Writers will write

WIRED had a piece (via AP) on the end of the writers’ strike the other day. An interesting thing about this particular strike was that it was unlikely that the writers actually stopped writing:

I, at least, have been writing almost every day in the exact same way I was - not necessarily on the studio projects I was paid to write, but I’ve been working on my own stuff all along. - Phil Johnston

Writers and other artists will tend to create even when there’s not necessarily a pay-off. They don’t do it just for the money, although it’s nice to get something back when you’ve made something people enjoy.

There are millions of artists out there creating right now who may never get any great return for their work. But the net makes it so much more likely that they can reach people who would enjoy what they have created, and that those fans might want to show their appreciation. We’re only in the very early stages of this interaction, but it will be interesting to see how artists and their fans find new ways to entertain and support each other.