Are you a writer? Do you desire to make a living as a writer? Writing becomes a calling when it doesn’t matter whether you make money or not. For some of us, whose lives revolve around writing; not only as a source of income but also as a source of entertainment and relaxation, we cannot but write. Writing awakens and brings immense joy and fulfilment to me. Writing puts me in a relaxing state of mind and has become a kind of therapy when burdened with life stresses.
No matter how much we enjoy writing and delighting others with our creativity, we also have to devise a way to make a living with our art. So how do we as creative people monetize our talent? So that we will not starve and become beggars while we build our readership base, fan, and followers?
First thing first; what niche of writing are you into? Are you versed in just one kind of writing, or are you the eclectic type who writes all kinds? This will determine your earnings in the long run. The more kinds of writing you are exposed to, the higher your earning potential.
The list of writing types ranges from web content writing also known as copywriting, to ghostwriting, Biography writing, Technical Writing, Business Writing, Children’s story writing, and Fiction Writing.
Modern-day writers have added the TECH edge to the creative art of writing by infusing SEO into their writing. Writing has grown to become a crucial aspect of digital marketing through the art of storytelling.
Organizations hire creative writers to create stories for their products, which has become very effective in increasing the bottom line of performance indicated in their sales figures.
I do a combination of nearly all of the writing types. Anyone who wants to make a living as a writer should be versatile and able to adapt to various writing types. I will say, though, that my ultimate goal is to one day be a full-time novelist where some of the books will go on to become blockbuster movies.
But that on its own, at the moment, doesn’t pay the bills. Not just yet. But I’ve been able to build a substantial income doing multiple writing projects, most of which I enjoy.
So, this article is for writers, not novelists or authors, but for those willing to take on all that comes with the title of writer and make a living as a writer while at it.
My Writing Journey
In the early days of my writing career, I wrote and wrote yet mostly broke. To make a living as a writer during this season of my life was an impossible task, but I was determined to. So I began to think and ask myself questions.
While at this, scriptwriting jumped into my mind. At that time, I knew nothing about scriptwriting. I searched on Google where I could learn and a name came up.
I called and asked him to teach me scripting. He said he was busy but would refer me to someone else who would teach me. He did, I called her and she was also a busy person. She sent me five 400 paged eBooks on scriptwriting which I happily devoured. One of my many skills is to LEARN BY MYSELF (LBM).
Through a series of events, I finally got to write scripts for African Magic Original Films owned by the South African Entertainment Company MNET.
One of my daily tasks from my home is to build content for organizations. Over time, I began to consult for a movie production company which produces radio(audio) and feature films. As of today, I have written over a hundred audio plays and 24 fifteen minutes short films within a calendar year.
I am quite adept at research and love reading articles on various topics and life issues varying from economics. Finance, women’s issues, storytelling, relationships, entrepreneurship, etc. Over time, I discovered that I could write compelling articles, so I began to offer my services to companies and blogs that need content to drive their products.
In giving my manuscripts to professional editors and grasping the art of editing through observation, I have gained immense knowledge of editing which has helped me edit my books before passing them to a professional editor. I get to pay less because the work is clean of almost all typos and subsequently able to edit for other writers.
Becoming a Biographer
I stumbled into Biography writing by an accident I am glad occurred. Over time, it would chart the course of my writing career. A young man called me about 5 years ago to write the biography of a retired commissioner of Health in Lagos State. It came at a time when money was scarce, and being my first Biography work, I wasn’t sure how to go about it.
If you are good at fiction, you would most likely be able to write a Biography. Even though I received peanut for the work, it became one of the best Biography works I ever did. This experience opened my mind to the fact that there is so much stored within me that I was not aware of. It took the right challenge, the right task to reveal what lieth beneath the surface.
After the first Biography, that became my referral book for the other Biography works I will do for others over the year. I love writing Biography because, while at it; I become absolved in the stories and events of the narrator as they unfolded. Lessons are learnt and great values are impacted in the course of writing.
Learn Skills
From the foregoing, the secret of earning a living as a writer is to learn skills, especially those that surround the art of writing. There are different aspects of writing and you need to be adept at a few to make a living as a writer.
Your experience doesn’t have to be like mine because we are differently wired, so you have to know and understand what works for you and what you are comfortable with. You can take free and paid courses from digital education sites to empower your mind and build skills.
To make a living as a writer, I seek after skills like my life depends on it. An opportunity to learn how SEO works opened to me when I worked for a TECH firm a few years back as a blogger.
I wrote TECH articles for 3 months, uploaded them into the WordPress dashboard, and performed SEO using the YOAST plugin. Working for the firm gave me hands-on experience in organically growing a blog using keywords and SEO.
Look for Opportunities
Opportunities roam about every day looking for who will see them enough and open the door for them. How do you find opportunities? They are around you every day if only you can see them. Sometimes, opportunities can come in the form of needs and problems which you need to figure out solutions for.
I began to build a Children’s publishing and entertainment company five years ago which arose out of the need to write storybooks which inspire and build morals and character for school-aged children.
Today, the list of books is increasing, and we have had the privilege of having some of the books become the Ministry of Education recommended texts for schools.
Take Chances
Take more chances. Go outside of your comfort zones and who knows, life may just reward your audacity with a pleasant surprise. I began to apply for writers’ grants early this year.
Many of my applications were ignored, some came back as beautiful letters of rejection and others are yet to get back to me. Don’t be surprised if you hear I won a $100,000 grant to publish as many books as I can churn out.
Seek Knowledge
Add knowledge to knowledge and you will be better off for it. Don’t be mediocre. We are in a digital age and it is either you conform or become irrelevant.
It is only what you know that will help increase your earning power in the marketplace. and make a living as a writer. You can learn something so well that you become a professional who others approach for direction and counsel.
Apply for Writing Jobs
The writing professional is becoming more versatile as more organizations are realizing the importance of using stories to build content, increase followership and build a fan base which can be converted into loyal customers. Configure a few job-hunting sites to send to you email alerts when writing openings occur.
You need this if you are still a beginner or still needs to build your writing skill. The more projects you undertake as a writer, the better you become at writing. But I have stopped applying for writing jobs and visiting freelance sites such as Upwork ever since I built a structure around my writing business.
Learn Marketing and Branding Skills
After you have mastered your sellable skills, then you must build a structure around it. It is very important to learn how to market your services and attract more clients.
You can do this by learning digital marketing and branding, online selling, SEO and social ad services using Google and Facebook Ads. Businesses die when sales plummet, as your clientele grows, your return will also begin to gallop.
To make a living as a writer, you need to invest in building a website. When you have a beautiful professional website, you instantly earn the trust of website visitors which translates into increased conversions. You must also learn how to attract traffic – both paid and organic to your website. Otherwise, your website becomes like one of those no one visits.
Check Out My Sales Funnel Website
How Do I Get Paid?
It is possible to make a living as a writer irrespective of where you are in the world. How? Be versatile. Learn skills that will make you solve the problems of others. Well, I’ll break down how I get paid to demonstrate the different opportunities that exist.
Content Writing: I get content-creating contracts with organizations that need monthly content to boost their ranking.
Personal/Corporate Clients: This number fluctuates month to month as I gain new clients and other contracts expire. What I do for clients is tell their stories. Write biographies for successful people, create Ad copies, movie scripts and Television shows. Web copywriting, SEO, and children’s writing. ETC
Ghost Writing: I ghostwrite for some pretty amazing clients.
Book Sales: This is growing as more schools take on the books into their curriculum, but I make money from the sales of the children’s book series and other fiction books.
Publishing: I handle a few writers’ works from editing, critiquing and advice on publishing.
Give Your Plans Time to Work
Take the time to let your plan work. One month is not enough time to decide whether or not to continue on your journey to make a living as a writer. It’s enough time to gauge feedback and iterate, but not to make any presumptions either way.
What’s important is that you monitor your progress. Gauge your progress. You have to be aware of how well you’re progressing. What are your milestones? Setting time limits may be difficult, but there has to be a way you determine if you’re progressing. Be aggressively patient.
Finally, invest in yourself. Everything I explained above takes time and energy. Embrace that. If you’re not taking the time to make sure that you are putting out the best version of yourself, then you won’t be prepared for the opportunities that come your way.
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Great Post. Thanks for the insights shared.
Thank you for sharing this.