how hard have you found it getting in to writing professionally?

1. 67

   vicki simmsposted 14 years ago

   how hard have you found it getting in to writing professionally?
   
   For you hubbers out there that write full time or professionally for newspapers, magazines, online etc, where did you start and was it hard or easy?

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2. 60

   FGualposted 14 years ago

   I have found it easy to get writing work at content mills, they are a great place to learn, not to earn. Their requirements vary, and sometimes they have little work you are interested in doing, or little work, sometimes none.
   Not getting any credit for your work is not the way to build a dependable income.

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3. 84

   wychicposted 14 years ago

   It depends on how you define "easy" . I'd say that it's been easier than I thought it would be, but then I also started out thinking that it would be impossible for me to ever make a living as a writer. I started out writing hundreds of proposals a month in freelance marketplaces, working 80-hour weeks and self-imposed night shifts so that I could also take care of my son during the hours his father was at work. For months, my primary concerns were finding that next client, and avoiding getting burnt out. Finally, that focus shifted to working through complete burnout anyway because I had to do it. I spent quite a while as a single stay-at-home mom, there just wasn't the option of not making enough money to cover the bills, whatever it took.
   
   Now, three years down the road, I'm working an average of 6-10 hours a day...and I get weekends most of the time! Not all the time, because the work must still get done, but I've built up my reputation to the point where I can stay busy with a small number of medium- to high-quality clients and have restored some sanity in my life. Now I can spend time on these affiliate sites and my own domains trying to build up my recurring income, learning the kind of marketing that earned my past clients enough money to pay me so that I can cash in on my own work, and basically focusing on getting down to about a 4-hour day, 5-day work week so that I can take care of my kids (new baby due today, let's see if she cooperates...) and have the time to homeschool when they get old enough.
   
   I guess the big thing that I've learned is that it really depends on how badly you want it, and your driving reasons for wanting to in the first place. If you don't have reasons that will keep you convicted for the long haul, chances are you should stick to hobby writing.

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