Harsh Reality Number 2

 

Since starting this blog last year, I have regularly been asked about how to become a professional writer. Mary, one of my keener subscribers (see – I didn’t forget you), recently raised the topic again and prompted me to think some more on it. Some of the issues related to this discussion I covered previously in my series on The Professional Writer, but what I didn’t cover was how to get writing work in the first place.

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For many, the article that follows may seem negative and discouraging. That is not my intent. I merely want to illustrate the harsh realities of the grit, learning, commitment and – let’s face it – luck that goes into convincing someone to actually pay you for your words.

 Supply Far Outstrips Demand

It is commonly said that 95% of professional actors are out of work at any one time. Similarly, there are thousands of artists devoted to their craft but unable to turn their passion into a bank balance. For writers, a similar figure is probably true. All of the creative professions are popular career paths. So many children grow up with dreams of being an actor or a painter or a writer, before giving up and becoming a postman instead. But many will continue to follow the dream and remain disappointed. Supply and demand.

Even among those who have achieved the right to put their dream profession down on their passport application, the road isn’t smooth. Not all writers have a full time job. For many it is a shuffle from commission to freelance commission, an article at a time. You can also look at the books in your local store and be sure that most of the names you see on the spines are still working another job waiting for their publisher to call them back. It is one thing to get a first piece of writing published. It is another thing entirely to keep the flow of work and money constant.

I am incredibly lucky as I have a regular salary to do what some of you are begging to do. I don’t have to worry about whether I have enough work next week to pay the rent – unlike my fiancé who runs her own salon. But her situation of an up-and-down income is far closer to most writers. In fact, for many writers, down is more common than up.

Some artists may get work as illustrators or graphic designers or – heaven forbid – a seaside caricaturist to the tourists, as a way of keeping the rent flowing while their oil-splattered canvases are pushed to one side. Actors may get simple ‘fill-in’ work as extras or may be lucky enough to find ongoing contracts as a drama teacher. Far too many actors finish up in a theme park inside a giant chicken suit. A friend of mine once told me the story of how he got talking to the guy inside a kangaroo suit in a touring children’s show. The actor admitted to having spent three years at drama school before finding himself in a hot and stuffy foam costume jumping around trying desperately not to knock over the toddlers. Training and qualifications are not necessarily the golden ticket to an acting career. The same goes for art and writing.

For writers, I guess the equivalent would be taking one of those paid blogging jobs that are advertised all the time. These are the jobs where you pump out ten or more generic short blog posts a night for a few dollars each that are sold onto people with no idea of the importance of quality content. Or there are those ‘paid’ blogging jobs that rely on advertising revenue to provide an income, the writer’s equivalent to commission work. Not recommended for someone looking to keep the eviction notice from the front door.

The lesson? There is absolutely no guarantee of obtaining a regular income from writing, no matter how talented you are or how much preparation you have put in. Be prepared to start anywhere and compromise your dream to stay paid.

Es Sanchez