Making a living from writing can sometimes seem like a very difficult pursuit. After all, it’s a job that is often coveted, and that usually means a much higher degree of competition. However, you should never feel guilty for wanting to pursue your passions. Like anything worth doing, it just takes time, effort, and dedication to get there.
Also, it means being aware of the right opportunities, and learning how to structure yourself as a writer to gain professionalism and continually hone your craft. There are certain opportunities that could help you get a leg up, and potentially help you rise above the pack of the competition around you.
Simply embarking on this process can be an exciting time. However, the best place to begin is with pure humility. Even if you have a degree in creative writing, it can be wonderful to always refine your method and be open to new methods of work. In the following advice, we hope to help you direct yourself to allow the written word to become something you enjoy:
Practice
Writing is a craft, and like anything else it needs to be practiced to stay tuned. While writing styles come in time, it’s important you are able to consistently utilise good grammar. On top of that, if you hope to write for a living, writing a large volume of words could be necessary depending on the job you choose. Some copywriting jobs can have you writing in excess of 8,000 words a day, and sometimes by a short deadline.
This is where it could be advantageous to learn how to touch type. Not only will this vastly increase how many words you can type a minute, but it will also give you the means to protect your hands from injury due to asymmetrical use. Implementing good habits can mean a lot here.
Invest in a good keyboard, one that supports your fingers as you type. A mechanical keyboard with brown or blue cherry switches can often be the best option, but laptop keyboards are acceptable if needed. We would recommend the Thinkpad brand, as they are durable and consistently win awards for their keyboard designs. Keeping good posture is also essential to ensure you avoid putting undue strain on your hands.
This might all sound like overkill for a practice so simple as writing. No matter how difficult you might the basics, you can likely string a sentence together on a keyboard. But of course, if you hope to get ahead of the pack, it’s important to write with care, attention, and comfort. These tips can help you get there.
Read Plenty
In order to write well, you need to read. And we’re not just talking about classic literature. Reading technical writing, guides, how-to’s, copywriting, blogs like ours, and many more forms of content can help you realize the need for brevity and clarity. Reading plenty can also help you start to form your own understanding of how words can paint a picture of quite easily confuse. This hones your perspective.
Perfect The Pitch
Many websites, blogs, and content houses are looking for good writers to host their content effectively. You may even get work in a field that you love, such as writing news covering the music industry. However, most websites or online firms will require a pitch for such content. This is where perfecting the pitch can come in handy.
Learning how to express the point you wish to illustrate, how you will write it, what conclusions you will come to and the ability to write punchy, engaging content is important. But it’s also essential to remember that informative content will always win out. Opinion pieces are often a luxury of staff writers, but if you can nail home the ability to cover the news, or to dive deep into a particular topic, you heighten your value significantly.
Start Freelance Tasks
There are many excellent freelancing websites out there. Sites like Upwork are known for holding a variety of clients and an ability to build a reputation. But it’s also important that if freelancing, you do not take unpaid work, as this lessens the potential for other writers through precedent alone.
Write For SEO Firms
SEO content such as blogging outreach can be a huge marketing boon for businesses all across the world. SEO is quite simply a means to use search engine algorithms to a clear advantage for a firm. However, the process can be quite complex, meaning that specialized services often lead at the forefront of understanding and abiding by algorithmic changes.
There was once a time where this was easy, but now, great content is often rewarded. This means that SEO companies worth their salt, such as FATJOE, are always on the lookout for excellent writers. Writing many articles a day, you can get a feel for exploring multiple topics, satisfying clients by a deadline, and learning how to better your writing through staff that care.
Of course, you need to be careful. Not all firms have their subcontractors in such an esteemed role. This is why it’s essential to be discerning when looking through the SEO field, but if you pick the right one, such as our example here, it could be the perfect step into a valuable industry.
Enter Writing Competitions
We often think of writing competitions as something we enter as a child. We might have watched a children’s Saturday morning show and recall submitting a piece about what kind of superhero we’d be. However, writing competitions are often ran throughout the literary world, in essence to congratulate writers with talent and find a range of diverse voices out there. A quick Google search may help you find a range of local and national competitions you can enter..
Even if you never win, the specific briefs involved can help you start writing about a particular topic, within a world limit, within a deadline. This can help you experiment with style, read other entries that might have become successful, and who knows? It’s possible that you might gain some traction. In fact, you’d be surprised to hear that this is understood as one of the main and most intelligent methods for young screenwriters to get their foot in the door, as many names are made through competition entries. For some reason, this competitive edge can often bring a higher standard out of all of us. That’s quite exciting to think about.
Attend Writing Seminars
There are many excellent writing seminars, some for free, some for a fee, that can be invaluable useful in helping you get the insight you need. It could also be that you learn various methods that modern writers are using to get noticed. For example, Amazon’s self-publishing features have given rise to many young authors who may not have had conventional publishing routes at their fingertips.
Not only that, but hearing guest voices speak, being in the presence of other writers and generally thinking about the craft can inspire you to no end. Even if you do not expect to ever become an author or write novels, a sense of appreciation is important for your craft to bloom. Not only this, but many creative writing night classes are often available if you live in a relatively populated town or city, and you may glean some real use from that.
With this advice, we hope you’re better able to get a leg up on your writing career. Good luck!