I used to think that being a creative writer was easy. All you had to do was sit down and write something, right? Well, yes and no. Writing is one of the most difficult things I’ve ever done in my life and yet it’s also one of the most rewarding. After all, nothing beats the feeling of seeing an idea come to life on paper!
But writing isn’t just a hobby or pastime; it can be a business as well. And when your goal is to make money doing what you love, there are some things you need to know about how this works not just for you but for everyone involved in publishing houses and magazines and other outlets where writers get their work out into public view (or at least private view).
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Balancing Passion and Practicality: Consider the balance between pursuing your passion for creative writing and the practicality of generating income from your work. |
| 2. Exploring Multiple Avenues: Explore various avenues to monetize your creative writing, such as self-publishing, grant opportunities, or freelancing. |
| 3. Financial Planning: Plan your financial strategies while acknowledging that not all creative writing ventures may yield immediate monetary returns. |
| 4. Diversification: Diversify your writing projects and explore different niches to increase your chances of generating income from your creativity. |
| 5. Continuous Learning: Invest in improving your writing skills, understanding market trends, and adapting to new opportunities for financial success. |
Make Sure Your Writing Is Creative
Sometimes, you’re just not going to make money as a writer. It’s true. But that doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself and try to succeed at it at least some of the time—you just need to approach your craft with a different mindset.
Don’t base your self-worth on the success of your writing, because there are plenty of other things in life that can do that for you already! Follow the money: if there’s no way for your creative work to pay off monetarily (or if there is), try doing something else instead.
If making something from scratch is what gets you up in the morning, then follow that passion and start making stuff until someone pays you for it (or not).
Whether or not writing pays well is entirely dependent on what kind of writing it is and whether or not people want what they’re being sold by others who write similar things before them.
If neither condition applies (like when I wrote my novel), then perhaps consider moving on to another project altogether; maybe one where people already know how much they like/don’t like reading about similar topics but haven’t yet found anyone else who writes about them quite like this before now?
Enhancing your creative writing’s marketability requires more than just words on a page. Learn how to apply real-world writing tips that outperform algorithms and engage readers effectively. Discover practical techniques in our article on Real World Writing Tips That Beat the Algorithms.
Define Your Goals
Before you get started, you need to define your goals. This can be done in a few simple steps:
Make sure your goals are realistic. If you’re writing for the sole purpose of becoming a millionaire overnight, your chances of success are slim to none.
Make sure your goals are achievable. If they aren’t, they’re not goals at all—they’re dreams or fantasies that may never come true!
Make sure your goals are measurable and time-bound (e.g., “I want to make $50/week on my first novel by December 31st”). Goals like “I want to make more money than I did last year” don’t work because there’s no way of knowing if you’ve reached them at all!
Don’t Base Your Self-Worth On The Success Of Your Writing
It’s easy to think that if you’re not successful, you’re worthless. But don’t let this be something that holds you back from being creative. It’s important to remember that no one is perfect, including writers. If someone says something negative about your work, try not to take it personally and keep going with what you do best!
Follow The Money
The first step to making money as a writer is knowing how to write. The second step? Knowing who you’re writing for, and whether or not they’ll pay for what you’ve got to offer.
Let’s say you have a great idea for an article on the future of space travel, which is something very few people have written about before but to execute that idea, it would be helpful if you had some experience with space travel yourself. Write what you know! Otherwise, follow these basic steps:
Research your topic thoroughly before beginning your project so that by the time it’s finished, there’s no way anyone could argue that it was poorly researched or incomplete.
Know who will read this product so they can connect with its message (and eventually buy).
Know who else has written on this subject before and how their content compares with yours.
Monetizing your creative writing can be a challenge, but grant-funded competitions offer a potential solution. Dive into our guide on How to Win a Grant-Funded Competition to uncover strategies and insights for leveraging your writing skills.
Try To Earn Money Doing What You Love
If you want to make money as a writer, you need to be smart about how you spend your time. You should spend as much time as possible on writing and publishing good work. If you do this, then people will pay attention to what you do and start buying your stuff.
Don’t waste too much time writing about things that other people already write about or think is important but aren’t interested in reading themselves. Instead, write about what interests YOU! Write about what YOU know best (or think might be interesting).
It’s better if the content has some personal meaning or value for others rather than just being an instant gratification type of thing like “my cat said this funny thing today…” There are plenty of places online where anyone can post cat pictures so don’t worry about needing another place for that kind of stuff specifically; there’s no shortage out there already.
Choose A Genre That Suits You
Choosing a genre to write in is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as a writer, and it can feel like you’re choosing between what’s best for your book and what will make money. It’s vital that the genre you choose suits the story you have in mind, but also pays off in terms of popularity and profitability.
Choosing a popular topic is an easy way to be sure that there will be people interested in reading your book; however, as we’ve seen above, it doesn’t guarantee anything beyond that. In general, choosing something unique or obscure gives you more freedom:
if someone else has already written about what happens when dinosaurs come back from extinction (and let’s face it they probably have), then maybe go ahead with that idea anyway! The point is to write what matters most to you first and foremost so long as there are readers who want this kind of thing too (and hopefully they do).
Transform your passion for writing into a sustainable income source. Explore the path to making a living writing and self-publishing novels. Discover how to turn your creative endeavors into a viable career.
Do Your Research, Then Write In An Area You Know Well
This can be a worthwhile exercise if you’re writing in an area that you know well and have access to a lot of information about. For example, if you’re writing science fiction as a scientist or software developer and have been published before, then it makes sense to do some research on the market for your genre and topic.
The problem with this approach is that most people aren’t going to be able to spend enough time researching before writing to make it worthwhile.
It’s very difficult for a beginner writer who doesn’t already have access to insider knowledge of the industry they are working in and hasn’t yet been published professionally by anyone else (or self-published) themselves – they don’t know what questions they need to be answered!
Take Classes To Learn How To Write Better And More Creatively
This is one of the most effective and affordable ways to improve your writing skills. Classes usually cost about $25 per credit hour, if you’re paying for the class with a part-time job (which is probably the case, since you’re in college), so they are a great way to get some practical experience while also getting help in a group setting.
If you’ve been writing on your own or just working with a friend or family member, taking classes can give you valuable feedback and feedback that comes from experts who know what they’re talking about. In addition, it will show them what kind of direction they should take when guiding someone else through their projects or maybe even letting someone else read yours!
Crafting compelling grant proposals requires more than just words; it requires the right tools. Explore our list of 14 tools for writing grant proposals that can aid you in securing financial support for your creative projects.
Be Resolute In Your Beliefs As A Writer
As a writer, the one thing you should never do is write only what pays well. There are plenty of writers out there who have made a living by writing in genres that don’t pay as much as others to write about.
But if you want to be successful in your field, it will help if you can find another way to supplement your income from your work. If you don’t mind being poor and just want a hobby, then go ahead and write whatever comes into your head!
If that means writing short stories about cats or children’s books about dragons by all means do it! Just remember: when it comes down to money-making potential versus personal satisfaction (or lack thereof), the former should always come first when deciding what kind of work makes sense for you.
Write In A Journal Every Day
Write in a journal every day. Journaling is one of the most important things you can do to increase your chances of success as a writer. It is the only thing that will make you more likely to succeed than not writing at all!
Write about your feelings and emotions. You need to share what’s inside of you if you want other people to relate and understand how it feels for them when they read your work later on down the road when they’re older than when they were kids (or even teenagers).
Start With A Premise And Let The Story Evolve From There
If you’re struggling to get started, simply come up with an idea. That’s how movies like Jaws and The Sixth Sense begin with the premise that there’s a shark on the loose or a dead child who can see spirits. You don’t need to know every detail of your story until you write it, but having something in place helps keep you from wandering too far off course.
Your premise doesn’t have to be high-minded or philosophical, though: it just needs to be intriguing enough that readers will want more details about what happens next. Here are some common premises:
A man who finds out he’s going to die soon tries to live his life as best he can before his time runs out.
A girl whose sister died mysteriously returns home after ten years away in search of answers about what happened that night at the lake house where they grew up together as sisters and friends (this is Where’d You Go Bernadette), by Maria Semple
Keep Track Of All Your Ideas, Even If They Seem Strange
The best way to find inspiration is by keeping a notebook. These days, most of us have smartphones and tablets with e-mail, social media, and word processing apps. But if you’re looking for ideas that are completely out of the left field, having a dedicated place for note-taking can help.
Just keep track of all your ideas, even if they seem strange or don’t seem to fit into any particular genre just yet. You never know when one will trigger an idea for something new!
Unlock the full potential of your creativity with innovative writing apps that stimulate your imagination. Discover our top recommendations for writing apps that play with your imagination and take your creative writing to new heights.
Set Up A Daily Routine For Yourself And Stick To It
Don’t be afraid to experiment with different routines. Don’t close yourself off to the idea of writing while you’re on vacation or in the middle of a party. Permit yourself to write anywhere, at any time even if it means doing so in public.
You might also want to try different approaches and formats for your creative work: maybe you could write a short story one day, an essay another day, or even just do some freewriting without any goal or purpose in mind.
You can also change up your routine by changing the way that you write: instead of using pen and paper, consider typing up your ideas on a computer; or if writing longhand feels more comfortable than typing on a computer keyboard (or vice versa), why not try both?
Set Deadlines For Yourself For Each Project Or Piece Of Writing You Do
Set deadlines for yourself for each project or piece of writing you do. The key here is to stick to your deadlines, even if this means working through the night or giving up on social life. If you don’t set and stick to deadlines, it will be impossible for you to complete any work at all.
It’s easy to underestimate how long things will take (I certainly have done this many times) but it’s important not to do so because if a deadline passes without the work finished, then clients will lose faith in your abilities as a writer and they won’t want their projects completed on time in future either.
And Stick To Those Deadlines! (See Above)
A deadline is a powerful thing. It can be your best friend or worst enemy, depending on how you use it. So make sure that if you decide to set one for yourself, you stick to it! Don’t allow yourself to think of excuses as to why you can’t meet this deadline.
Keep things simple and predictable like when will the book be published? When must I have the first draft done? What about revisions?
It’s easy for these deadlines to get pushed back due to other commitments and responsibilities in our lives. But if we don’t mean business (and we want all our hard work and money-making potential), then these deadlines may get pushed back every time something comes up that needs our attention more than writing does (whether or not this is true).
If we keep putting off working on our novel because we’re too busy with other stuff or if we allow ourselves too much leeway when starting on a project then there may come a time when even the most passionate of us gets overwhelmed by its sheer size or complexity.
If you’re willing to work hard and remain focused on writing creatively and productively, what you write can be both enjoyable and profitable.
If you’re willing to work hard and remain focused on writing creatively and productively, what you write can be both enjoyable and profitable. It’s important to remember that not all of your work will be a success, but it is crucial to remain disciplined and not give up on your dreams just because one or two projects didn’t go as planned.
Learning from failure is just as important as appreciating success. Most importantly, don’t forget to enjoy the process it’s possible that no one else ever will!
Conclusion
The truth is if you’re willing to work hard and remain focused on writing creatively and productively, what you write can be both enjoyable and profitable. You just need to keep trying and keep learning from your mistakes!
Further Reading
Do You Really Need a Creative Writing Degree to Be a Successful Writer? Exploring the relevance and benefits of pursuing a creative writing degree for success as a writer.
Make a Living Writing Insights and strategies on how to earn a living through writing, including self-publishing techniques.
Make Money Writing Discover various ways to make money through writing, whether it’s freelancing, blogging, or content creation.
FAQs
Do You Really Need a Creative Writing Degree to Succeed as a Writer?
While a creative writing degree can provide valuable skills and networking opportunities, it’s not the only path to success. Many successful writers have honed their craft through self-study, workshops, and practical experience.
Can You Make a Sustainable Living from Writing?
Yes, it’s possible to make a sustainable living as a writer. Diversifying your writing projects, exploring self-publishing, and freelancing are some ways to generate income from your writing skills.
What Are Some Practical Ways to Earn Money Through Writing?
You can earn money by freelance writing for clients, creating content for websites, starting a blog, or even self-publishing books and eBooks.
How Can I Improve My Writing to Increase Earning Potential?
Improving your writing skills involves continuous practice and learning. Consider taking writing courses, attending workshops, and seeking feedback to refine your craft.
Are There Any Non-Traditional Avenues to Make Money as a Writer?
Absolutely. With the rise of the internet, opportunities such as writing for online platforms, creating online courses, or crafting marketing content have expanded the possibilities for writers to generate income in non-traditional ways.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.