3 Top Factors to Make a Living as a Writer
Here are the 3 Top Factors to Make a Living as a Writer…
Be humble. Be smart. And have a blue-collar attitude towards your work.
HUMBLE
The chances are you’ll die nobody knowing your name. Accept that you won’t write the GAN (Great American Novel). Accept that you are not a Sallinger, Faulkner, or Pamuk. Do not index your success to fame and riches. Aim at things that you can achieve as a writer, not what someone else has achieved. Comparisons are deadly; they’ll eat you alive. Close your ears and focus on the work, your work, that’s right in front of you.
SMART
Be flexible. When things don’t work you will know. Don’t insist on a wrong. If something doesn’t work within 2 years, consider changing your angle and approach. If copywriting doesn’t work, perhaps you should try journalism. If journalism doesn’t work, perhaps you should try medical writing.
There are almost an infinite variety of writing niches in the world. Don’t get stuck traveling on roads that lead nowhere. Some take care of their family by writing obituaries; others by writing cookbooks. Find your joy and song and sing it top of your lungs.
BLUE-COLLAR ATTITUDE
Writing (if you’re trying to make money) is not a parlor game. It’s a job and it’s work. Forget about the so-called “writer’s block.” If you are trying to make money and take care of your family you cannot afford to drop your sails and play the victim of the muse. Teach yourself to start writing the minute your bottom hits the chair.
Make mistakes, a lot of mistakes, and remember how you took care of them.
Learn your craft. Learn how to replace an adverb with a better verb. Learn how to clean up your propositions. Learn how to resist nominalization. Learn how to outline a story quickly, enter it, develop it with cliffhangers, then get out of it before the joke is on you. And one day you’ll discover that you can whip up a decent piece on practically any topic you like.
Analogy: if you know how to drive a Toyota, you can drive a Ford and BMW as well. Learn the basics and keep practicing until you find your groove.
Nothing is guaranteed in life but the will to move and dance forward always bears its sweet fruits.
Good luck!
