Hope and ‘Maybeness’

This chapter considers the ways that writers understand the possibility of making a living from writing, pondering ideas of the future-orientation of cultural workers and the usefulness of the concept of hope in relation to writers of fiction, and arguing that we need to explore in more detail those non-strategic elements of future-facing hopefulness experienced by writers. It offers findings from the research which consider how writers understand the feasibility of making a living (or becoming successful) from writing fiction as being both unlikely and yet possible at the same time. It offers a new concept of ‘maybeness’ to help us understand how writers are unwittingly and unavoidably positioned in a space of ongoing potential success.