Guest Post: How to Achieve Professional Success as a Writer

Article by April Davis

If you asked me how to learn to write, I would tell you that writing is an innate skill – you either have it or you don’t. Of course, you can do much to hone your writing and sharpen your creative edge, but the basic talent has to be there for any additional work to be done. So if you’re looking for success as a writer, it’s essential that you be a writer first – you must be able to string words together naturally and without struggling too much; you must be inspired by your passions and be driven to write; and you must enjoy writing and know that your writing will find appreciation. Once this has been established, here’s how you go on to finding professional success as a writer:

• Find your niche: Not everyone is the next JK Rowling with a bestseller in the wings, and not every success story in writing is as large as hers or connected to books. You can find success only when you know your writing niche, the genre in which you’re most comfortable. You can do this by experimenting with different kinds of writing – short stories, articles for newspapers, magazines and the web, poetry, technical writing, copywriting, books – there’s a whole lot of choices out there. Once you find the niche that suits your writing style, then you’re all set to go. 

• Play to your strengths: Some writers are at their creative best in the mornings; others are night owls who work through the dark hours and into the rising sun. Know when your concentration and creativity are at their peak, and use these times to produce your best writing. Writing is not a nine-to-five job that you can do monotonously and routinely – you need to be in the mood if you want to create written text that’s appealing and enthralling. So play to your strengths instead of aping other writers and following their method of doing things. 

• Try to make a living out of it: There’s no point to being a struggling writer and trying to make ends meet as you faithfully churn out pages of what you hope will be a bestseller and catapult you into instant stardom. If you can’t make a decent living with your gift, you’re abusing it and letting it waste away. So even if you’re trying to write a novel, take on temporary writing assignments that allow you to make money and which make working on your book much easier. 

• Continue to write: There will be times when you’re unable to write, when words fail you and when you hate every single thing you’ve written. The best way to get over these dry spells is to keep at it, to try and write at least a few lines every day. A short break from your routine could help shake you out of your rut and leave you refreshed and energized; however, the longer you stay away from writing, the harder it is to get back into the groove. So continue to write – the more you write, the better you become. 

• Continue to read: Most writers are voracious readers – they love the sight of the written word as much as they love penning them down. When you become a full-time writer, you often don’t find the time to read. But when you don’t read, you tend to stagnate and suffer from writer’s block. So set aside some time to read every few days – it boosts your confidence, provides you with additional insight, and keeps you informed about all the things that are going on around you. 

Finding professional success as a writer depends on your skills, your dedication, your professionalism, and your determination to grow and evolve as a writer with every new assignment or task.

This guest post is contributed by April Davis, she writes on the topic of Accredited Degree Online . She welcomes your questions and comments at her email id: april.davis83(@)gmail(.)com.