I also want to be a writer

[CroMagna]

Hi everyone,

A while ago I joined the job quitter's club and it really inspiring. I realized that I have a conviction that I'd rather be an eclectic loser than a successful conformist. To be a quitter is the worst insult.

I like how Steve said to try to have your own business.

I was wondering if you guys have any ideas for how I can start working as a writer. It's like trying to be a rock star. It's like you either sink or fly.

So do you have any ideas?

[James81]

I made this post in another thread, but it applies here as well:

Originally Posted by James81

Here are the sources I've used/use on a regular basis:

Websites:

Absolute Write Water Cooler - Powered by vBulletin (The best and most comprehensive writers forums on the net)
Welcome to Writing-World.com! (A large site full of articles about writing)
WritersMarket.com (the most comprehensive list of markets to sell your work to)
Nathan Bransford - Literary Agent (the best writer agent blog on the net)

Books:

Telling Lies for Fun and Profit by Lawrence Block
The Right to Write by Julia Cameron
The Elements of Style by Strunk and White (<--absolutely essential to any serious writer)
The Only Grammar Book You'll Ever Need by Susan Thurman
How to Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer by Jenna Glatzer

Magazines

Writer's Digest
The Writer

[curiouslyrandom]

Ditto Jame's links. Good stuff there.

Just do it. Write. Pitch stuff to magazines. Ask around, see if anyone you know works in publishing or needs writing done for their newsletter, magazine, ad copy, etc. Start small until you learn the ropes, then grow.

I've had three articles published this year in two magazines. Both were magazines that asked me to write for them, one because the publisher knew of my business, the other because the managing editor is a friend of mine and knew I was looking for writing work. I should be pitching articles all the time, but I've been lazy about it until recently.

Get your name out there and GO!

[sweetdude786]

Originally Posted by curiouslyrandom

Ditto Jame's links. Good stuff there.

Just do it. Write. Pitch stuff to magazines. Ask around, see if anyone you know works in publishing or needs writing done for their newsletter, magazine, ad copy, etc. Start small until you learn the ropes, then grow.

I've had three articles published this year in two magazines. Both were magazines that asked me to write for them, one because the publisher knew of my business, the other because the managing editor is a friend of mine and knew I was looking for writing work. I should be pitching articles all the time, but I've been lazy about it until recently.

Get your name out there and GO!

did you get paid for your articles?

[CroMagna]

Thanks! I really want to become a professional blogger, so if you guys have any ideas on how I can get started, that would be great too.

[ellie]

Go to something like Blog Tips to Help You Make Money Blogging - ProBlogger

But just do it. Start something and things will evolve.

[CroMagna]

Thanks.

What are normally the odds of people's blogs becoming successful?

[StevenHandel]

I'm not a professional writer...yet, but here are some tips I've gathered along the way:

1) Start a blog. This is your palette for creative thinking. It also gives you a medium to practice on a daily basis. If you do it really well, it can turn into your digital resume/portfolio.

2) Read a lot. Part of this depends on what kind of writer you want to be. A journalist? Read newspapers and online articles. A fiction writer? Read the blogs of other fiction writers who post short stories, poems, etc. In truth, you should probably just read all of the above. Reading a lot will expand your vocabulary, help your grammar/syntax, and help you find a voice.

3) Write a lot. It can take awhile to find your voice. I've been blogging for over a year now and I JUST started feeling comfortable with my style. Start now and write often. It's the only way you will develop your own unique sense of style.

4) Write core content. As your skill progresses, you are going to want to develop core content for a portfolio. Go back to your favorite posts, edit them, add stuff, take away stuff, add jokes, stories, analogies, statistics, quotations, etc. Make it as top-notch as you can.

5) Send out your portfolio. Now that you have something to show, make a list of newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs you want to get published in. Write a cover letter for each one and then try to contact the editors. Be ready for a lot of failure before you see your first success. The first domino is the hardest one to get to fall.


Hope this helps a bit! The key is to work at it often and work hard.

[CroMagna]

Thanks again.

I'm concerned because the blogging thing sounds unrealistic. My dream job is to be a professional blogger. It would be the best thing to ever happen. But the chances of making money off of a blog don't look so good.

How I'm wondering how to get started.

[ssandra]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

How I'm wondering how to get started.

Simple:

Go to wordpress.com

Start a blog

Write a post every other day

Start promoting your blog

Once you have at least 50 - 100 visitors a day invest in hosting and a domain name.

Move your blog

Put up your adds and affiliate programs.


(alternatively if you have the money and feel confident that you'll keep on writing, start with a domain name and hosting service right away).

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

Thanks.

What are normally the odds of people's blogs becoming successful?

Normally? Really, really ♥♥♥♥♥. But that's because most people write boring nonsense and then give up after a month or two.

If you do neither of those things, your chances of having a successful blog are exponentially greater.

[MagicalRealist]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

Thanks again.

I'm concerned because the blogging thing sounds unrealistic. My dream job is to be a professional blogger. It would be the best thing to ever happen. But the chances of making money off of a blog don't look so good.

How I'm wondering how to get started.

What do you plan on blogging about? What kind of blog would you write? How would it be different from the God-only-knows-how-many blogs already out there? Who is your intended readership, and what would those readers get from your blog that they can't get anywhere else? How many good ideas for blog posts can you think of right now, off the top of your head--and are you good at generating more?

The vast majority of blogs don't make money because they suck. By "suck," I mean they contain boring, half-baked, and/or poorly-written content. They don't provide value, to put it in Pavlinaspeak. Nobody wants to read them, so they don't, and no amount of promotion will make them successful.

If you have interesting things to say, can express them well, update frequently and consistently, show interest in your readers by responding to comments, and can keep on blogging through the first few months when it seems that nobody is reading a damned thing you write (and never will), then you might have a shot at it.

[CroMagna]

Awesome guys. I love how optimistic you are.

I was under the impression that only famous people or famous writers who had already published were able to direct traffic to their blogs.

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

Awesome guys. I love how optimistic you are.

I was under the impression that only famous people or famous writers who had already published were able to direct traffic to their blogs.

None of the blogs I read were started by people who were already famous for their writing. One of my friends lives off the proceeds of his blog. Well - not entirely. But the other writing opportunities he gets are as a result of his blogging, so I guess they can be counted as associated income.

[StevenHandel]

Even if you don't make money with your blog it can still be worth the effort. Darren Rowse from ProBlogger recently published a video about how some have also used blogging as an online resume to get other jobs. It will also help improve your writing, organize your thoughts, learn new things, etc. There are a lot of benefits involved besides monetary compensation - just do it.

[MagicalRealist]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

I was under the impression that only famous people or famous writers who had already published were able to direct traffic to their blogs.

Then how did Steve Pavlina ever end up with a successful blog? He wasn't a published author until just last year. He's only "famous" to a certain subset of people who are way off into personal development. And his fame and success? Came because of his blog.

Steve's blog is interesting, well-written, and while there are lots of other PD blogs out there none of them are quite like his. He posts articles that rattle people's cages (without being mere s***-stirring), so they feel inspired to link and comment--I found him through some crazy woman who was seething about something he'd written.

One of my favorite blogs is projectrungay.com. It's written by a gay couple who started out snarking on episodes of Project Runway many seasons ago, and it's since turned into a successful fashion and pop culture blog. The Project Runway-related posts get hundreds of comments, and Tom & Lorenzo now get invited to fashion shows and parties where total strangers recognize them as the "PR gayboys." And they just started the blog for fun--they never expected it to get as big as it has.

A good example of somebody starting a blog that ended up huge was Julie Powell of "The Julie/Julia Project." She decided to cook all 500+ recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in 365 days, and blogged about it. The blog was so successful, it got published in book form and made into a movie (Julie & Julia) starring Meryl Streep. But she was just another unhappy, underemployed office drone when she started--a total unknown.

What Steve Pavlina, Tom and Lorenzo, and Julie Powell all did was find a focus that interested them, start writing about it, and (most importantly!) keep writing about it, constantly refining and improving as they went along. If they got bored, got frustrated, wondered if it was really just a waste of time, got told it was silly or pointless by friends and family, or otherwise felt discouraged, that didn't stop them. They kept blogging right on through it.

[CroMagna]

Thanks so much. That was very inspiring.

I don't feel the need to be a dot com billionaire. I just would like enough to support a lower middle class lifestyle (apartment, basic bills, travel) like the feminists I know and like.

How do people prevent their blog entries from being plagiarized?

[Indiana]

Originally Posted by CroMagna

How do people prevent their blog entries from being plagiarized?

It's practically impossible to. But why is this a big concern? Sounds like you're stalling.

[Kurtzilla]

CroMagna, something you might want to consider is writing and publishing your work online with ezine or goarticles. Its a great way to get started and to get noticed. Write what your passionate about. Once you get enough artilcles published on their sites, you will soon become an expert author.

Mind Over Matter, Really Does Matter.