I am a writer. I get paid to write. I pay my bills with the money I make from writing. While I do make money from non-writing tasks, the bulk of my livelihood depends on my writing ability.
I am not a famous novelist. I couldn’t tell you how to become one, either. I do, however, love all sorts of writing, whether creative or technical. I thoroughly enjoy my job because it is writing.
Unlike those writers who want to be artists, I don’t write solely for self expression. I write because it is a beautiful craft, a useful practice, and a powerful tool. Some writers who write to express themselves do make a living, and I love that! However, expression is not what I usually get paid to do, and I can’t share that path with you.
I can't take any action for you, I can't promise that what I'll say is what you want to hear, and I can't even guarantee that if you take the risks I took that you'll see payoff.
But I can promise to be honest, and I'll try to provide angles you've never seen. I'll avoid cliches and empty catch-all statements and try to give you actions you can take instead.
Study the craft of writing (and be an editor)
You’ve been able to put together a coherent sentence in writing since like second grade. However, writing takes more than getting words on the page. No matter how chill your style is, no matter how language is evolving, you have to master grammar, spelling, vocabulary, and a million other factors of craft.
You’re lucky, though. Any time you have a grammar question, you can Google the answer. Whenever you doubt your spelling of a word, Google that too.
Even professional writers rely on references and make mistakes. Just the same, your audience will sense the frequency of mistakes, and the total volume and quality of your work will be directly affected by how quickly you can write something solid.
If you want to get exponentially better at craft, edit other people’s work. You’ll see mistakes you wouldn’t notice if you wrote something yourself. Because you don’t know what the author was thinking when they wrote every paragraph, you’ll misunderstand ambiguous wording or strange sentence structure. It will illuminate your ability to find your own mistakes.
You’ll get even better when you can effectively fix those mistakes, too. Editing isn’t just about pointing our confusing passages and errors. It’s about making the manuscript great.
Write things that people actually want
It’s great to have your own journal, blog, story drafts, or publication. Don’t give those things up if they keep you happy! However, if you want to get paid to write or increase your audience reach, my best recommendation is to ask people what they need written and then write it.
If you’re not too proud or scared to do it, there are several types of projects that are probably waiting in the world around you:
- Website copy. Small businesses need words on their websites, and it’s better if done professionally. This one’s great because it’s a limited project, creates a nice portfolio, and business owners are often too busy to do it well themselves.
- Business blogging. Even tiny companies can be easier to find online if they blog, and you might be just the person to do it.
- Vanity books. Friends and family members may have a book idea they haven’t drafted yet, and you can be the one to help them do it. Don’t expect to plan and write everything, but be the means for them to get words on the page and have the ball rolling.
- Informational articles. There are small journalistic publications that put out content on how-to subject or niche news, and you might fit in perfectly.
Get paid to write
Getting paid to write helps both you and the client. Choosing not to accept pay only make you more amateur over time, not more professional.
Receiving pay means that you’ll have motivation to write the client’s project, and you’ll get that dopamine burst that will make you want to do it again. It’ll also help you “buy time” in your life to write more.
Possibly most important of all: When the client pays you, they’ll expect you to write well and meet deadlines. You’ll have the pressure to do better, whether it takes more focus, research, or time spent writing. If you fail, you’ll be punished either by the client’s wrath or a reduction in pay. That negative stimulus will help you avoid those stupid mistakes in the future.
You should absolutely put out a better product when you get paid, and what the client needs is good writing, not bad writing. The client is happier, and the circle is now complete.
Avoid destroying the writing marketplace for yourself
I know that a lot of people will argue against this, but stay away from the gladiator matches that are Upwork and Fiverr. Your competition will often lie about their own capabilities, bad writers will undercut your prices, the portal will get a ridiculous portion of your pay, and you won’t be able to build much of a relationship with the clients.
To win business there, you’ll probably have to lie or undercut prices too. I know businesses that have successfully used those portals to get decent content for themselves, but let me emphasize this: I have never met a professional writer who improved their craft or paid their bills by clawing for slave labor work on one of these portals.
Even if you win the bid, you’d almost be better off working a regular non-writing job for more substantial money and then writing your own thing for free in your spare time.
I admit, I have tried these marketplaces myself and wasted a lot of time and effort. It seems like there’s opportunity, but for the most part there’s not. If you know better than I do, or have a method someone else suggested that will work for you, then do it!
Give up some non-writing activities to make more time for writing
If you’re working a non-writing job write now, odds are that you have lost 50+ hours of the week that could have been devoted to writing. However, if you’re not currently writing professionally in addition to your full-time job, it tells me that you have not committed time for writing.
That gives you two choices:
- Throw in the towel and stop trying to be a professional writer. This is okay and may give you the peace of mind to quit deliberately instead of thinking you missed out.
- Eliminate distractions, hobbies, and commitments to make room for writing. You will have no excuses when you fail, but you should be writing more.
If your response is “I have a wife and kids and a job and all of them have hobbies I support and I like to visit my dad” and stuff like that, then you’ve saved yourself a lot of time. You’re not going to become a writer!
But if you’re ready to find the time, even in the crevices of your day, you can do it. I started writing professionally with two kids, a stay-at-home wife, and a full-time job all while I was getting an a master’s degree. This is in addition to the fact that I was actually very bad at time management. I had no secret trust fund or patron, either.
I made up for it by giving up all but about 5 hours a week of television, movie, and video game time. I gave up drinking and a few other things as well.
In fact, I was worried less about what I could keep and more about what I could eliminate. I would estimate that every person has about five or six things they can care about and do well, and then everything else falls behind that. Here are two examples:
Me In College:
- Classes
- Playing in a rock band
- Working
- Having friends
- Going to the gym
I didn’t write very much in college outside of class, so thank goodness I got a creative writing degree. Writing was still one of about a dozen things I did poorly (like drinking and smoking) after my core concerns.
Me Now:
- Marketing work
- Family time
- Writing entertainment
- Going to the gym
- Chores and real life stuff
It hurts my soul that I had to give up video games, which I truly love. I miss TV and movies sometimes. I have a handful of minor interests, but the list above contains the places I spend 95% of my time.
Write every chance you get
If it’s not a huge financial burden, get a writing degree. You’ll definitely do a lot of high-quality writing there. This is mostly if you have a grant or scholarship already, like the military’s GI Bill or something. Don’t take out a million student loans or whatever to make your dream a reality, because that debt will later make it impossible to take a risk and quit your day job to write for a living.
Find people you can call so that you can get your ideas in order for anything you’re working on, client-driven or personal. This allows you to “write on the phone.”
Call yourself a writer
Say it: I am a writer. Don’t say “I’m trying to become a writer” or “I’m thinking about writing.” Just be it. Even if you’re a bad writer or only writing part time, once you’re mentally committed, you’ll have expectations for yourself that will challenge you to be better and actually put out.
Start a writing business and tell people about it
If you’re serious about making money, tell people that you’re in the market. You’ll find that people have needs you can meet, and they may refer other business to you as well.
If you’re shy about it, people will not ask you to do the work. You may not be cut out for it anyway, but you won’t know until you make it official.
That being said, don’t fake it. Don’t puff yourself up with lies or a fake resume or fluff on past achievements. Just tell people what you’ve done, where you are now, and where you plan to go. Allow yourself to aim high, but be honest about limitations.
Budget and save to make writing a reality
I’m lucky; I was able to plan my financial support a long time in advance. I still have a bumpy road, but here are some things I think are extremely valuable no matter what you’re trying to accomplish:
- Write out an itemized monthly budget and spending plan
- Track all income
- Reduce spending
- Maximize your tax write-offs (or at least do your taxes professionally)
- Collect all eligible benefits like unemployment, social security, disability, etc.
Be humble and blatantly ask for help and support
I used to hate the idea of asking for help because some people make it really painful to receive that help. I also had a lot of pride and probably didn’t work hard enough to deserve an extra boost from others.
But if you prove a willingness to sacrifice, work hard, and follow through, you can be humble enough to ask for help. Live with a relative, take a personal loan, accept an insider business connection, whatever works. If you’re against things that feel like handouts, then don’t do it. Just be aware that everyone succeeds on the generosity of others to some extent, and decide what your personal limit is.
Adapt
Since starting out, my writing career has been through a lot of evolutions. I wrote in a corporate marketing environment right out of college, and then I freelanced (but did it so badly that I had to wait tables and bartend.) Next, I joined the Army, but found a job that would let me write a lot. I quit the Army and sold insurance to pay my bills while I wrote humor on the side. Without much planning, I quit selling insurance and started writing full time.
In just the last three years I’ve gone from being a true freelancer to being a writing and marketing consultant who’s managing one core agency and a few freelance accounts.
I couldn’t imagine being where I am now, and I have no idea where I’m going to be later. I’m just glad that, for the last few years, any time I’ve hit a financial or emotional road bump, I’ve said “I still want to be a freelance writer.”
If writing for income is your goal, I hope this article helps you become a writing freelancer and that you find yourself adapting to the role over time as well.