Deciding to Be a Professional Writer

The decision to become a professional writer is not one to take lightly. It is a decision that, like every other career choice, takes a lot of thought, planning and research.

For starters, you need to decide what type of writer you want to be. If you thought that 'a writer is a writer,' than you have obviously skipped this very important step.

When trying to decide what type of writer you want to be, start on a macro, or very general level. Do you want to be a journalist, a novelist? Do you want to write music or movies?

If you are not sure what type of writer you want to be, than you need to do some soul searching. Ask yourself why you want to be a writer. Is it because you want to be your own boss? Do you feel like you need to share you knowledge? Maybe you have a creative flare?

Whatever the reason, you can find a writing career to compliment it.

Once you have decided on the general type of writer you want to be, you have to research that field. Find out what the job market is like, what type of education or certifications might be helpful or even required and whether or not the pay scale is acceptable for your life style.

Now that you know what field of writing you want to pursue you need to plan out your goals. Do you want writing to be a full-time career, or is it just a hobby that you want to take to the next level? What is your time frame to achieve this goal? What types of resources do you need in order to reach your goal?

If you are looking to make writing your hobby, than the above questions will be relatively easy to answer. If it is a full-time career you are looking for, than get ready to spend some time laying out the answers.

If your writing career will require you to earn a degree, than you will have to research schools and tuition prices. You will need to examine your finances and figure out how you will afford schooling and pay any other bills.

If you do not have to worry about school, than you still need to take a hard look at your finances. It is very important to understand ahead of time how much you need to make per day, week, month and year in order to survive. Money issues can be a sure fire way to stress your self to the point of giving up.

If you plan on quitting your current job in order to pursue your writing career, than you must prepare by saving enough money to get you through at least six months with out a paycheck.

This method of breaking in to the writing business may not be right for you though, but more on that subject later.