There are so many people that now write. The advent of free writing platforms has opened up a wealth of possibilities in an industry which used to be seen as a closed shop by many people. Wherever you are based in the world, there is no greater time than now to become an author. However, you may be asking yourself if a writing career is the one for you. Maybe your mind is filled with uncertainty about this. Anyone choosing a new career path will have doubts, which is understandable. For all its foibles, writing can be an extremely rewarding career choice. This brief little blog post will hopefully help you make a decision about this.
Can I Become A Writer?
The short answer is – yes! Practically anyone can become a writer. You don’t need to have a Masters or ten letters behind your name to achieve success as a writer. All you need is good English, a basic understanding of grammar and an active imagination (the broader the better.)
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If you are writing a journal or a diary on a daily basis, in a way, you are already becoming a writer as you are putting down your feelings on paper. Another good indication is if you are an avid reader. I try to read on a daily basis and not just fiction or in the genre that I write in. In my opinion, the more you read, the better you will write. I will now cover some of the obstacles you may not have considered.
It’s Not Easy
Some people will see the success of a self-published author like E.L. James and think this will be a comfortable way to make money quickly. Unfortunately, this is simply not true. In reality, the chances of your book becoming an international bestseller are very slim. It may not be because your book isn’t good. With the fact there are so many writers competing to get their books sold, the competition is now ferocious. You will be trying to get book sales against thousands of other books.
Unpaid Hours
The fact is many self-published authors will work for little or no pay. Some self-published writers will offer their book for free just so they can get some sales to begin with, before charging a price later on. This is mainly true at the beginning of a writing career. Typically, the hours are long. When I wrote the first draft of my first novel, I wrote in the mornings and the evenings sometimes going into the early hours of the next morning. Now, some authors work shorter hours, others work longer hours. It is entirely up to you how many hours you work and at what time of the day you work them. Although sometimes it cannot be helped, it is always advisable to have another job, whether it is full-time or part-time while you wait for your writing career to take flight. If you decide to take the risk and become an author full-time, please be aware you will not make any money straight away and it could take months before you do.
Productivity Issue
There will be days when you could write 1,000 to 5,000 words in a day. But there will also be days when you struggle to write 500 words. This is the nature of the beast. It has happened to me on more than one occasion. There is no point in beating yourself up over it. Accept as in any other occupation that you will have outstanding days and lousy ones.
Responsibility Aplenty
Make no bones about it; writing is not just about crafting a novel. If it were just typing out the words into sentences, then it would be a much smoother process. There is also the editing of the novel to be considered. Unless you can afford to employ an editor to do this, you will have to make the necessary edits yourself. This is time-consuming and can be difficult to do but if your book is poorly edited, it will affect your sales. Usually, the book will need to be edited at least 4-6 times. Again, it is up to the author as there is no set rule about this, but it is strongly recommended to proofread and edit the novel at least three times.
Then you will have to market the novel. Although there are numerous book marketing companies which you could hire, if you are on a shoestring budget, you will need to do the marketing yourself. It can take a while before you will be able to decide what the best marketing tool to use is.
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