It’s not your age or experience that determines how much your words are worth. It is the marketplace.

Go after paying markets. You are better off writing query letters than free articles. You get paid the same for writing a query letter as you do for a free article, but the query letter actually has the potential to generate paying work.

Shell – That’s what I was thinking of! Gaining more experience with a few articles and then try to apply to paying publications Researching is at the top of my list right now, so no worries on that. I know it will take a few months to get the hang of things, but I won’t give up hope.

Keep researching opportunities and then see if you can land a good one from the experience you’ve gained

I have been writing for over a dozen years. For me it is a second job, but I earn the equivalent of 25% of my day job pay through writing. I could go full time, but the day job is still fun.

Here are some pointers:

1. Writing is a trade not a profession. It takes years to master a profession. You can pick up the basics of a trade in six months. Trades take significant skill at the highest levels (consider a master carpenter or plumber), but getting the basics down only takes months. So there is no “right age” or “right experience” to be a writer. (The main reason for the faux-professional patina offered by j-schools is to serve as a filter that the nomenklatura can pass through but the common herd cannot.) And like any other trade, you do not need to be a University grad to be a great writer. (It doesn’t hurt — unless you absorb too much self-importance at college — but it is not necessary.)

2. The difference between trademen (or tradeswomen) and poseurs is that the tradesmen and women work for money. Poseurs work for “art,” or “recognition” or “credentials.” Forget the free gigs. Especially forget free gigs that get you “exposure.” If you are not getting paid, you are not really a writer. It is not hard to get paying gigs — if you are persistent. Send queries to people offering money for writing until you get responses — and keep sending queries. But only send queries to people that are going to PAY you to write. Ignore anything else.

3. Be professional. It is even more important for tradespeople to be professional than professionals. (Those years of training get them some slack.) That means communicate in a businesslike manner. Don’t get cutesie in your queries or communications. Leave politics and religion at home (except if you are writing for a political or religious publication). Make sure you get the terms down in writing — and that everyone understands what is due when. Deliver your work on time. Deliver ahead of time if you can. Reliability is ten times more important than genius to most editors. What good is genius if it leave blank pages in your magazine.

4. Remember you can succeed — but it takes work. Lots of work. If you are a stranger to hard work . . . better to take a job at a grocery store than to be a freelance writer. You are the one that has to get out of bed every morning and get your words on paper and do it every day — even on days when the stars do not align.

I am currently writing for an online fashion magazine, but for free. Not that I’m complaining much since I’m just starting, so working with an editor and getting media accreditation to cover events is a plus. Eventually I was hoping to start a blog on fashion but focusing more on the fashion industry itself rather than trends and the top fives of every list imaginable. I also have other interests, but I suppose one step at a time

I will continue to keep watch of this blog for some opportunities and hopefully can make a smooth career transition.

Thank you again for your kind responses

With regards to choosing a niche, it may come to you in the future. I’m trying to veer my career in the direction of writing for the life sciences. Perhaps you’d like to try your hand on a variety of subjects and choose one in due time.

Anyways, I haven’t much advice to give seeing as I, myself, am new. Just wanted you to know you have peers (with regards to age and status) among us.