Writing As A Career

I want to travel America when I'm older, getting small-contract work and living as basically as possible (I'm into the romantic lifestyle!) I don't want to do English as a degree, I want to do something a bit wacky and interesting that probably won't get me a career but that I'll love. I will not be able to stop writing ever...as far as I can see because I literally can't live without it right now. So, hopefully with lots of hard work I could make it (I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much - but it's difficult! I wanna write!)

Since the poll said eventually, I chose definitely.
But...you do need a back up plan. I'll choose architecture, interior, or exterior design.

Lucinda wrote:I would *definitely* want to be a full-time writer. Shame that it's so difficult to make a living off of it unless you happen to be J.K. Rowling. xD
I'm thinking I might try to double-major, first in something practical that would earn me a decent living and that I wouldn't mind doing terribly, and then in English also.

I want to double major too. English and some type of architecture.

Will an English degree actually help your writing improve that much more, though? Is it really worth going to college for 4 years for?

When I was younger I thought of getting a degree in literature, but after I read Twilight I changed my mind. It seems it doesn't help much.
I guess I'll get a stable job but write in my spare time. I need financial security first, like you guys said. And my parents would kill me if I wrote for a living without earning good money.

magnusbanefan13 wrote:I know that pretty much everyone on here takes writing pretty seriously and wants to eventually publish something, but how many of you are actually going to try to make writing your full time job? And is anyone planning to go to college to get an English degree or something similar?

I'm more into science. My plan for five years time is: When I leave school I have a gap year, maybe get paid to work ona cruise ship or something, so I can get some money. Then I'll go to uni back home in NZ, probebly a medical degree, with a writing one on the side. Science would definitely be my major though. Then I'd go on to write in my spare time, while working at a hospitalm or soemthing similar!

I'm hoping to be a full time writer. I don't have any plans to go to uni though. My granny is a writer, and her editor has looked at some of my stuff and said if I put in the work I'll make it. He also said not to go to uni because it supposedly crushes your creativity. He said it would be far better to spend that four or so years practicing writing daily, and learning as much as I can from the internet and books on writing.

I'd highly suggest to everyone to go to University. In this day and age, not going is a not smart thing to do.

In any case, it's easy to make writing a career; almost any career you consider involves a lot of writing. However, I don't think that's what people mean.

Here's the problem: even best-selling authors don't quit their day job usually. To get on the NY Times Bestseller list, you typically only need to sell 10,000 copies. For a new writer, the royalty rate is between 12% and 14% of the cover price. But lets say you're either not a new writer or you have a very good agent; in that case, the maximum rate you can expect is 20%.

Hardcover books sell for about $28 each at most. 20% of $28 is $5.60. So that's $56,000 from 10,000 copies sold under a best case scenario.

Then consider how difficult it is to sell just 10,000 copies. In the United States alone, 172,000 new books are released each year. Of those, fewer than a 100 will make it to the NY Times Bestseller List. And every year, brilliant books go ignored.

I don't mean to dash anyone's hopes; by all means, write a novel and try to get published. But don't make writing novels your career as Plan A. Make sure you develop some other skill as well.

I'll always write! I think it would be impossible not to. But I'm going to become a biochemical engineer and work on the cutting edge of science. Because, let's face it. Writing gets old. Playing with chemicals and figuring out how to fix logic problems is completely awesome.

Snoink wrote:I'll always write! I think it would be impossible not to. But I'm going to become a biochemical engineer and work on the cutting edge of science. Because, let's face it. Writing gets old. Playing with chemicals and figuring out how to fix logic problems is completely awesome.

go science + medicine! I'm thinking of a chemical pathologist though, because you get around 2x the pay.

Yes! We scientists shall take over the world!

And chemical pathologist sounds ridiculously fun. However, that would probably require a doctorate whereas engineering, you can get hired in the US with just four (or five) years of schooling, i.e. a B.S. And I want to get in the industry as fast as I can because it sounds completely awesome.

In NZ, it's only five or six years of tertiary education, and I think you need a medical bachelor, and a bachelor of surgery... you can take one course on it, which covers both of them. A chemical pathologist looks at viral and fungal diseases under the microscope or something, and parts of people which have been removed by surgery to see if they're infected.

I want to be an elementary school teacher as my main focus, but I love writing, and I would love to get a novel or two published here and there. Plus I have vacation time to write as a teacher, so that's a bonus.

I'm majoring in Literature this year, and I plan to be an editor or a teacher as my day job, and write in my spare time. I could never stay focused in any other class besides English, so it wasn't a very difficult decision. I'd like to teach middle school though... those years are kind of crazy, but sort of fun in their own weird way. Maybe even go back and teach at my old middle school. :3

I really do want to make writing my main career focus, but I can see how difficult that will be. My uncle is a children's writer and while his books really are beautiful, he has yet to "make it big". As a "day job", although it would really be a lot more than that, I would really love to be a nurse in Afghanistan. The soldiers fighting out there are giving up everything for their country, and I would love to just be a blessing to them when they are wounded and in hospital.

Only the other day Kingsman Jason Dunn-Bridgeman, a British soldier in the 2nd Batallion, died of a gunshot wound in a firefight. He ahd volunteered for early deployment to help his country and his friends in the horrors of the war. He was 20 years old, no older than some members of YWS. That really struck me and I hate sitting at home when these men are giving up so much. I don't know if the war will still be on when I'm old enough to go and help, but if it is, there's no way I'm staying here.

Becoming a writer full time would definitely be a dream come true! I love all aspects of writing and publishing, the touring, the conferences, the people. Being an author would be the best thing I can imagine.

But, I also have to think realistically. I'm going to college right now and am planning on majoring in English Education with a minor in History. There are always jobs out there for those two subjects, especially when combined. I chose going into English a long time ago because even though I knew getting published was a long shot, I couldn't bear to think of going into a field where I couldn't read or write. I think I would die.
So yeah, I'm trying to make writing my career for sure, but I have back-up plans. You have to hope for the best and plan for the worst, right?