So, you want to be a career writer?
So, you want to be a career writer?
Godspeed, comrade! 🫡 We're rooting for you!
Recently, a friend of a friend wanted to know more about how to get into creative writing and make it more of a career. Below is a modified version of my response. It is a very simplified, singular way, according to the friend’s interests and situation.
There are as many ways to be a writer as there are stories.
I don’t want to sugarcoat anything I’m about to say. Making money strictly from writing alone is the exception, not the rule.
Your day job, then, needs to be something that supports your writing in some way. Common day job titles I often see in my writing circles include general freelancer (hi, it’s me), administrative assistant, programmer/developer, technical writer, teacher, and stay-at-home parent or partner/retired.
Horror writer and chef, Alexander James, recently asked writers what their day jobs were on Twitter/X. The replies are as varied as can be. What works for one writer will not work for you. If anything, take comfort in knowing you’re not doing it wrong by having a day job that may or may not be a passion but does support you in your craft.
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If you’ve been writing for some time, you probably have some shorter works (poetry, short stories, etc) itching for eyeballs! This is really exciting! And can also be quite nerve-wracking. If you haven’t already done so, start to pull out the stories you’re most proud of and give them a polish to the best of your ability.
If you have the social resources (not everyone has writers in their social circles), try to enlist some (2-3) beta readers you trust to give you feedback. Ideally, those readers are not only friends and family who will be nice. You want people who aren’t afraid to tell you if something isn’t working and help offer solutions if they can.
And, when it comes to beta reader feedback, take what you need and leave what you don’t.Â
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When you’re feeling ready to start submitting to journals and magazines, I have three resources:
https://duotrope.com/Â is for literary markets.
https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/ is for speculative markets.
And, in general,
https://www.submittable.com/ is a grab bag.
Search for journals and magazines that accept your type of story or poetry and start submitting according to each individual market’s submission guidelines. This is important! If you do this, you’re already leagues ahead in the slush pile.
Keep in mind that not every market pays you to publish. As well, some markets and contests charge a reading fee. It’s up to you to decide what’s best for you.Â
However! Use your discernment. If a market approaches *you* and wants to charge you to publish your work, run. There are a lot of predatory practices out there. Here’s a great resource to be familiar with: https://www.sfwa.org/other-resources/for-authors/writer-beware/
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And then you wait. And you write more stories or poems. And you get rejected, but you also eventually get some acceptances. And you keep going, maybe eventually writing a novel, which you will query or self-publish.
But for now, you wait and write and maybe watch Brandon Sanderson’s free creative writing university course, or you bite the bullet and pay for a Masterclass subscription to listen to lectures from modern writers to keep you going and motivated. You start going to your library a little more often to write, possibly, and/or find some local literary events you consider attending.
Or, you say fuck it and go back to school for an MFA in Creative Writing because life is too short and your IT degree really isn’t panning out like you thought it would anyway so what’s more debt… 😅 (This is not financial advice.)
And, most importantly, you make writing friends, online or in-person, along the way because they will keep you sane.
Featured image photo by Max Böttinger.