Writing As A Job

In order to move beyond writing as a hobby to writing as a profession it is necessary to treat it as you would a job. You have a set schedule in which you are paid to be productive and achieve certain tasks. If you fail to meet the requirements of that job, you will not get paid.

The only difference is that you will be working for yourself. You will be your own boss. If you have an employee that fails to meet your criteria of a valued and productive worker, will you not do everything in your power to either guide them into being a better worker or replace them?

Being your own boss means getting tough on yourself, not letting the little things slide. If you consistently miss hours, do sloppy work or no work at all then it may be time to face the realization that you are not cut out for that line of work.

How much do you want to earn as a writer?

I currently make less than $20,000 a year at my regular job. If I were to make that amount by selling short stories to magazines that typically pay five to seven cents a word, I would need to sell around eighty, or three every two weeks. In order to be that prolific, I would need to write at least seven hundred and forty-three words per day. That works out to be around an hour of writing and an hour of editing three hundred and sixty-five days a year. Which is the equivalent of working a little over ninety eight-hour shifts at a regular job.

Doing the math, if I work two hundred and forty-seven days a year at a regular job to make $20k and only ninety-one days writing, then I would make $27.50/h writing as opposed to $10.21 working a regular job.

Two hours a day. I think I can make that kind of time. Granted, these numbers are not exact and assume that everything you write is accepted for publication. If you're a decent writer and persevere, then you should have no trouble.

I'm giving myself a promotion.


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