Writing for a living - new fledgling career please help

[lisalisa]

That's just it really. I have been a solicitor for nearly 20 years and have always felt that I wanted to write. Due to life circumstances recently have written about 4 articles all accepted for publication. Publication is to be in 2 different magazines sold in England USA and other countried but aimed at my religious group.

the pay is not soemthing you could live in or even start on really - more like pocket money.

Which publications in England are known to be good to write for money wise?

Any tips anyone?

Thanks xx

I write for a number of publications but none pay very well! The best clients for me are trade magazines. If you have any specialist knowledge then you can capitalize on it by approaching related trade mags with articles.

Since you've been a solicitor, you could approach related mags...such as [[
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Law_Society_Gazette The Law Society Gazette]] and others.

Read a few issues and then come up with an idea, write it and send it to the editor with an accompanying letter....maybe outline some more articles you could write.

I write for gardening and DIY publications as well as travel news for various websites because those are my pet subjects and it is so much easier writing about what you know!

lisa - I'm a journalist, now an editor.

I'm sorry but all these 'I'll just become a writer' posts on MN really piss me off...you can't just wake up one morning and decide you'll be a journalist any more than you can wake up and decide you'll be a solicitor.

It's a job you need to train to do if you're going to be any good at it.
You need to know about the legal aspects, the pcc, the difference between news and feature writing, how to handle dialogue etc.

I can tell you now that with no experience or training you won't be any good and you won't make any money at it.

If you want to write fluff for websites and earn £200 a month then that's fine but if you want to make a living at it then you need to learn how to do it properly.

The publications that pay good money want good, experienced writers.

I think Nancy66 makes a good point. This is something that has crossed my mind but I am well aware of my lack of experience.

There are lots of courses on the internet. Could you recommend one, or is the NCTJ the only reputable place for distance learning?

Ooh Nancy66 that was a bit harsh! I do understand what you are syaing though and of course appreciate that proper training is necesssary to really earn from it.

I do feel I ahve talent as all 4 pieces I have written have been accepted by the publicatinos I sent them too ( circulation around 250,000 so not massive but not small either ). Writing was always my forte and remember being vaguely pissed off at uni in first term gettng essays back with red pen all over and tutor commenting that we don't want descirptsions of the judge an defendant and their feelings just the law!!! SAorry for typos I 've had general anaesthetci this morning and hands a bit shaky.

Wasn't meaning to be harsh - just realistic.

Hope you're recovering well from your anaesthetic

Nancy66 is dead right. I'm a dual qualified solicitor and journalist (NCTJ) and i get annoyed with posters saying they've 'decided' they want to write for a living. Actually, it's more a case of frustration for their sake, at their ignorance. Again, that also sounds harsh but i'm being realistic.

The poster who referred to the Law Society Gazette really annoyed me. I used to write features regularly for them for years - but they currently have a very small freelance budget and mainly use their inhouse staff. Ditto for the other legal publishers/magazines- you name it, I've written for them. But their budgets are very limited now. Legal writing is exceptionally hard to break into. I've done it so believe me, I'm speaking from experience.

But I do have regular clients and am better paid than I was as solicitor. And that's working home home with four children.

HOWEVER! If you want to start a new career as a writer and you're prepared to be realistic:

a. Decide what your field of expertise is.
b. Hone your writing skills by making sure your grammar and spelling is perfect.
c. Find your 'voice'.
d. Get practicing. Find publishers/websites that will publish your work free of charge if necessary.

Hope that helps!

Just read your later post!

I doubt you'd need formal training - you should have sufficiently good command of the necessary writing skills already with your qualifications.

And well done with your 4 pieces. That is a Good Start! Build on it! :)

OP has had 4 pieces published. She's obviously capable...and sometimes talent will out without formal training.

My style is reality pieces so I've written a post about mourning after the death of my father fairly recently. i also wrote a different peice on my mother after my father's death. I've also written a story for teens with a moral and another piece about one of our religion's festivals and how it is for outsiders trying to fit in. Fairly varied pieces . I think I'd like to stick to this angle of writing for magazines either life experiences ( I seem to have 100s just waiting to pour out of me!) or short stories with morals. Expanding beyond my religious magazines /newspapers I don't really know whom to approach and send potential work too ? Also does it happen that a magazine think that is a good idea and just copy it without paying you?

Anyone any ideas on which magazines may use free lancers?

Also as I am feeling a bit fragile - drastically declining income as a self employed solicitor cobmined wtih operation this morning and recent death of my father and depression from that could I really respectfully ask that posters be positive ? If they find that they don't have anything positive to say it would be most appreciated they not post at all. This is not directed at anyone in particular but I just need to hear positive and helpful suggestions really rather than criticism or ire .

Thanks all

I would be a little easier on yourself. Having 4 articles published is an amazing achievement and you should be proud of that.

However, given all the other things that have happened to you recently, I would not throw yourself headlong into becoming a professional writer just yet. You will need a very thick skin to cope with a lot of rejection (which ALL freelancers/writers get).

I also think, whilst you may not need formal training, you probably need a greater portfolio than you have currently.

Do you have a blog? If not, get one and update it regularly. Then people will be able to see your style and how good you are. You may also receive positive feedback or suggestions.

I'm not saying - don't do it, but I think you need to accept that it could take a while to become established and to view it as a hobby that makes money for the time being. Then, when you are feeling more confident, and have a bigger portfolio behind you, you can throw yourself into it a little more.

You may find you get work very easily, but I would try not to put the additional pressure on yourself of earning a full time wage straight away.

I disagree Nancy, on the job is everything in journalism. And I speak as one Doing a NCJ course is expensive and time-consuming, most of the content is filler, beyond the legal stuff - which she can learn from a book, as Manuel would say.

I think writing for trade publications is quite different from sitting on the Newsdesk of the Daily Mail. Far more time is given to writing articles and more eyes will see it before publication. She is on safer ground.

there's no money in it though - trade publications pay peanuts

As a former journo, I have to say nancy is right (even though yeah maybe you were a bit harsh hun ) It does annoy me that people think writing for any strand of the media is an easy career to drop in to. The NCTJ is expensive and time consuming for a reason - being a journo is a profession, not something you just do on the side after getting fed up with your original choice of job! Proper training where you learn about law, public affairs and writing is actually essential if you're truly serious about the change

However, having said that OP, I do respect the fact you want positive posts so forgive that little outburst ....

Have you tried getting in touch with your local newspapers? It won't be as glam as magazines but it could give good experience and expose you to the workings of a publication and get your name about. You could perhaps offer the idea of a regular column, on a topic you consider yourself an expert in (maybe if they have a business section, you could offer a legal piece every week or month? Or answer people's questions on legal matters?) Other than that, there's loads of websites I've come across in the last few weeks (as I'm going freelance rather than returning to my marketing and PR job) so you just need to get signed up and look out for opportunities.

Good luck and pls take it easy. Sounds as though you've been through an awful lot of £@%23^ recently.

Trade publications pay peanuts.
Nancy66 - not so!

Some trade publications pay peanuts, many pay more per thousand words than the majority of nationals (I'm aware that you work for one of the better-paying ones). I've written for a wide variety of publications and I can tell you that there are many more financially solvent freelances out there with a good solid client base of trade publications than there are of those hoping to make a living freelancing for the nationals. The nationals are much more volatile as well - sections are dropped and editors move on at a faster rate.

OP - freelancing is a very precarious business. To make more than 'pocket money' you need: good contacts on a range of publications; the ability to turn out well-crafted pieces to deadline without excuses; a brass neck for pushing your ideas to commissioning editors; the ability to deal with constant rejection; being able to live with the fact that you only know what your income is going to be four or five weeks in advance; that your work can suddenly fall off the edge of a cliff without warning leaving you scrabbling around to fill the gap; a financial cushion for the months when you still haven't been paid for features that were published six months. As a new freelance you will be lucky to be offered £200 per thousand words so you had better be able to research and write at least three features a week if you want to make a living out of it.

It is not an enterprise for the fainthearted and the pickings are getting slimmer as more publications migrate online.

fair enough Themumsnot - and good advice to the OP

once again, not intending to be harsh - just realistic.

When anybody posts on MN about wanting a change of career 'become a journalist' invariably pops up.

Writing is one of those jobs - like acting, like TV presenting - that everyone thinks they can do. But the truth is that hardly any of them can.

Writing is one of those jobs - like acting, like TV presenting - that everyone thinks they can do. But the truth is that hardly any of them can.

So true, Nancy! And a midlife career change has taken me into another job in that category - teaching.

Look, I make a living as a writer...I have a degree in acting. It can be done but you need a natural flair...an innate ability. It's not very well paid but I do make enough to enable me to stay at home...I write regular features for two trade mags and that nets £300 per month.

Then there are my regular online pieces...that's around £200 a month. So it's akin to having a part time job in a shop. Not a "living" but some pocket money that helps DH and I manage.

I wouldn't claim to be a "great" writer...but I can string a sentence together and I have written many comedy sketches that have been broadcast on BBC Radio 4 ....you don't need a degree in writing to get work.

Mrs - fair enough and nobody is saying that you need a degree in writing to make a living as a writer. But you don't make a living as a writer, do you? You make £6,000 a year. That's a reasonable contribution to a family income, but it's not a living which is, I think, what the OP is hoping to be able to do.

I know what nancy is saying and I hear it.

If I had a quid for every SAHM who claims their brains are not rotting because they are writing a novel...well, I wouldn't have to write any more novels .

Writing is a tough gig. Most folk with a facility for language won't be any where near talented or tough enough.

But that said, some people do make a go of it. I wrote a book and the rest is history. I've also punted some freelance articles and done okay. Never been trianed or what have you...

thanks everyone for your useful posts

wordfactory when you say you wrote a book and the rest is history did that book " make you " so to speak? I have also written a book and long to send it off but have heard it is a very lenghty process indeed to get it published if indeed anyone wants it

TheMumsNot I believe Nancy said that you need to train to do it....which I contest. If a writer has an innate talent, then a degree is not necessary.

Also....I make that little because I write only part time...I do no writing during the day, that's when I am caring for my DC. I work extremely part time...were I to invest more energy, I have no doubt that I could make four times the money I make atm.

It's nothing to do with the quality of what I write...more to do with the time I invest.

lisalisa I wrote a book (for a bit of a laugh) and its been what I've done ever since.

Most folk don't finish the book they're working on, or sub it, or sell it, or make a decent amount of money in descending order.

But some of us do. So I never say never.

The length of time it takes a book to get published really depends on so many factors out of your control.

My first book was bought, edited and shoved out onto the shelves in what felt like a whirlwind. But I have other mates for who the process was interminable.

lisa i can also say i wrote a book and the rest is history. I just happened to write it at the right time and submitted the synopsis to the right publishers at the right time.

And you wanted something positive and inspiring? You CAN make a GOOD living as a writer. I have a few regular clients each month, including 4-5 regular gigs each month (so i know AT LEAST what i'll be billing each month)Over the last few months I've been billing between £3k and £5k a month.

And you know what? I'm working from home with four children including a baby who has just started nursery 2 mornings a week now that my 4 yr old has started reception. I'm having to turn work down because I can't physically do it.

And because I have so much work I'm going into business with a colleague and we're having a fabulous website set up and we're nearly ready to go. It's sooooo exciting! But 12 yrs ago I was just starting out....

I hope that's inspiring!

Wordfactory - I know you won't want to out yourself, but can you give us a hint as to the nature of your book? Fiction? Non-fiction? Romance/historical/humour etc?

Just curious.