The writers I talk to often think that as soon as they publish their first book, everyone will instantly see how great it is and rush out to buy it. Lie #5: Finishing your book is the hardest part to becoming a writer. The reality is that bestselling writers often do make good money, but rarely just from their writing, that's why it's so important to cultivate multiple income sources if you want to become a full-time writer. Boyle teach creative writing at universities to earn a living, and while Malcolm Gladwell, the bestselling non-fiction author of The Tipping Point, may make what you and I would call a good living from his books, it's nowhere near the $80,000 he gets every time he speaks. Today, popular authors like Michael Cunningham and T.C. Mark Twain, for example, was so deep in debt that he went on a yearlong speaking tour around the world to pay off his creditors. Instead, most full-time writers make a living in one of two ways: they do public speaking or they teach. (Of course, the truth is that the average book sells nowhere near 100,000 copies.) That means that if it takes you five years to write your book and you sell 100,000 copies, you've only made $20,000 a year. The way that (traditional) publishing works is that you might make $1 to $2 for every paperback book you sell. The reality is that most writers, even bestselling writers, can't make a living off of their books. When I talk to friends and family who aren't writers, I find that many of them have this idea that if you're a bestselling author you've “made it.” You can then retire to your island and live a life of ease. Lie #4: Bestselling writers make lots of money. And no one could say that Byron was an introvert. Mark Twain often complained about how easily he became distracted from his writing to pen letters to his friends. The reality is that you do have to be able to spend many hours alone to be a writer, but that never stopped many extroverts from becoming writers.Īs I've read the biographies of well-known writers and interacted with professional writers myself, I've found that writers come in all personality types.įor example, while Ernest Hemingway was very disciplined about his writing, he regularly spent half of his work time networking with writers he admired. They say that extroverts need to be around people too much to be able to handle the solitary job of being a writer. Some people believe that you have to be an introvert to be a writer. Lie #3: You have to be an introvert to become a writer. While you can hire someone to fix your commas, no one is going to read your writing if it isn't engaging. You do have to be able to tell a good story. Having good grammar skills is nice, but it's just not a requirement to be a writer. I've worked as an editor, and I've personally seen writers who are truly horrible at grammar and have published books that have been read by hundreds of thousands of people. You don't need to be an expert at grammar to be a writer. Then, I found out this same woman had already published eight books, all with traditional publishers. That's when I learned a very important lesson: ― Stephen King Lie #2: You have to be a grammar expert to become a writer.Ī few years ago I was part of a writer's group where a woman brought a piece that was so littered with comma splices and other grammar mistakes that it was impossible not to feel sorry for her. However, while inspiration is always nice, the pros agree that you should never wait for inspiration to start writing.Īmateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work. They give endless suggestions for helping you get inspired, from changing your location to reading inspirational writing to listening to music. Many writing blogs and even books say that you have to be inspired to write.
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