Can You Make a Full-Time Living as a Writer?

It's been well established that most authors never make enough money to quit our day jobs.

I quit my day job more than a year ago to write full-time.



Granted, I'm not making a full-time living off of writing fiction. Instead, I'm combining fiction with freelance writing jobs I've gotten online.




I set my own hours. I do what I love for a living. I write when I want, go to the mall when I want, and do my grocery shopping and other chores while everyone else is at work. There are downsides, though...



I trade set work hours for having to put in extra work on the weekends. Because it makes more sense to me to do chores on a Wednesday morning at 10 a.m., that means I often have to play catch-up on weekends. But if I want to take Saturday afternoon off, I can. Or I can take all weekend off...I just have to work harder during the week. The point is, I'm in control of my time, and I like that.



I didn't start off making big bucks, though. In fact, I was probably paid $0.0000001 per word at first. But once I'd built my portfolio, I started bidding $.01 per word and gradually went up from there. Yes, many people out there are looking for writers to write for next-to nothing. Experience and talent allows you to gradually charge more.



The truth is, if you're going to be a full-time writer, you'll probably have to supplement your writing income with something. Whether it's paid appearances like school visits, writing magazine articles, doing odd jobs you find on sites like TaskRabbit or Uber Corner Store, or writing--it's up to you. But in today's sharing society, you can do it. That's the good news!