Writing and Money: You Can Make Money as a Writer

Want to write for money?

If you do, please know that it’s possible for YOU. Writing is very democratic. You don’t need special education. Nor do you need to be a specific age. There are no requirements of gender or birth. All you need is the desire.

I decided that I’d write professionally at around the time I realized the writers could be paid to write — at around eight years old. However, I didn’t get serious about it until I was almost 30. I told a few stories, and articles, however life got in the way. I had a family to support, and writing in those days (the late 1970s) was more a hobby than anything else.

Then I got serious. I decided that I’d have a novel published before I was 40 — I gave myself ten years. Within six months, I had a multi-book contract.

Then and now — you can get paid for your writing IMMEDIATELY

When I started writing, there was no Web, and no Internet. Writers expected that they would need to write for many years, before they were paid for their words. It was common for a writer to send out material for five to ten years, before selling anything. Many very talented and competent writers, who these days would make a great living writing, gave up, and turned to other fields.

These days, not only can you make money from your writing almost immediately, you rarely need to feel rejection.

In some ways, the old writing days served writers well. They toughened you up. You were forced to write a lot, and until your writing was salable, it didn't sell.

These days, no one forces you to write. However, learning to write, and write well, is still important. So congratulations — you're a writer who will be successful, because you're taking the time to train yourself.

This first exercise is important, because it speaks to your motivation.

Exercise 1. What will it mean to you, when you make money from your words?

Sit and muse for a moment. Let's say that a fairy godmother had granted you a wish. You can write for money. Moreover, you can make any amount you want to make.

Then write 250 words about what it will mean to you, when you can make money from your words.

This is a very simple exercise. It's important because it plants a seed. No matter how impossible it seems to you, you will be inspired to follow your dreams for you writing, in the months and years to come.