Making Money by Writing

June 26, 2019 7:06 PM

I love to write essays, articles and perfectly worded letters and correspondence. I have no formal education beyond high school and a few years of college. But, I have been told countless times that my writing is beautiful, powerful and well-written.

I'd really like to make some money doing this! Should I go back to school or take writing courses? How would I find jobs or work writing? I'm really at the beginning thoughts of actually considering making a go of writing and making a few bucks, so any thoughts of a direction I should go or explore would be very welcome! Also, I am not looking to make a ton of money (although that'd be awesome) at first or for this to be how I support myself.

(disclaimer: this askme question is not indicative of my writing abilities)

posted by Sassyfras to Work & Money (4 answers total)

If writing grant applications sounds appealing, there’s plenty of non-profits that could use your skills (and would fit your criterion of not making a ton of money :-).
posted by doctord at 9:48 PM on June 26, 2019 [3 favorites]

I'm like you -- no formal education, just like to write and have been told I'm good at it; I started with just a blog, but over time I got a variety of writing gigs:

• A bloggish website (no real topic) that was taking free writers, but eventually started paying when advertising revenues came in
• Another website, with a topic I'm knowledgable about, had posted a call for writers on Craigslist; I sent in samples, got hired, wrote for them for 5 years
• Our local public broadcasting affiliate has a 'this day in history' radio segment; I mailed in some writing samples to the producer, he called me in to talk about the gig, and I was hired to write stories, did for about 2 years until I ran out of things to write about
• Our local free 'alt-weekly' had put an ad in their own classified section looking for writers; I wasn't a good fit, it wasn't a paying gig, but I had about 10 articles published over a couple years

There were a couple more smaller ones, one-off gigs, but what it basically comes down to is this: if there are places that publish things that people write, contact them and find out if they're looking for writers. You'll get a lot of rejections or ignored, but someone may see what you have to offer. You need to be able to at least somewhat promote yourself -- you're selling a product, your writing ability, and nobody's expecting an English Major PhD for every writing gig. A lot of writing gigs are just filling column inches with something that's not offensive or impossible to understand. I never made a lot of money, but enough that it was worth it to me, and I enjoy writing and now I've got some interesting things on my resume.
posted by AzraelBrown at 4:25 AM on June 27, 2019 [3 favorites]

Don't go back to school. Sign up for ConstantContent or Crowd Content and learn the ropes. Over time your reputation will improve and you will get higher-paying clients on those sites. You'll also learn different content formats that potential clients are willing to pay for, and can then strike off on your own.

I support a family of four as a writer.
posted by JamesBay at 7:50 AM on June 27, 2019 [15 favorites]

"perfectly worded letters and correspondence" sounds like a good fit for government writing. A friend of mine started with letter writing and is now a speech writer for a Minister in the Canadian gov't. Sorry I can't help with more detail but maybe that's a starting point for exploration.
posted by storybored at 11:56 AM on June 27, 2019 [1 favorite]