Way of a Successful Writer: Career Options for Aspiring Authors

It’s not easy to make money as a writer. However, successful authors would have various tools in their quiver to be able to reach their dreams. But the best weapon a writer use is their knack for words. But not everyone who got awesome vocabulary can be a writer.

That leads us to a few basic skills that successful writers have, like copywriting. It s being able to tell a whole story in a few words. Effective writers also think intuitively, and that way, they choose the right words to describe feelings or a state of reality that is not obvious to many.

Writers in the business

For someone with strong writing abilities, there are countless career options. You can be a journalist, a novelist, or a copywriter, to name a few. You can also be a self-publishing author and make money by writing books. Or, if you need more dynamic work as a writer, you can be in a marketing department where you can use words to create a compelling sales pitch.

Which writing career is best for you will depend on how you respond to these questions. 

• Do you write creatively?
• Are you especially convincing?
• Are you a research nerd?
• Which genre of writing do you prefer to write?
• Finally, which genres do you enjoy writing the most: short articles, short stories, great novels, or in-depth nonfiction?

If you got all these abilities combined, then no doubt that you can be a writer. 

The following are excellent choices for authors who want to get paid for their books, screenplays, short stories, and other literary works.

Writing a short story

Even though novels frequently receive all the attention, short stories might make you rich! 

A short story writer can work for literary magazines and fiction websites. Also, short stories can be more convenient to write, unlike novels that take years to finish.

The challenge, however, is being able to think of many plots and settings to produce unique stories every time.

You can also have more chances of publishing in this era of digital publishing. When you consider building a writing career, 99 cents may not seem like much, but as more people come across and purchase your work, it adds up over time!

Author of children’s books

Being a children’s book author is an excellent job for a creative writer who is good at rhymes. If you can tell how a pig went to the market and made it fun, that drives a child to imagine that pigs can walk on two feet, then you got a job! A children’s book writer’s main audience is children. And that can be a real challenge if you are out of words that trigger images from a young mind’s perspective. 

Picture books, children’s educational books, toddler storybooks, and collections of myths are a few samples of children’s books you can write for.

Picture books rely on images. But you must have the skill to paint what s not yet shown in pictures.

If you’re not a gifted artist, you should probably look for a collaborator—a friend or a contractor—to help you produce the visuals that accompany your writing. 

If you do, be sure to obtain a “work for hire” agreement so that you have full authority to sell both the text and the images separately. 

This is crucial whether you’re self-publishing or working with a traditional publisher because otherwise, your illustrator might revoke their permission or demand a certain percentage of your royalties.

Children’s books cost more than other forms of creative writing since they contain illustrations. Therefore, traditional publishing continues to be preferred by children’s book authors over self-publishing.

Creator of a graphic novel or comic books

Although many children’s comics are still available, they are no longer just for children. 

There is a great need for talented writers who can craft a punchy, action-packed story or even a heartfelt, thoughtful drama, such as graphic novels.

Most of the time, the writer and illustrator work together to create a full-blown graphic novel. However, the inker and colourist usually don’t work as closely with the writer as they do with the illustrator.

You will often make new adventures for a group of characters while working in a world of a franchise that already exists. For example, this is how Marvel and DC comics get made. 

However, if you work with a small, independent comic book publisher, you might get the chance to create some original, intriguing characters.

Once more, the internet is a fantastic asset for graphic novelists.

A webcomic you create online can help you gain exposure for your creative writing if you are a talented artist or have friends you can partner with.

It can help you build a fan base and connections to start writing jobs with more significant comic producers.

Biographer

Instead of writing about their own lives, biographers study the lives of historical or modern personalities. After they have looked into a person’s life, they should be able to tell it in a concise way. Details are essential a wrong number or date of an event can ruin an entire biography.

That being said, you need to be a certified researcher. Telling the stories of some historical figures may require digging through stale archives or discovering data that hasn’t been found before. 

You’ll also need to be able to give a story a new spin; for example, if you’re writing about a well-known person, you’ll need to find a way to make the story feel fresh; if you’re writing about an unknown person, you’ll need to explain why readers need to know about them right away.

This might be the perfect career path for someone who enjoys learning history. They can write reflections and interpret how someone lived their life. A biographer must have patience in reading diaries and journals and can recreate stories that would relate to the present readers.

A nonfiction writer

Nonfiction book writing can be an excellent way for writers to make money. 

Your best bet in this situation is to choose a subject in which you are an authority and then look for a strategy you can genuinely personalize. 

You can build a successful career writing and publishing nonfiction books if you can find a niche and write several books on that subject.

Like fiction writers, the best method for generating a full-time income is to write numerous books in a single genre or series. 

Like with fiction books, you have the option to self-publish or go through a traditional publisher when writing nonfiction. 

Your level of interest in the technical aspects of the publishing process will determine how involved you want to be.

Final thoughts

It takes balance to write. Additionally, thinking and creativity require space. There are many ways to make a full-time writing career possible. 

Therefore, there is a perfect career path for anyone interested in writing. And to get started in any of these fields, you must put your mind to it, pick up the necessary skills, and dedicate yourself to your work.

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