Writing for a Living

The myth of the "Starving Artist" persists even today. The idea that artists like those who write for a living cannot do their best work if they are financially motivated. Artists who make a lot of money are often deemed as "Sellouts" and their work are deemed inferior to their poorly paid counterparts.

THE UNKNOWN WRITERS WHO INFORM AND ENTERTAIN

There are many people who do not call themselves artists yet produce outstanding work in writing. For them writing is simply a job they happen to do and if they have a passion for it then so much the better.

There are for example scriptwriters for award winning movies and television shows who churn out regular scripts that so move people that viewers tune in to them on a regular basis as well. But do we know of these writers who so move us?

Most probably we don’t. It is the stars of the movies or the shows who are in the limelight. They are the ones who have the fame and fortune. George R. R. Martin long before his Game of Thrones fame, was a hardly known writer for television shows and movies.

There are multitudes of ghostwriters who toil in obscurity and low pay but generate many of the fresh online content we enjoy reading right now. Imagine if these ghostwriters do not do their work. This would mean for example that we would not see the current day’s news both online and in television.

EVEN SUCCESSFUL AUTHORS TEND TO LIVE SOLITARY LIVES

If you are an aspiring writer and even an author who dreams of fame and fortune just as those enjoyed by Stephen King or J. K. Rowling, then prepare to be disappointed. This is because these people are the exception to the rule.

We might see writers talking at writer’s conferences or on charity events for their favorite libraries and literary causes. This is how we see Stephen King and most of the successful writers. They could also be present in book signing events, interacting with their fans.

But for the most part, they live a relatively secluded life. If one is into writing already, especially if one is engrossed in writing a novel the hours can pass by quickly. For example using again Stephen King, he writes about 1,000 to 2,000 words on a five to six hours daily basis.

Writers do not like company when writing. Writing is a generally an individual and not a cooperative work. So writers spend a lot of time working alone mostly in their home offices. I have seen a YouTube video where a writer gives a glimpse of her life:

Video: The Life of a Writer - Kate Harrison

You be the judge whether she gives an accurate description of the everyday life of most writers. She seems to be a successful published author. She is the kind of writer many struggling writers aspire to be.

But most writers are not like her. There are many writers who do not work in a relaxed pace. They have strict deadlines where they must produce a certain amount of content. Have you seen a writer actually working in an office or at home with a deadline?

Chances are you don’t. Most videos you see from writers are about how they live their daily life when they are not actually struggling to meet a writing deadline. You are not shown the sometimes caffeine fueled all nighters they have to do just to earn money.

THE PERKS OF BEING A REMOTE BASED WRITER

Many writers work from home or anywhere they can write. All you need is a laptop, a word processing software and an internet connection from time to time. This means that writers can integrate their life and writing seamlessly.

A writer can write in the living room while watching a movie or listening to radio. A writer can write in the kitchen while eating a meal. A writer can write in bed while enjoying the company of their sleeping family and so on.

In fact, there is a successful writer who later became a successful movie director and producer who began his career writing while working as a security guard at night. Whenever he finishes his nightly patrols and has time to write, he writes.

Being a night security guard is actually a good job to have if you are a struggling writer. You are generally alone at night where no one is there to disturb you with your thoughts. Just make sure that you do not get so engrossed with writing that you forget to actually do your job of guarding premises.

WRITING FOR ONLINE CONTENT COMPANIES

Where once most writers work for major studios and publishers, the internet has made writing for a hobby or a living possible by just logging online. You could be a paid writer as long as someone will give value to your online writing content.

Many online writers started out their career doing what many described as easy but low paying writing jobs. There is no need to have a writing education or a long work history in writing. All you need to do is pass a writing test online and you are in.

This is precisely how online writing Content Mills operate. They collect contract writing jobs from clients and then pay freelance writers to do them. In return these content mills get a commission from the transaction between their job posters and the freelancers.

Content Mills however have a bad reputation. They are seen as ”low quality for low pay”mass production factories. They are said to be the equivalent of the Sweatshop factories in many parts of the world that have inhumane working conditions.

ARE ONLINE CONTENT “MILLS” REALLY BAD?

There are many writers especially the famous ones and probably earning good money who want to bring down content mills and paint a sorry picture for any writers working on one. But are they really right in painting such a negative image of content mills?

In life almost anything can be made to make money, just like all careers and businesses. Writing is just one of these. A writing career or business can succeed or fail due to many factors that may be beyond the control of anyone.

There are so many things one can write about and anyone can write. This is very true. The problem however is: Who would pay for your writings if almost anyone can do it and are even doing it for free?

DETOUR: ONLINE COMMENTS CAN BE VERY HELPFUL

Let us take a short detour to discuss about online comments which are posted for free by article readers online:

For example you could see long posts in many forum sites like Quora and Reddit. They could be very informative especially when the commenter’s intent is to display a comprehensive knowledge of a topic.

The reasons why these commenters would give such a detailed and comprehensive remark is varied. They could be there to advertise themselves or their companies. They can genuinely be just trying to help.

If you are an author and you have not been trawling the comment section of these sites, then I advise you to do so. You could find very informative and real life information about many of the topics you could be searching for.

I for myself have found many helpful comments that helped me in my writing research. I even found information that I have never found in professionally written online articles. The same is true for some of the websites comments I found.

…GOING BACK TO: ARE ONLINE CONTENT “MILLS” REALLY BAD?

Just like many office jobs. Many people like high paying office jobs but office jobs can be done by almost anyone with little training. The competition for these jobs is fierce with many even doing unpaid internships just to have a hope of landing an entry job.

Many interns end up doing jobs that is not related to an office job like doing errands to buy coffee and even wash the dishes in the pantry. If ever they are given jobs related to an office work, it is most surely a simple one.

This is similar to writing where many like to have a high paying writing career and start out making free writing articles but most do not make money at all. Aspiring writers can blog for years without earning a single cent for their blogging efforts.

Content Mills do really pay a small amount of money and many content mill writers do not even making living income. However, there are defenders of content mills who declare that they make their full-time living working for content mills.

But many of these defenders do not say that they are living luxurious or even just comfortable lives but far from it. Many of these people would also declare that as soon as they find better paying writing jobs on their own, they would not hesitate to leave content mills.

So we can definitely say that making a living writing for content mills is possible. It is especially possible for people living in developing countries who can survive for a lot less money as compared to people living in developed countries where the standards of living is higher.

THE STARVING ARTIST

We have established that writing is just like any career or business where one can produce superior results and make good money. By the way, the concept of the a starving artist is true for all careers and jobs.

Starving artists are people who want to do their own thing as against what is ordered from them and therefore make less money. There are starving doctors, scientists and so on and not only writers.

There are many ways one can make money with writing without starving. The obvious and most reliable in terms of income is by working for a company. You could be a copywriter who specialize in sales, a technical writer who specialize in technical manuals and so on.

As long as you can reliably churn good content in your job and write what you want on your own time then you are set. You solve the problem of earning a good income while also satisfying your creative desires.

Content mills and direct online writing jobs from companies could be your source of income if you want to freelance instead of working for a company. However to repeat: many online writing jobs pay low and many writers cannot make a full-time income from it.

GIVING UP ON CONTENT MILLS

Direct online writing jobs can be a good source of full-time income if you can get it. Many give up on content mills jobs to concentrate instead on direct company clients only to come back later to content mills after they realize how hard it is to find direct company clients.

Many veteran writers suggest not to give up content mills unless one has stable direct clients already.

WRITING PLATFORMS OTHER THAN CONTENT MILLS

So how do you begin? You can first create a writing portfolio for your potential clients to evaluate. There are free online writing sites such as Blogger and Medium. These platforms even allow you to make money with your writings.

You however are at the mercy of the policies of these companies and you may also lose ownership of the articles you write. It is suggested that you read the fine print of the contract you have with these platforms before signing up.

YOUR OWN WEBSITE

You should have a website. Websites are not expensive and are easy to maintain especially if you are just using them to create articles. The website companies have built in website creation tools that are easy to use.

You can also find a lot of online materials on how to create and maintain websites. You can even write about your website building knowledge and experience.

With a website you are free to do as wish. You can write whatever you like even controversial subjects as long as you are not breaking laws. You can also monetize it as much as you want.

You can earn through ads, affiliate marketing, and even by asking by donations. With your website you can also sell e-books and other digital products. You can even sell your website if you want.

WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT?

But what will you write about? Obviously everyone would have certain subjects that they would want to write about and have a lot of knowledge of. Be careful however of trying to write just because you think it is a money making subject.

Many so called online earning experts teach this. But unfortunately, by doing this you would ultimately produce not your best work. Most probably your inspiration to make a quick buck will fizzle out soon once you discover that it is not simple to make a quick buck in writing.

There are exceptions of course but even they have no magic formula for their success and they do not come by often. Once you change your writing goals from a hobby or an aspiration to possibly a source of full time income then you have to develop a business mindset.

A good strategy would be to have multiple income streams related to writing or the particular subjects you are writing about. You can sell digital products as previously mentioned but you can also teach and sell courses.

You can also do public speaking related to your writings. You can even sell illustrations of your writing works. Digital products are so related that you can combine these products together. The choices are many when it comes to sources of writing income.

It is important however to gather as much knowledge on all subjects and to never stop. If you specialize only in a narrow range of subjects then you will find yourself running out of things to write.

A good practice would be to write about anything that comes to your mind on a daily basis whether or not you want to publish it.

CONCLUSION

The important thing in writing for a living is not to put yourself in a corner by deciding on just doing purely writing jobs and writing about a narrow range of subjects. There are many subjects that can be written. Even an online comment can be a source of an entire article.

Writing just like all careers and businesses is very competitive. Take care also of the business side of writing like your income sources for example. But do not forget to enjoy your passion to just write about almost anything.

The Versatility of a Writer.