lucrative deal for the vast majority who peddle their creative talents.  But they also know that some, however low the percentage, do break through and make a pretty good living from their passions.

Maybe a television show dedicated to highlighting the lifestyle of writers, from the undiscovered raw talents to the best-selling, wealthy authors, would help usher in a new era for the writing class.

Writers – and the public – need to understand and fully appreciate what our creatives go through to pursue their dreams.  What fuels the writings of an author?  How does the author co-exist in the world he imagines onto paper and the one he must navigate in reality? How do authors survive the lean years without killing their hopes completely? How do writers view fame and fellow writers?  How do writers define acceptance? How do writers think – and feel and react to the life they are thrust into?  How do writers really live- their lifestyles, habits, relationships, health and mental state?

This could be powerful TV!

Robin Leach had a passionate personality, so enthusiastically thrusting himself into uber wealthy people’s homes and lives.  He let us experience whatever his peering camera explored, leading us with a distinctive voice and curious but charming way of probing.  

For people to appreciate today’s author, what voice or personality would be appropriate?

Writers are not necessarily a homogenous group.  Indeed, writers span the ages, races, religions, and socio-economical classes.  A southern senior may be a totally different person and writer than a northeastern millennial or a black Californian gay man.  Writers are as varied as the nation itself, perhaps filled with more diversity than any other occupation.

But to be a writer, regardless of genre, ties a group of people together.  They are attached not just by the words they use or the screens they touch to click out a masterpiece, but by a spirit.  The soul of the writer, at times, can seem like it’s shared by all writers.  It is the essence of the writer’s being that a TV show should seek to capture.

Would such a show get good ratings?  Would advertisers find a calling here?  Would the writing community tune in to a show that too closely mirrors the lives of its members? Should the show be more aspirational than reflective?  Shall it take us to where we hope to go as writers – or inspire others to become writers?

Leach’s show appealed to the dreaming viewer who wanted to live what he or she saw on the TV screen.  Viewers may have felt jealousy and envy, but they also felt pleased to have access – however distant and voyeuristic – to actually look at the lives they can only dream about.  

Could a TV show for writers help writers dream to be better – or will it merely affirm to writers that their story is the same as others who seek to pen their riches?

What if a TV show searching for truth and reality about writers has a negative impact, showing the public that writing is not as easy as it looks, that the writer’s lifestyle is far from glamorous?  What if it turns people off from writing?

Writing chooses writers.  Those who pick up the pen or pound the keyboard as if searching for the write code that allows them to enter into the kingdom of fame and fortune, write because it’s their destiny.  They may not even have a choice. Circumstances, thoughts, and certain events conspired to place them right where they are on the writing spectrum.  There’s free will but writers know who they are long before they know much of anything else.  They find a natural ease in moving words around to accurately fit a moment, as if they were working in an airport tower and guiding hundreds of planes to land or take-off safely and in a synchronized manner. So many moving parts – but the writer knows where they all belong.

Robin Leach may have been the right man at the right place.  If not him, someone would have created a TV show about rich and beautiful people.  Everyone is curious to see how the elites live.  They want to hang on and dream in the backyards filled with mansions, private jets, huge yachts, and hot spouses.  Will people be eager to see the disturbed inner thinkings and impoverished surroundings of a struggling writer?

“Tune in next week for another insightful episode of Lifestyles of the Poor and Wannabe Famous, where we go on location to one man’s basement where he lives as an unwed 32-year-old with his parents. Watch as he pens what could be the next  Great American novel – or the very next impetus for dozens of publisher rejections.”


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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and IBPA’s Independent.  This was named one of the best book marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America and participated in a PR panel at the Sarah Lawrence College Writers Institute Conference.

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