How to start a writing career… man that’s a big promise for a blog post. Here’s everything I learned to begin my writing career. And, yes, it was easier than I thought 😉

The year was 2011 and I was two years out of college and working at an ad agency in account management. We were the glorified organizers. There wasn’t much creativity in what we did. It’s the perfect job for someone who wants to be around creativity and is kind of a Type A personality. A shadow artist gig, I found out later when reading The Artist’s Way. 

Shadow artists are artists trapped in their limiting beliefs of themselves, so they seek partners, careers and opportunities to share creative energy in the same space with artists who are actively working. I didn’t realize that’s what I was doing until one day it was clear to me the smoke and mirrors game agencies were playing to sell these roles. I was not making art. I was not a career writer. I was a pencil pusher surrounded by people doing the creative stuff.

Maybe you’re the same, or maybe you’re not even around creativity and want to be? I’ve made writing my career now for about 10 years (WOW!). Whether it’s blog posts, copy writing for ads or social media, and most recently a potential job co-writing a book… I’m living my dream. I’ve come a long way since being that hopeful shadow artist… I’m in the arena, as Brenae Brown says. So, how did I get here? There’s a million ways to get here, a fact I used to find crippling but now brings me great comfort. We live in a world of infinite possibilities! Here’s how I did it and what I learned on how to start a writing career.

 

 

How to start a writing career

 

Declare yourself a writer

 

This obvious step took me the longest. It seems ridiculous now though LOL… how to start a writing career? Hmm step 1: tell people you are a writer. I’m not meaning this in any patronizing way. It’s actually HARD to call ourselves something we feel we are not. I didn’t feel I was worthy of the title writer. I thought you needed to be successful to be able to call yourself that, which is crazy. How do you find success if you aren’t being the thing you want to be first?

In fact, I didn’t even do this for myself. My friend did. At a bar. Introducing me to some guy I don’t even remember at this point. Since then, I got a bit more confident in the fact that I am and have always been a writer. Being a writer is a vocation. Now, having a career as a writer, takes a little more work…

 

Write stuff

 

This seems to be another cheeky step. I promise, I’m not being a jerk, but it is obvious, isn’t it? You need to keep writing stuff. I made the mistake of getting super caught up in my first two paying clients and I ignored my writing, the thing that got me discovered and primed for opportunities. Do not stop writing stuff even when you’re getting some success and work.

I was too busy getting in my feels about what success looked like and I completely missed how successful I actually was with my first blog. I had a small, loyal audience, I was getting paid by people who saw my blog, and ultimately I got caught up in all my stories about it… so the blog ultimately died. Womp. All that work, gone. But the experience did stay with me and was the most valuable thing I could have done to begin my career as a writer.

 

Share your work online

 

Easy-ish step 3… share your writing online. In order to be a writer, you need to write things. In order to have a career, you must share them. This is the easiest way to build a body of your work and showcase it. When I started my first blog, I had all these dreams I’d monetize the blog content itself. That was pretty hard, to be totally honest, but I kept doing my thing and sharing my work… in the process of doing that, I picked up my first two clients who were willing to pay me money to be a writer. WTF?! Yes. Showcasing your work online is not ONLY to become some famous influencer. It’s a terrific place to be discovered by someone who will pay you… and then, BAM! You’re a hired writer–– officially.

 

 

Finish projects

 

I cannot overemphasize the importance of finishing things. Big rookie mistake I made at the beginning was not finishing projects, including that first blog I shut down and a book I wrote. Yes, I have an entire book I wrote and did not finish or publish. Big, big mistake. Finish your projects, that’s what makes a professional.

Mindset is so important for starting any career that feels hard or impossible.

The best success I had were the times I was treating myself as the successful person I wanted to be. I was taking myself and my work seriously. If I was being paid to deliver, you bet your ass I’d finish. But for whatever reason, I did not hold myself accountable to the same standard. When there wasn’t a tangible person on the other end, I let myself off the hook. A lot.

Now, I finish what I start. And if I don’t, I give it real thought and understand if it’s a smart pivot or giving up. There’s a difference, by the way. I do believe it’s possible to start things and realize they are no longer the right fit. Ultimately you know yourself, so deep down you’ll know when it’s okay not to finish something.

 

Trust yourself

 

That’s a great segue to this next very important step: trust yourself. Look, no job is easy or guaranteed. You can fail at the “safe job,” so you may as well go for what you want. Jim Carrey said that in one of his speeches to a graduating class. No job, even the safe job, is a guarantee. You can fail, get fired, etc. So you may as well do the thing you want. Trust yourself. You can always count on you, and if you can’t, work on that.

I consider this synonymous with trusting the process, but I like the distinction of trusting yourself. Ultimately, if you are living into your vision and being (showing up) as the person you want to be, I fully trust that all the chips fall into the places they should. This is truly the only thing in your control.

 

 

High intention low attachment

 

Another great transition into my next recommended step on how to start a writing career: act with high intention but low attachment. What does this mean? It means you can only control you. That includes how you talk to yourself, which in turn affects your mindset and how you show up in the world, and as a result affect the actions you take. Again, I cannot stress how important your mindset is. If you think you’ll never make it, or suck, trust me, your actions will reflect that… and ultimately your results will too.

There is no guarantee even if you do all the “right things” that you or I will have the success, of say, Liz Gilbert. That’s the the way it works, and I’d argue, it’s not the point. You don’t need a million fans, a book deal or even an ample social media following to do good work and make a living from that work. This is still a step I struggle with. It’s really hard to see people’s successes and not have an attachment to my success looking like that. I’ve heard this advice from other successful creatives (including Liz Gilbert in her book Big Magic). It just isn’t fair to look at other people’s work and compare yourself to them. It isn’t fair to you and it sets you up for disappointment.

The best success I’ve enjoyed came when my mindset was healthy: I was considering myself a career writer who is talented and worthy of success. I showed up with high intention and LOW attachments to the results. The times I’ve been most open to how it all looks in the end are when I’ve had the best success (and it looked even better than what I had in mind). Please remember, we cannot control outside results. But I promise it’s worth sticking with it and you don’t need all the glitter and fame to be a career creative.

 

Submit your work

 

This is synonymous with putting yourself out there. You cannot have a career in writing without submitting your work or making the pitch. A career in any creative field requires vulnerability. It’s an incredibly brave and generous thing artists do: share their experience and creations with the world. It’s taking a big chance. On the other side of that can be a great reward, criticism, or the worst outcome in my opinion, crickets.

There’s no easy advice for this. No hack of any kind. You get to keep doing this really hard thing not knowing if you will be caught on the other side. That’s it. Over time, if you’re following the path, you will come to a place where your worthiness is not contingent upon the validation of others. It will be rewarding to you either way. In fact, you will become the net that catches you on the other side. But you will never get to that place without going through that process of putting yourself out there.

This has been the second hardest part for me. This is exactly where I quit in my process: right before hitting live, clicking submit, or launching. My fear and anxiety consume me. This is the part I get to push through and it’s still hard. But I’ve found my peace with it the more I’ve done it. What I mean is, it really is a number’s game. Some projects of mine have done great. Some have flopped. And I learn to take it in stride and to extract value on the work and experience that does build upon itself. The successes were built upon the flops and so-so results, as well as the successful gems.

 

Don’t give up (your power is in staying & growing your body of work)

 

I heard this advice in a webinar for authors and I thought it was SO good. It’s true, very few success stories begin at the first book (or movie, or project). The “overnight success stories” have an entire career started before that even if we just heard about them when they hit it BIG. Sometimes, when you hit that success later on, people look you up and are delighted to dive into your work. Your art continues to work after that launch phase.

Over on our youtube channel, very few videos become immediate hits. But we’ve had a few “sleeper hits” that all of a sudden we’re getting thousands of views on. We had totally forgotten about them and then there they were, making an impact on people’s lives! Don’t forget your work continues to live on. People pass it on. It can and will be discovered multiple times. I forget this, so I’m glad I decided to write this post because it’s a reminder for me too!

 

All right my last tip on how to start a writing career is: Be open to opportunities

 

Yay! You made it to the end. Let me say this: not all opportunities are obvious. So, again, remaining in the clear mindset that values yourself, your time and your work, will allow you to be paying attention when the “un-obvious” opportunities come your way. If we’re in a state of agitation, low self esteem or stress, we cannot see opportunities. It’s that simple. So keep that mindset up so you can be vigilant of these when they come to you… and if you’re doing the work, putting it out there and showcasing it, they will.

Sometimes they aren’t EXACTLY what we had in mind, but if we’re open we can see how opportunities can help move our work forward. Even set backs can be opportunities providing valuable material in the form of relatable experiences, or creating the space to work on that thing we’ve been wanting to do for awhile… when we’re able to see life as a constant stream of opportunities, that’s exactly what it becomes.

 

I hope you’ve enjoyed this and found these steps on how to start a writing career helpful 😉 If you have any questions or wanna share your experiences, feel free to comment or reach out to me personally!

 

Ps. If you liked this post, you may like my memior, Embrace That Girl.

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