Rss Feeds10 ways to kickstart your writing career
Feb 18, 2008
You don’t get a formal training (there are writing courses but I don’t think you are ever a qualified writer with a degree — or may be I’m wrong), you don’t have a writers’ degree and you never received a certificate declaring you as a professional writer. Most of us want to be writers while involved in other jobs and professions because just like any other art you can earn a decent living only when you have made a name for yourself in your field. Since your livelihood and your family’s financial security depends on what you are doing right now it doesn’t make sense to leave everything and start the adventurous journey of becoming a writer who earns by writing. Many of us simply keep on waiting for the right moment or the right opportunity; neither the moment nor the opportunity appear for most of us, and consequently, many a writing career remain unaccomplished. This is really tragic.
Presently I don’t call myself a "writer" but that is due to a personal choice; I write website content — mostly sales, marketing and corporate copy — and in terms of literature you won’t call it writing. Nonetheless, I made the switch and now even while not pursuing any other profession and merely sticking to writing content I am financially secure and able to keep my family comfortable. At least I’m not writing code and I am constantly dabbling with words and who knows, some day these words will change into a story or even a novel. Anyway, this is not a boasting trip; in this post I intend to highlight a few things that you can do to kickstart your writing career without jeopardizing your current standard of living.
1] Take your writing aspirations seriously
Don’t just wish to become a professional writer. Start working towards it and constantly think about it and if you can manage it, get obsessed with the idea. It is same as when you were preparing to become an accountant, a doctor, an engineer, a software programmer, a plumber or a bus driver; remember how hard you had to prepare? Unless you take your passion seriously you are never going to turn it into a reality.
When you constantly think about starting a writing career you will mould your life accordingly. Writing will then not just remain an activity you think about when you have got nothing else to do. It should become your main priority and your current profession should be just a transitional period.
2] Set a date in the feasible future
Vague goals are always hard to achieve. Decide that you will have a sound writing career, say, in three years. Prepare a plan and every phase of your plan should take you nearer to your goal. Of course take more time if need be, but definitely set a date and then start working towards it.
3] Let your family know
Your family is as important to you as anything else in your life; in some cases it might be more important than your desire to become a professional writer. Let your family members know about your future plans and also let them know how important it is for you to become a professional writer. It might happen that they will come with a better plan than what you have right now. When you let them know in advance they will understand if you have to reschedule your lifestyle and they have to make a few adjustments.
4] Start with small
Scarcity of time is the biggest problem when you want to start writing. Well, if you keep waiting for enough time you will run out of it without ever having enough of it. Start with 10 minutes. They don’t seem much but they are better than having nothing. Be prepared to wrap up with a blank sheet or a blank screen for a few days. You don’t start creating literary marvels straightaway unless you can work miracles. Your mind will need some time to adjust this new state of affairs. You will have to learn to detach yourself from the daily grinds and focus on your writing. Don’t try hard because this will only make things difficult.
It is not necessary that you only have to sit for 10 minutes. If you have more time and if you feel up to it by all means sit there for a longer period. But just stick to your minimum time; at least 10 minutes. Stick to this schedule no matter what happens. The habit of sitting down to write is very critical for every writer whether you are just starting or you are a highly successful, published writer.
5] Let the words have a field day
In the beginning your mind is full of hodgepodge. You will be writing strange gobbledygook but don’t get bothered because this is a passing phase. Let your words control your writing and very soon your writing will be controlling those words. Remember that at this stage writing is important and not what you are writing. Don’t worry about writing a story, or an essay, or an article or a novel; just let the words come out. You can write about something that happened when you were at work or when you were arguing with your spouse or when your children didn’t listen to you and did what they wanted to do or write about the obnoxious neighbor who keeps throwing garbage in front of your house. Write with things that are already happening in your life; they are easier to write about. Keep the language as simple as possible and the sentences as short as possible. If you can just write words then write just words, no need to bother about creating complete sentences.
6] Enhance your vocabulary one word at a time
A good vocabulary makes it easier to articulate thoughts because you can easily think of right words for right thoughts and actions. No need to become a walking dictionary though; even if you can learn two new words everyday it will be sufficient. If you think this is too little and it will take a very long time for you to develop a decent vocabulary then think about a situation when you are learning no words. Isn’t it better that you are learning 60 words in a month than learning no new words in a month?
Why I insist upon taking things slow is because you shouldn’t run out of steam before you attain a maintainable momentum. I have personally experienced that the moment an activity starts putting a burden upon your livelihood you start getting put off by it and before you know it you stop pursuing it and before you restart you have already lost a few years of your life. So in the beginning make it as easy as possible and as little intrusive as possible. If you overdo or stretch yourself you will soon lose interest. Keep your enthusiasm contained and you will cover a long distance; let it go wild and you will falter after a few steps and give up the journey, disheartened.
You can subscribe to Dictionary.com’s word of the day mailing list and receive a new word every day in your email.
You don’t have to set aside extra time to learn new words. Prepare small notes and keep them in your pocket and go through them if you are waiting for someone or standing in a cue or gracing your toilet seat. It’s even better if your cell phone allows you to keep a word list that you can open and go through at your own convenience.
7] Start a blog
OK, this is my favorite part. Start a blog and don’t let those gargantuan posts (like this one, for instance) on other blogs dissuade you. You can write just one paragraph.Use your blog to experiment with your writing. Again, don’t expect a spectacular success immediately. You don’t want a successful blog, you want to become a professional writer. Blogging is just to help you get into a writing schedule and maybe get in touch with other struggling writers because they will definitely come to your blog if you occasionally visit other blogs and leave comments there. There are some great blogs out there dedicated to literature and all forms of writing. For instance, I maintain a blog on content writing and online copywriting.
On second thought there is nothing wrong in getting a successful blog; most highly successful bloggers are excellent writers and blogging too is a form of writing. If you can earn decent ad revenue from your blog this too is a writing career, at least to some people.
8] Develop a reading habit
Reading, again, is an activity that needs some time. There are a select few who don’t agree with this but reading helps you become a better writer. Actually this is true for any kind of activity; you may have a special ability but in order to give a shape to that ability you need to observe other people or read about it. People learning classical music never miss a chance to attend classical music concerts. Similarly by reading good writers you acquire some of their qualities and you also learn how they express their ideas. If you don’t have time to read don’t just assume that you won’t be able to read; be resourceful. Always keep a book accessible. Even if you can read for 5 minutes it is a lot better than not reading at all. Soon you will get into the habit of reading for smaller time intervals but with greater focus. I myself am struggling with this form of reading because I am used to reading for hours and hours and reading for 10 to 15 minutes seems quite unsatisfactory and useless.
There are many online resources from where you can download digital books — most classical books are available freely on the Internet by legitimate as well as illegitimate means — and store them on your computer. In fact, although a bit inconvenient, it is much easier to read books on your computer or laptop, or any other handheld device for that matter, than carrying around a paper book. I prefer digital versions because they help save the trees. For a long time I have been fantasizing about owning Sony’s E-book reader but $300 is a lot of money for a product I have never seen anybody else around me using. Two good resources for downloading digital books are the project Gutenberg website and planet PDF.
But I would like to add here that don’t let your reading come in the way of your writing; whenever it comes to choosing between reading and writing always choose writing. And don’t use reading as an escape route because sometimes it can be very deceptive. I have gone through this experience myself; whenever I feel that I cannot write or whenever writing seems very difficult I resort to reading justifying that at least I am doing something literary. Avoid this trap at the outset; writing time means writing time.
9] Define your space and place and time
Even after having taken your family into confidence it can be difficult to keep them away from disturbing you or obstructing he flow. You need a place you can declare sacrosanct. If it is not possible at your place you will have to find it somewhere else. Actually this is something that you cannot avoid. You cannot sit down and write when people are jumping around you or when the TV is running on full volume or when there is a party going around in the vicinity. You need a quiet place where nobody is going to disturb you for some time.
I’ve got a separate room. It is not off-limits to my 30-month-old daughter and my wife but still I can have my share of tranquil moments when I can write. If this is not possible at your place I would suggest going to a library. Libraries are quite and everybody is reading or studying there. Taking your computer or laptop along may not be possible but at least you can take notes using pen and paper and then later on save your work digitally. In case you’re comfortable working somewhere in the wilderness under a tree that too would be a great option but just make sure that the area is safe.
10] Take up small professional assignments
This doesn’t have to happen from the word go. In fact you should keep indulging in the above-mentioned activities at least for a few months before venturing into doing something professional. Keep it as a hobby and it will always remain a hobby. So the moment you feel confident enough start looking for some writing assignments. There might be small local publications looking for inexpensive writers. You can even work for free but just make sure that they are going to use your work for some productive purpose because this is how you will be able to know how well you can write. There is nothing wrong in working for free as long as you are getting the required experience.
An awesome thing about the Internet is that people are constantly looking for fresh content. There are many websites that except free articles. Search for them on the Internet and see if you can submit your work there. Offer your services as a guest blogger.
I know, submitting free articles and writing as a guest blogger wouldn’t be seriously considered as taking up professional assignments but right now what I mean by professional assignments is writing something that is acceptable to people other than yourself, your family members and your close friends. As you write more and more for other people eventually you will start getting assignments that will bring you money too.
The steps that I have written about in this post may seem basic at the outset but they can take you a long way towards becoming a professional writer.
Posted by Amrit Hallan | Tags: Writing Habits
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February 18th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
These are some great tips here. I’m looking to somehow break into the world of freelance writing on the internet, using my blogs as a springboard for that. I got a nibble last week, someone emailed me and said they were interested in hiring me as a writer for another blog in my niche. I responded, but they haven’t got back with me yet. I think that would be so exciting to get even a small (but paid) writing job on another website. I haven’t had a lot of luck with guest posting, but I’ve only done it once on a medium-sized blog, so I guess I should give it another chance.
Anyway, great post here! Thanks for the tips!
February 23rd, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I always wanted to be a writer, but the writing got in the way. Maybe, I should write first and then become a writer. Great post. Thanks.