It's important to keep in mind: writing as a profession is notoriously known as an intricate catwalk.
The cyclical question – "How do I become a professional writer?" – can be answered in as many ways as there are paths to build a writing career. The only certain answer is skill progression, and practice. Practicing each day is necessary, and will result in more bad sentences than decent ones. And still, the writer needs an income to continue honing her craft...which ultimately becomes a lifelong process. So, how do you find an income to sustain yourself while finding the time to write?
In days past, writing careers were straightforward: The outset began in the printing shop of a daily or weekly newspaper where the writer read proof or set type. Working with a type-metal alphabet might have provided a tactile sense of words. Eventually, she would write for the newspaper, and her prints would circulate to magazines searching for stories.
As the majority of newspapers began to unionize at the end of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, the writer increasingly found herself displaced. The age of casual literary apprenticeships dwindled, pushing aspiring writers towards big city newspapers. Alas, the post-World War I era saw positions in city papers become ever more competitive. A transitional bohemian period ensued in the 1920s, where writers sought odd jobs to pay the bills and support their literary pursuits. Some managed to secure advances from anticipatory publishers, allowing for a devout focus on text production. By the 1930s, however, the Great Depression steered myriads of publishers into financial ruin, leading to progressively fewer editorial positions. Coupled with the establishment of the Newspaper Guild in 1933, reporting not only evolved into the standard career path for aspiring writers, but also ceased existing as a poorly paid apprenticeship. Outside of journalism, one of the few remaining lucrative publications, Luce magazines, enticed writers with high salaries. Yet, the publication left many contending with moral bankruptcy, and frustration from lack of prospect to pursue independent literary endeavors. To appease the growing number of discontented would-be authors, Roosevelt established the Federal Writers' Project.
In today's digital age, the path to literary recognition remains a rocky road, though one with a plethora of avenues. Aspiring authors can take unconventional, and unprecedented steps in their journey to become a professional author. The Internet's near universal accessibility has revitalized who can pursue a literary career, and how she can do it. Traditional literary forms continuously revitalize as different forms of print and digital media, allowing for a broader demographic to pursue a professional writing career.
Finding a balance between literary pursuits and sustaining a livable income remains the primary challenge for most of today's writers, as has historically been the case. While traditional literary apprenticeships are bygones, professional writing opportunities have become abundant.
Career paths encompass university positions (ranging from tenured to adjunct faculty), fellowships, editorial positions in publishing houses, traditional publishing, self-publishing, contracting or in-house content writer positions. Each possesses its own advantages and disadvantages for consideration by the aspiring writer.
Alternatively, the writer can combine any number of these positions to create an avant-garde literary career. In so doing, the writer increases her opportunity to create with alacrity, breadth, depth and choice: large sweeping motions or narrow and intense prose. She can emphasize facts, a technical "how-to-do" guide or an imaginative narrative. She may blend any of these too, if she should desire.
So, to answer the persisting question – "How do I become a professional writer?" – there are any number of individual or combinatory ways. The digital age has brought a much more unrestricted career path for aspiring writers. While the path of today's writer maya be less straightforward than in earlier eras, she possesses much more freedom than previous generations.
Most importantly, the writer has the opportunity to make the deliberate choice to write for herself. Anyway, having a writing firm of your own makes it much simpler to become a professional writer.
The cyclical question – "How do I become a professional writer?" – can be answered in as many ways as there are paths to build a writing career. The only certain answer is skill progression, and practice. Practicing each day is necessary, and will result in more bad sentences than decent ones. And still, the writer needs an income to continue honing her craft...which ultimately becomes a lifelong process. So, how do you find an income to sustain yourself while finding the time to write?
In days past, writing careers were straightforward: The outset began in the printing shop of a daily or weekly newspaper where the writer read proof or set type. Working with a type-metal alphabet might have provided a tactile sense of words. Eventually, she would write for the newspaper, and her prints would circulate to magazines searching for stories.
As the majority of newspapers began to unionize at the end of the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century, the writer increasingly found herself displaced. The age of casual literary apprenticeships dwindled, pushing aspiring writers towards big city newspapers. Alas, the post-World War I era saw positions in city papers become ever more competitive. A transitional bohemian period ensued in the 1920s, where writers sought odd jobs to pay the bills and support their literary pursuits. Some managed to secure advances from anticipatory publishers, allowing for a devout focus on text production. By the 1930s, however, the Great Depression steered myriads of publishers into financial ruin, leading to progressively fewer editorial positions. Coupled with the establishment of the Newspaper Guild in 1933, reporting not only evolved into the standard career path for aspiring writers, but also ceased existing as a poorly paid apprenticeship. Outside of journalism, one of the few remaining lucrative publications, Luce magazines, enticed writers with high salaries. Yet, the publication left many contending with moral bankruptcy, and frustration from lack of prospect to pursue independent literary endeavors. To appease the growing number of discontented would-be authors, Roosevelt established the Federal Writers' Project.
In today's digital age, the path to literary recognition remains a rocky road, though one with a plethora of avenues. Aspiring authors can take unconventional, and unprecedented steps in their journey to become a professional author. The Internet's near universal accessibility has revitalized who can pursue a literary career, and how she can do it. Traditional literary forms continuously revitalize as different forms of print and digital media, allowing for a broader demographic to pursue a professional writing career.
Finding a balance between literary pursuits and sustaining a livable income remains the primary challenge for most of today's writers, as has historically been the case. While traditional literary apprenticeships are bygones, professional writing opportunities have become abundant.
Career paths encompass university positions (ranging from tenured to adjunct faculty), fellowships, editorial positions in publishing houses, traditional publishing, self-publishing, contracting or in-house content writer positions. Each possesses its own advantages and disadvantages for consideration by the aspiring writer.
Alternatively, the writer can combine any number of these positions to create an avant-garde literary career. In so doing, the writer increases her opportunity to create with alacrity, breadth, depth and choice: large sweeping motions or narrow and intense prose. She can emphasize facts, a technical "how-to-do" guide or an imaginative narrative. She may blend any of these too, if she should desire.
So, to answer the persisting question – "How do I become a professional writer?" – there are any number of individual or combinatory ways. The digital age has brought a much more unrestricted career path for aspiring writers. While the path of today's writer maya be less straightforward than in earlier eras, she possesses much more freedom than previous generations.
Most importantly, the writer has the opportunity to make the deliberate choice to write for herself. Anyway, having a writing firm of your own makes it much simpler to become a professional writer.