Fantastic article. Really hits the nail on the head. I wish I could comment there, but it seems it’s not allowed.

It’s just like the advice my college professor gave me when I told her I started freelancing: “Since you’re free to make your own hours, don’t spend eight hours a day actually working for the next years to come. Instead, find ways to be able to earn more while working less, so you can spend the rest of your time pursuing your real interests (in my case, that’s writing fiction).”

I’m sorry to say I’m not quite there yet. But I’m new to this business and learning more as days go by.

There are a lot of young writers starting out who read what we say here, so I’m very glad you’ve told your story. Thank you for it. I hope the message sinks in!

After a few of the discussions here, I tried to boil it all down to first principles, as is my wont. I hope you don’t think it is gauche to post a link to my own blog here:

http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewblog.asp?authorid=55121

To me, it comes down to this: if you want to have time and a good attitude to create your own art, you have to make the scratch it takes to live first. Hustling all day for $10 here and there isn’t going to get a novel written. If you charge $40 instead, and lose a full 2/3 of your clients, you’re not only ahead in money but you’ve got a big hunk of time freed up to do what you have to.

I guess this is what got me so bitter during the disucssion about publishers and agents. I don’t care how much people like to write – do they like to eat? Do they like something more than a carboard box between them and the pelting snow? How does starvation really affect the quantity and quality of your writing?

This thread is “What was your first big break?” and before it hits I can see that some hustling might be needed to make the rent. I only hope that people build on each success, charging a little more each time as their resume gets better looking. When people talk about making a living as a writer, they usually emphaisize the “living” part, as if it were a Kunstlerleben (artist’s life). I emphasize the “making”, as it’s your creation.

Thank you. I totally agree with you.

“When the stomach is full, it is easy to talk of fasting.”

What that means for me is; it is only when I have enough money in my pockets that I could think of writing “for myself”, so to speak.

The significance of being published in mags and newspapers, I think, would be recognition. Not for recognition in itself, of course, but just like Deb said, it can get you places.

For example, I had been shortlisted for a scientific journal job some time ago way before I even considered freelancing. There were only two of us left in the selection. The employer admitted that there wasn’t much disparity in the quality of our writing syles, but the other person had written for a magazine before while I was fresh out of college. Of course, I didn’t get the job.

I do believe though, that I’ll “get there” in due time when I’m done with my other commitments and I could write what I want.

I’d go with the money. I don’t see that anyone needs fame, but we do have to eat. Once someone is properly fed they can probably find time to do what they need artistically – for themselves.

It sounds like you’ve got your priorities clear in your own head, and I totally agree. A commitment is a a commitment. That’s what pays the bills.

When it comes to what it takes to get the freedom to do what you want, I can’t see that fame has anything on a good paycheck. Well, a paycheck and a good reputation that gets more coming.

(Feel free to see me as more than a little crass that way.)

Twice had publishing companies come knocking at my door. Twice had they knocked at the wrong time — I was already busy with big web content projects. Sure the disparity of “value” (i.e. byline) is great but when I don’t want to renege on commitments.

I say this because my main function here is to be your Taoist Master. It is wired into my programming.

Kidding! Just kidding! Well, it is what I *do*. And I do mean it sincerely when I say that getting a few gigs and building a rep will lead to bigger and better things.

More importantly, you’re out on the ‘net meeting people and talking to them. My advice is that you make sure you are meeting people in the real world, either through discussion groups or (better yet) through volunteer work in your community.

Big breaks are made of little breaks. Little breaks are made with contacts. The more contacts you have, the more shots you have. If you use each gig to push yourself and improve your talent, you’ll eventually be known. Don’t be afraid of taking a part-time job to keep yourself fed, because you need to stay happy if you are to stay focused.

Skill is something you carry within you. Keep it with you no matter where you go, and you’ll have it handy when you need it. The rest is just your own personal journey. Take each step boldly, but enjoy the journey!

My first break happened in the late 80′s when I approached the editor of a city magazine and expressed my interest in writing for his publication. I took my really terrible clips from college to him, but there must have been something there, because he hired me to write restaurant reviews, then continued to use me to write other articles for the magazine.

My national break came when I submitted an article idea to Family Fun and they bought it, and also writing for a magazine called Moms On Call, a Woman’s Day Special interest publication, that is no longer around. That paid great–$800 to write up small snipets that could be found in the front of the book. Probably the best paying gig I ever had.

Freelance Success is a great way/place to network, but it does cost to join. I found work that way, through Babyzone.com and some other sites.

It’s a blast when something comes through that pays a decent wage and is fun to work for.

Also, when WFC ended, Writer’s Row was started and staying connected to a group of other writer’s and the advent of Deb’s FWJ was a big help in finding other jobs.

This was a big deal to me because it was right as I was going freelancing full-time, and because it was more than I had ever gotten for an article — about five times more, actually. It proved to me that freelancing was something I really could make it at.

Unfortunately, I’ve tended more towards web content and copywriting in my career, so my magazine and newspaper clips aren’t as numerous as I would like. Once I finish the Big Project I’m working on right now, I plan to start querying a little more (in addition to writing more fiction — man have I got plans! )

Now I’m looking for more breaks:):)

My first break to making a living as a writer came in 2005 when I wrote my first grant for a small community-based agency. Since that time, I’ve really focused on community groups and do a lot of general financial/strategic planning in addition to writing, but my mainstay is telling their story. I’ve been living off of this ever since.

I got the break for that one because I knew a few people – it’s a small-town Saint Paul kind of story. They wanted a writer, and I gave them writing. I quit my other job (designing and selling furniture) and became a writer full-time as soon as I lined up my *next* contract.

My advice, for what it’s worth – get to know everyone. Naturally, my Myers-Briggs is ENTP, so that may not work for you. But I hope it does. Be a friend to everyone you meet, chat with people and remember their stories. You’ll have connections for paid gigs and fodder for stories that are real and alive.

Cast your bread upon the waters, and you will have ducks. That is my motto.

which Big 10 school? I’m a former sports editor of Purdue Exponent (back when we were first school in conference to have video display terminals — yes that dates me).