5 Things I’ve Learned in Two Years As A Full Time Writer

I can’t believe it’s been two years since I quit my day job to write full time. I’d been writing as much as I could around work, but that felt safe. Leaving didn’t. It felt scary, but good scary, like it was the right thing to do. And for me, it definitely was.

Sometimes, even after two years, I still can’t believe I’m actually writing for a living. It was the dream for so long so that sometimes, it still doesn’t feel real, and I have to convince myself that it is.

Here are five things I’ve learned in those two years:

It’s Not Impossible to Make Money from Writing

This is still the biggest misconception I see when it comes to making a living from writing. I don’t know why people are so adamant it’s true. Maybe they just didn’t work hard enough, or maybe they focused their time on the wrong things, because I can assure you it’s entirely possible to make a good living from writing.

I have no formal qualifications in writing and I haven’t done any creative writing courses (I have read Stephen King’s On Writing which is brilliant). Yet I make more money a month now than I ever have, including the time I had a full time admin job and a part time barmaid’s job as well. If I can do it, you can too.

To Listen to My Gut Instinct

You know what – it might not always be right. You might find later down the line you turned down an opportunity because it felt off, and you were wrong. But more times than not, it will be right.

I’ve learned now that if something sets off alarm bells, there’s a good reason for it, and I walk away. It really is that simple.

Not to Panic During the Quiet Months

There will always be months that are quieter than others. A couple of months after I started out full time, I had a month where I barely met my target. I went into instant panic mode and started thinking I’d have to find a “real” job.

The next month, I had so many offers I had to turn work down. It’s like any industry. There are busy months and there are quiet ones. Now I’ve learned to ride the waves and I view a quieter month as an opportunity to catch up on other things I’ve been neglecting.

Plan, Plan and Then Plan Some More

Basically, if it’s not in my diary, it doesn’t get done. As soon as I finalise any new projects, I work out exactly what needs to happen when and into the diary it all goes.

I never used to even have a diary, let alone use now, and now I’d be lost without it. I wouldn’t even know for sure what was on tomorrow’s to-do list, let alone what’s happening a week or two from now. I blame writing for frying my brain – I used to be able to remember what I was doing when!

How to Beat Writer’s Block

There is nothing worse than sitting down to a blank screen and feeling like there’s nothing inside of you to put down anymore. The longer you stare the screen, the worse it gets. The flashing cursor mocks you, and you start becoming conscious of every tick of the clock.

I have two ways I deal with this. The first one is to suck it up and find something, anything, to start from and hope it flows. It usually works. If it doesn’t, I stop staring at the screen and do one of the mundane tasks I’ve been putting off. Eventually, my brain clicks into gear when it realises if it doesn’t, then this is as good as it gets and I go back and start writing.

Have you ever made a major life change? What did you learn from it? Let me know in the comments 🙂

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