Help Wanting to pursue some financial success as a writer. It's just so hard for me to do this

[unperson]

I am tired of not working or having an income, and the other job options that I have experience with aren't in any way ideal, so I want to pursue writing as a career so I'm not fucking broke anymore, and maybe will have the possibility of living on my own.

But I'm best at just writing whatever come to mind, whatever stream of thoughts I can capture; and unfortunately the fucking absurd advice about being authentic only works if you're a carbon copy of mainstream thinking from some popular group/ideology/etc. Also the common advice about sticking to your values is great if you're willing to forgoe livlihood due to conflicting values with what one needs to do to play into monitization and consumerism, etc. But I've been morally hypocritical when considering how, by tightly holding onto some notion of being authentic and honest, I've become somewhat of an angry, condescending person at times and perhaps had a more negative impact that if I just except the necessary evil of putting on a facade to get by in life and do something other than slowly waste away in fear of future homelessness and squalor. So I'm kinda at the point of 'fuck it', and ready to play the monopoly game of writing, but the only problem is I'm not sure how to get started and feeling very conflicted, and also it feels like I'm staring into some fire I'm about to burn myself walking through to get out of this fucking depressing poverty and toxic household where I'm living. Fuck. Anyway. Just needed to get that out.

On a positive note--yes a rarity--at least here in ss i can just be honest about shit like how fucking miserable and depressing and hopeless things can be, yay positivity! lol

 

[overcomingfear]

Try it maybe you'll be the next bukowski heh

 

[Luchs]

I am tired of not working or having an income, and the other job options that I have experience with aren't in any way ideal, so I want to pursue writing as a career so I'm not fucking broke anymore, and maybe will have the possibility of living on my own.

But I'm best at just writing whatever come to mind, whatever stream of thoughts I can capture; and unfortunately the fucking absurd advice about being authentic only works if you're a carbon copy of mainstream thinking from some popular group/ideology/etc. Also the common advice about sticking to your values is great if you're willing to forgoe livlihood due to conflicting values with what one needs to do to play into monitization and consumerism, etc. But I've been morally hypocritical when considering how, by tightly holding onto some notion of being authentic and honest, I've become somewhat of an angry, condescending person at times and perhaps had a more negative impact that if I just except the necessary evil of putting on a facade to get by in life and do something other than slowly waste away in fear of future homelessness and squalor. So I'm kinda at the point of 'fuck it', and ready to play the monopoly game of writing, but the only problem is I'm not sure how to get started and feeling very conflicted, and also it feels like I'm staring into some fire I'm about to burn myself walking through to get out of this fucking depressing poverty and toxic household where I'm living. Fuck. Anyway. Just needed to get that out.

On a positive note--yes a rarity--at least here in ss i can just be honest about shit like how fucking miserable and depressing and hopeless things can be, yay positivity! lol

I can relate a bit. I wanted to be a writer for some time, but if I wrote a book I'd probably be arrested for its contents.

 

[timf]

Writing can be an art, a commercial success, or a craft. If you use it as a craft (like technical writing where what you write helps people with clarity) it might not feel like a lofty endeavor, but there can be satisfaction.

If you write for commercial success, you might end up like Orson Scott Card who wrote the "Ender" series of books. He hated the popular success because the books he wrote to express himself were less successful. He even went so far as to put into one of his successful books a lament by one character about how the general populace is so obtuse as to not see a true artistic perspective.

If you write to express your individual artistic temperament, you might be advised to have an alternative source of income.

I heard a few years ago that the average yearly income for a writer was $2000. When you consider that magazines are rapidly going out of business, this is probably even lower now.

It can be difficult to see satisfaction in only one narrow direction. All honest work can have value. I heard a person once shudder to think of working as a janitor. I told him that if he had ever had to use a bathroom at a bus station, don't tell me you did not see the value of a good janitor. People who do good work stand out. Everyone can probably think of a waitress they had seen that was exceptional.

 

[logan]

I think it is easier today than ever before to publish your own texts. ( Internet, Kindle ... )

But because there is so much on offer, it is very difficult to earn money with it - apart from the well-known bestselling authors or if you have direct orders from a publisher.

It tends to work the other way round:
You have thoughts, a story or interesting information that you write.
And when people become aware of it and are interested in it, you earn money with it.
And as in many other areas, this "market" is highly competitive.

 

[Darth Ruin]

Writing commercially is unforgiving. Writing skills and tips are more about conveying your message. Sometimes messages just can't get into another persons thick skull. Especially when it's a corporate environment where editors of publishing houses change elements and approve of books solely based on trends that aren't allowed to really evolve even after over a decade.

I see a trend of writers becoming Youtube art critics or philosophers to have a steady stream of income next to self-published books. Personally I think it is better to do it like that or treat writing more like a hobby next to a less fun job with more stable income.
I am in a similar situation as I have little money, an environment that sucks all the joy out of life and want to be creative first and foremost in spite of hostile professional environments. Finding a job to support ones endeavors is essential as it also can be a source of inspiration if it is well chosen. The best writers (those with insights worth sharing) all have had some kind of life experience outside of writing or instead forced themselves through existence with their massive amounts of writing.

I have been to three therapists that all have said a job and living on your own are the first priority to a happy life in my case. My parents always cared more about me having any job than something fulfilling, or even just comfortable with decent pay.
Maybe I say these positive things about work in tandem with merely a creative outlet out of pathology as I am close to living on my own and working an interesting and (I hope, as I don't know yet) enjoyable job whilst still only able to pursue creative endeavors and desires of the heart as a hobby. But it seems necessary as I don't have enough endurance or the will to have to scrutinize my work through lenses that in the end only fascilitate a more accessible product but not an actually better product or something I could be content with myself.

 

[Kattt]

I used to do some freelance writing...just articles and short skits and a bit of investigative stuff mostly for online journals....then i messed up my head and now one sentence is hard work
Keep writing as much as possible and it helps to read a proper (not clickbait) newpaper daily if possible.
Then it's just about making connections-I just randomly messaged other writers-they always need proof readers and researchers...surprisingly, they're regular people just like us!!