To want to be a writer?

[ppolly]

I have no idea if this is a reasonable or possible idea or not. I have earnt a little money writing non- fiction in the past. It just seems to be one of those aspirations that feels a bit childish. I would love to earn a living writing non-fiction and children's fiction. At the moment I am a TA who also tutors English.

[ASettlerOfCatan]

Start writing in your spare time. It's super easy to self publish these days throughthe.likes of amazon. Nothing to loose!

[MissBattleaxe]

Get the Writers and Artists Yearbook. Everything you need is in there- addresses, agents, advice. The rest is up to you! Good luck and don't listen to anyone negative, just keep going and believe in yourself.

[FallingGoldfinch]

Of course YANBU! Best job in the world - good luck!

[SurlyCue]

I've always thought that if youre meant to be a writer, you'll write regardless of whether it's silly or makes you money or makes sense.

So no YANBU to want to be a writer, in fact i'd say you already are if you want to write, write.

[ppolly]

Getting a little teary reading these responses, thank you! I think I have made an assumption that writing is for extremely clever people to do. Maybe I could dip my toes in by writing a blog.

[FallingGoldfinch]

I wouldn't do a blog if I were you. By all means, practice, but unless you have a specific marketing angle, it's distracting and over-saturated.

Anyone can write if they want to. Whether it becomes your job, your only source of income, is another matter, but the great thing is that you don't have to stop everything else to do it. There is no right time, you just need to go for it.

[partialderivative]

I do not understand what is stopping you.

[TheWordFactory]

Of course YANBU.

I have made my living as a writer for over 10 years.

That said, you really need to work very hard at it to mae any cash. And even then, you might not.

[YerTiz]

As the fab Margaret Atwood said, "if you're waiting for the perfect moment, you'll never write a thing as it will never arrive."

Write!

[pointythings]

Just start writing. When your story is ready to come out, just write it. But don't give up the day job, that's for the very few.

[ungratefulfecker]

YANBU, but buy this How Not to Write by Someone Who Doesn't. Assuming you've not written much fiction before, this will save you a lot of time and frustration. Straight talking.

[Sleepsoftly]

Don't write a blog. Get into you and write what comes from you, from within. You can post a paragraph or two on MN. I would love to read it.

You are doing something amazing I feel. Be smart though, keep earning part time or full time. Its the fuel that makes great things happen.

[Linds53]

I write children's fiction and although I've had a novel published I'm certainly not in a position where I could give up my full time job or even reduce my hours! Maybe there's more money in non-fiction? But I certainly wouldn't discourage you from trying. Walking into Waterstones and seeing my book with my name on the front cover was the best feeling in the world.

[Athenaviolet]

The average writer earns £8k full time. Most of the better pay comes from articles/ journalism/ commercial writing rather than fiction. Even with fiction to actually earn ££ you have to do a lot of the promotion yourself and 'use' your credibility as an author to sell other pieces of writing.

There are lots of books and magazines you can read which will tell you about the realities of a writers' life.

It is very different to what most people think.

As with most sought after careers these days being independently wealthy before you start helps.

[returningtotheuksoon]

The only person I know that makes enough from writing is someone that writes adverts to make them not look like adverts.

Write media is dying out.

[FallingGoldfinch]

I wholeheartedly agree with everyone who says just get on with the writing.

No blogs, no reading books about writing, no online courses - just write. You can do all the other stuff later if you want, or if you have time.

The world is full of people who would be writers if only they had the time - which is why people like me, who write their books for them, exist .

I certainly wasn't independently wealthy before I started . Everyone wants writing for free, it is massively undervalued (at festivals, the writers are the ones doing it for nothing, even though they're bringing in the audiences; some publishers are offering zero-advances; newspapers and magazines get a huge amount of copy for free from bloggers desperate for bits or people who want to get a foothold), so make sure that you are the one valuing it from the start.