NationStates Jolt Archive

since nothing else I have tried has worked. In high school I recieved very good grades on my creative writing skills; and I am considering writing as a life-long career. What are your opinions, should I write, or find something else to do.

Get work published before you try to live from it.

So you're thinking of making a living as a writer, eh?
Good for you.

A few things to remember:
The boxes fridges come in are warm and cosy.
Doorways and shop awnings protect you from the rain.
Supermarket trolleys are perfect for holding your lifes possessions.
Food stamps are neither food, nor stamps.

Get work published before you try to live from it.

I am in college right now, so it's not like I am trying to make a living off of writing at the moment; but I really enjoy writing and wish to pursue it as a potential career.

since nothing else I have tried has worked. In high school I recieved very good grades on my creative writing skills; and I am considering writing as a life-long career. What are your opinions, should I write, or find something else to do.

Both.

It is extremely hard to make a living in any creative pursuit, and no matter how talented you are, it would be foolish to count on writing as a way to pay your bills. You can, and quite possibly should, pursue writing as a potential career - but don't give up your day job while you're doing so. ;)

Somebody once said "You should try everything other than writing, and if you can't do anything else, you're a writer".

It was said by somebody that Brendan Behan was "a drinker with a writing problem".

For the few people I've met who've made their living as writers, they've described it as OCD plus rejection letters for even the best work.

But if you honestly can't/won't do anything else, if you would write all night and wait tables during the day if that's what it came to, as long as you could keep writing, well...

Maybe its one of those things that chooses you...

I am in college right now, so it's not like I am trying to make a living off of writing at the moment; but I really enjoy writing and wish to pursue it as a potential career.

My advice stands. First of all, writing a book takes time - even when doing it fulltime it will most likely take at least many months to write one. You need income during that period.
Second, there is no guarantee that a publisher will accept your book (selling it through a printing service on the net will almost certainly not result in sufficient income to live from- though it might provide you with some reputation) nor that anyone wil buy it even if they do.

Writing in other words is a lot of work with an uncertain income until you are established.

My advice stands. First of all, writing a book takes time - even when doing it fulltime it will most likely take at least many months to write one. You need income during that period.
Second, there is no guarantee that a publisher will accept your book (selling it through a printing service on the net will almost certainly not result in sufficient income to live from- though it might provide you with some reputation) nor that anyone wil buy it even if they do.

Writing in other words is a lot of work with an uncertain income until you are established.

True story, there.

Maybe he could look for a job where you can get a lot of life experience for writing...ambulance driver, social worker, soldier?

True story, there.

Maybe he could look for a job where you can get a lot of life experience for writing...ambulance driver, social worker, soldier?

I like soldier better than the other ones.

I like soldier better than the other ones.

Didn't Ernest Hemingway go to war at some point?

Downside to being a soldier, you might end up the inspiration for somebody else's tragic character....

Many, many great writers are people whose primary career is something other than writing. I've found in my own efforts at being a writer that I have difficulty finding inspiration if I don't have other things to do. I certainly don't intend to write exclusively, so I'm going into ecology to pay the bills :D

I am in college right now, so it's not like I am trying to make a living off of writing at the moment; but I really enjoy writing and wish to pursue it as a potential career.
What are you studying?

considering being an author doesn't guarantee a steady income at least until you publish a couple of well received books, i would recommend not giving up the day job just yet.

you want to be a writer...


journalism --newspaper, tv, radio and magazine writing

science writing

editing

manual writing/editing


the creative writing gig is just too iffy to rely on. no reason not to give it a try but not as a full time job before you get anything published.

since nothing else I have tried has worked. In high school I recieved very good grades on my creative writing skills; and I am considering writing as a life-long career. What are your opinions, should I write, or find something else to do.

Eventually, you may want to check out an MFA program in creative writing, but don't do it right out of college. Get some life experience first--you need stuff to write about.

And don't expect to make a living doing it. Even successful writers often have to supplement their incomes with other jobs.

Both.

It is extremely hard to make a living in any creative pursuit, and no matter how talented you are, it would be foolish to count on writing as a way to pay your bills. You can, and quite possibly should, pursue writing as a potential career - but don't give up your day job while you're doing so. ;)Except editing... my dad used to make shit loads of dosh from documentary editing (£50k+). And he was freelance which meant he could buy shit loads of audio-visual equipment (TVs, computers, VCRs/DVD players, Cameras, video cameras, sound systems) and claim the VAT back. But then his mum died and refused any job offers for a couple of years whilst he lived off his inheirtance and made a documentary about a campsite with his girlfriend. Now he claims income support.

It's all about your reputation which is based on how talented you are, how prolific you are, and who you know.

If you think editing isn't too creative then perhaps you should consider that bad editing can break a film/program, and good editing can save a film/program even if the scripting, acting, footage and direction is pretty bad. The art of putting stuff together so that it is watchable is a hard, but rewarding one. :)

As somoene who has had few stories published, I can give you an advice.
Don't quit your day job. After you write a book, which will take months, if you are not a published author you go into something called slush pile.
Which means it takes aditional 6 months to a year or more for somoene to read your book. They will read first two chapters, and if they like it send it foward. After that book goes to low level editor who reads it whole and send it to high level editor if he likes it, and if HE/SHE likes it only then they call you.
For your first book you'll get between 4000 and 8000 advance. unless your first book sells incredibly, that is pretty much ALL you'll get from it.
Another way to do it is to write alot of short work. Sell to magazines, after 50+ published stories, you'll be recognised author and able to make submisions without going into slush pile. Usually after 3-4 years of writing short stories that get regularly published you even get aproached about writing a book.
Good time to become exclusivly writer with nothing else to support you is after your first two books are already published you are writing one thats already sold and have contract for two more.