I had a conversation yesterday...
By cripfemme
@cripfemme (7698)
United States
January 29, 2009 6:20pm CST
with my friend Laura who writes really well although she doesn't consider herself a writer in any way. I was telling her that I thought the reason she didn't choose to consider herself a writer event though she writes well and does it as a big part of her job is that people only call themselves writers (I've found) when writing is the thing that keeps you sane mostly. If you can be happy not writing, you should be sane and pick another career choice as this is not practical. I mean think about it. Unless you're famous like Stephen King, who has royalties rolling in out of the yin yang from the previous 50 or so books he's produced, you never know what you're going to make from month to month. A writer friend of mine says that one month she'll make $8,000 and the next month she'll make $150. What kind of life is that? How can you plan for anything? How can you pay rent?
So, fellow writers, what say you to my argument? Agree or disagree and why.
5 people like this
7 responses
@vanities (11395)
• Davao, Philippines
30 Jan 09
hi cripfemme..i fully agree with you on that...maybe make writing as a part time career only and look for a stable monthly salary payment..im a neophyte in writing ...i only write when i feel like it ..no rush i guess...
@wahmivy (776)
• Philippines
30 Jan 09
Most writers have a steady job (could be writing-related too). I used to be a Spanish teacher to middle school and upper school students in an international school, but the entire time I was doing that, I was also sending out articles and stories to different publications. Now, that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I still freelance as a writer and as a translator. I don't get a regular paycheck anymore, but I've only decided to go down this route because I have a husband who is the main breadwinner in our family. I only do what I can to augment our income. Perhaps your friend has learned to save or invest the extra from previous big payments.
1 person likes this
@KrauseHome (36448)
• United States
31 Jan 09
Personally I would Love to make $8,000 in one month from my Writing. I would Love to even make $150 in a month if I could. What most people do who are Writers or have online income coming in that is their only source of income, is learn how to budget and plan for the Bad months. In today's economy overall that is all you can really do. Whan you learn to Budget and work around what you have to spend, etc. you can learn to make do with what you will have each month. But personally I feel being able to make $8,000 in a month from Writing is awesome for sure.
@raphael_volts (1131)
• India
30 Jan 09
Ya, you seem to be correct. I have been up writing sometimes, and have a regular blog, that some months pays out, and some months are just no pay ones. Life as a writer or a blogger is quite an unstable one, and really has some ups and downs, unless you are truly gifted and famous enough to have royalties rolling in, even when you ain't working on something new.
Moreover to be a good writer, you need to experience new things first hand and/or have an excellent imagination. So imagination works sometimes, but not always.
Take Care
God Bless YOU
@snowy22315 (180766)
• United States
30 Jan 09
I would love to make 8,000 in a month. I wonder how she manages that. I guess if you make that much one month you can balance out the rest of the months that you are not making very much. I think that you will be able to make a living even if you are having that disparity of income.
1 person likes this
@paid2write (5201)
•
30 Jan 09
I never became 'a writer'. I have been writing for myself all my life. I can't imagine a day without writing. It just wouldn't feel right.
I have become a 'web writer' because that is what I am paid for now. My writing does not pay the rent - yet. I'm working on it and, by the end of this year, maybe it will.
As for making $8,000 one month and $150 the next --- I could live with that.
@AnythngArt (3302)
• United States
30 Jan 09
Trying to make a living as a full-time writer is no easy feat, but people do accomplish it. I know of several people who make a living as writers. Do they write about what they are interested in? What they love? Only sometimes, most of their writing is focused on what the demands are in the marketplace.
A lot of what these fully functioning writers spend their days worrying about is material for newsletters and magazines...and not the stuff you see in Borders or at the supermarket, but instead obscure corporate material or highly technical publications that would put the average person to sleep. Still, it pays the bills and allows them to work from home.
To be a successful novelist (a la Stephen King) or someone whose work appears in "The New Yorker," takes a tremendous amount of writing skill and luck. Yes, your friend is a writer, but her image of a "writer" is probably closer to a novelist than the person, like her, who cranks out good writing for her job every day.
A lot of what these fully functioning writers spend their days worrying about is material for newsletters and magazines...and not the stuff you see in Borders or at the supermarket, but instead obscure corporate material or highly technical publications that would put the average person to sleep. Still, it pays the bills and allows them to work from home.
To be a successful novelist (a la Stephen King) or someone whose work appears in "The New Yorker," takes a tremendous amount of writing skill and luck. Yes, your friend is a writer, but her image of a "writer" is probably closer to a novelist than the person, like her, who cranks out good writing for her job every day.
