So You Want to Be a Writer?

In Stanza 1 of “so you want to be a writer?” Bukowski explains why someone shouldn’t be a writer. If someone writes for fame, money, or sex, they won’t make a writer worth reading. In Stanza 4, Bukowski reproves writers "consumed with self- / love” (Lines 41-42). Economic advancement and personal pleasure are not central to writing. Writing is not a means to gain material comfort nor privileges. For Bukowski, writing is a sacrifice. Dismissing self-glorification, the true writer demands self-abnegation.

A real writer can’t live a pleasant life like other people. Their surrender to the force of writing separates them from conventional dictates. They can’t share their work with friends, family, or romantic partners. Instead, they yield to the "rocket” (Line 50) in their soul and the "burning” (Line 56) in their stomach.

According to the poem, the sacrifice produces no tangible benefits. While Bukowski scorns false writers, he doesn’t praise true writers. The genuine writer receives neither plaudits nor prizes. Bukowski paints the true writer as beset by internal turbulence. In the end, the true writer has led a life of sacrifice they could not escape. There is no material reward for them. Either the writer passes away or the force of writing vanishes.