Can you make a living out of writing?

well... if you market your works very well, i would probably say "yes". but mind you, it won't be that easy. I mean you have to prove yourself worthy to be considered as a good writer. you have to establish your name, by doing rather so many works. NO PAIN, NO GAIN.. obviously. Although, there are so many things to write about and only few are passionate about it... you have to understand that there will be obstacles in everything you do. for now, just explore your options and improve your craft. if you really love writing, you will eventually benefit from it.

It depends what different styles of writing are being made. You can become an author, a journalist, or even a blogger. Theres plenty of ways to make money writing. Just look at the internet. All of the information in the world is here you just gotta take it and reword it.

Writing for the sake of it is beautiful! Nothing compares to your ability o being able to let go and express your heart out. And earning from the thing you love doing is fantastic. Sadly, its tough to make a living on writing alone. Even when you are a great writer recognition is tough to achieve and sometimes it takes ages and sometimes forever. The commercial aspect of it not really as pleasing as the writing itself. Having said this, you are young and the fact that you have decided this early leaves you with many opportunities. There are several grants for the writers that provides you with chances of recognition. However, your writing skill is imporatant first and foremost. good luck!

I am not sure what type of writing you want to do, but there are thousands of writers who make a living at it every year. Some make a decent salary, and many others struggle to pay the bills. For most writers, it means getting a job in the mainstream (using your writing skills in the corporate world) and doing your creative writing in your off hours until you succeed. The one outlet I would suggest is considering studying creative writing and becoming a creative writing professor. There are a lot of universities that offer creative writing not only as a BA, but MFA and PhD. Teaching is a good back up plan, and you will have your summers and breaks to do your own writing. There are a lot of writers who work as Creative Writing professors/teachers...you can earn a regular salary and still have time for your own writing. Journalism is another avenue, but with the decline in newspapers, it's a business that's a lot tougher to find a job in. Perhaps you'd want to work for TV news. I think you first have to get your degree and evaluate it from there. Do as much writing now and when you are in college. Try to get published. Once you see how well you do in getting published, I think you will have a better sense if you are cut out for the writing life. Good luck. Keep writing!

I'm not sure that you can make a living from writing unless you go down the road of becoming a published author! This isn't that easy though with literally hundreds of different people submitting their manuscripts to publishing houses. Still, having said this, there is a possibility to make some income from writing and this relates to the online publishing websites like Triond, Associated Content, Helium and a few others. I myself have had quite a few articles published on Helium. I love writing myself and I keep regular journals or a private diary and I have been writing in this for many years. I think that the more you write the better you will become. The most important thing is that you make a start and put pen to paper! Good luck. Andrew

Yes, you can earn enough to live: that's what journalists do. I think you might mean writing novels, though, in which case it's much more difficult. You'd have to write articles and stuff to pay the bills, and write the novels when you're not working. Writing is like any job: if you do it for eight hours a day, it should pay enough to live on - the big difference is if you're trying to freelance: you have to find the work yourself, rather than being given it by a manager.

Making a living would depend on your talents and hardwork. If you are willing to work more, you would gain more. You need to find different venues and find what best works for you. during you college, see how much you can earn out of writing for a year or two. Try online venues and then venture into print media. No one can predict whether you could make a living out of writing or not.

writing is a great opportunity... if you are good then you can choose your topic to write a book. If your work is sucess then you make million of dollar. However, in the mean time, I suggest you to take some other career to help you when you are done with school. And when you have you good career and work in a good company, you can choose your free time to work on your writing skill. If you do this, then you will not loose anything.

There are people who are naturally gifted and they make a living with that gift. I wish I had that gift and be able to live on just words. Cheers!!

I think it depends about how much you are willing to live on. Yes, you can make money writing, but short of writing for a newspaper or being a staff writer on AP or something, I think it is hard to make a fulltime living as a writer. I do know someone though who published a Harlequin romance novel for 36,000.

Yes, you can but you need exposure. For my opinion, you need a publisher whom can publish your writings on the book or you can become a copywriter, a scrip-writer, creative writer and many more. You can also venture into journalism like others have said, but you need a qualification for that. I think college and then take a Degree in Arts and specialize n writing. Check out in your local universities on how to obtain such a career. It can be done and you are just one step away from making it possible. With paper qualification, your writing career is diverse. Go for it, friend and prove your family and relatives wrong. But remember, you need a good education for it and all the best to you. But if you are talking about freelance writing, I don't think you can survive solely on that. You need to have a day job before your freelance writing picks up pace. And that sometimes takes months and sometimes, years. Good luck, friend and I wish your dream will come true.

I am doing just that now. It takes a lot of hard work and the willingness to be patient while you build it up, but yes, you can make a living at it. I am living proof. I no longer go out to work each day but stay at home and type articles. I have no problem getting my work done early enough that I can get other things done around the house. I don't have to ask my boss if I can have off and if I get sick, well, I don't have to worry about missing time. I can type from anywhere in my house and I actually get to see daylight. I love it. Again, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication. You have to set yourself up for it. If you do it correctly, it will take about a year or so to get everything just right. If you aren't dedicated to writing, you can't make it though. You have to spend a lot of time with it, at least you do at first. Once you are established, you can go a little easier on yourself.

yes you can make money writing, i make hundreds of dollars monthly writing articles for blogs nd individuals, you get these writing jobs on places like getafreelancer and scriptlance, you can also get your e books published on the internet and sell them as many times as you want

Being successful at writing can be evry hard, as competition can be very tough because many paid sites have many good writers. Making a living on writing alone is achievable, writing a book would be a good way to go if you have ideas, but if you are good at writing reviews and posting on forums then look around for sites that pay you for every post you make on forums

Yes...! Writing can be taken as a very good career, if you develop good writing skills and topics. This requires some years of practice and research. At your age, you can start it alongwith your study and practicing for about an hour daily on good freelance writing can make you a good writer for newspapers, web or your self volume of books in couple of years! Try, make and get the rank yourself! Thanks for this nice posting and have good writing skills!

yes, you can. if there is one thing you can do in the net to earn, it is in writing. you can be a freelancer and there are a lot of companies offering jobs for content providers for different purposes. You can capitalize your writing skill in developing your own blogs and marketing it. you have the edge over us non writers because writing comes natural for you and the only thing you have to learn is how to market yourself.

I make a living out of writing on the net. I write in Belgium, Canada, the US, and I've written in the UK,China, and Australia. Tell your family to have a look at craigslist New York or Los Angeles, London, or Elance, Helium, lulu, Freelance Writing Jobs, or other sites. They're wrong, but don't get too starry eyed about it until you've checked out what's required to make a living out of it. I'm a pro freelancer, and I can tell you that you learn a lot, dealing with people, communicating, trying to find out what your clients want, etc. Money is an issue until you get your work up to scratch and find people who pay on time, and are reliable. I'm also a creative writer, and that's tough. You need the patience of God and the cynicism of Voltaire. Selling books for yourself is truly hard. The industry demands agents, and a lot of leftover stuff from the print era. It's like working in a museum, for me. If you want to be a good write, be honest with yourself, about your work and your feelings. This is not an easy road, but it's a great reward if you really love it.

hi there. i know a freind who makes a living out of writing, she's a freelance writer. for me, it's just a stint here and there occasionally. So it totally relies on availablity of opportunity or you look for a company that is going to hire you as a writer. that way, u can have the security of a salary. happy mylotting.

Hi xroadsempress, you can make a living out of writing. Look at all the journalists in your country. You can choose to enter the world of writing as a reporter. Convince your parents that you will get to know a lot of people since reporters go everywhere, and you are getting a stable job. After working a few years, you can write your novels. So many of the novels I read are written by ex-journalists.

Well... it depends on quality of your writing. Take Rowling. She had an ingenious idea, made it come to life and now she is a millionare. Or Stephen King. If you have some good ideas, and you're good I fink that you'll succeed. You just need to know whether writing is something you really want to do, and be aware that it isn't something for people with weak nerves.There are days when you can't write, when no ideas come to your mind. You may even became depressed (I know what i'm saying I've coem through this many times).