How to Make a Living as a Writer
This would be an instance of those mimetic "how I got to own a house at 29" stories where the first 6 steps are rational and the seventh is "have rich parents"
For most people, writing is not sufficiently lucrative to sustain a living income and supplements other income streams or is net negative.
Also: read "new grub street" by George Gissing, 1891
She doesn’t explicitly say it, but it sounds like she has thoracic outlet syndrome - it’s familiar to me because I have it, and it sucks. Looking up her name plus that, yes, that’s what she has.
Sat here after a night of crappy sleep poking this out with hands that feel like they’re in tight rubber gloves, but life goes on, but it’s never even crossed my mind to see it as a disability, just as “one of those things”.
The only things that it has made extremely difficult for me are things like rock climbing or climbing very long ladders - but not impossible, if I take the time to pause and windmill my arms until they aren’t useless numb pain obelisks, or until other people start to get impatient with me. Other things I’ve had to just adapt to - stuff with fine motor control I have to take frequent breaks and ensure I’m supporting my hand and arm. Washing dishes, which she cites in another piece, I deal with by pincering a sponge between my fingers and using the back of my hand. It just became the new normal. Gross stuff, I find little difference with, although it definitely aggravates it if I spend a day doing heavy work involving my arms. Buy now, pay later.
Maybe it’s a generational or cultural thing. Maybe hers is worse than mine. I don’t know - I just found it jarring to hear someone describe it as a disability, as that idea has literally never even crossed my mind.
Beautiful text, easy to read, one can immediately feel that author knows what she is doing. Light, but long and sad at the same time. With an aftertaste of hope at the end. Nice work.
One of the ironically (or maybe not ironic and just expected?) beneficial outcomes of AI tools is that "human-like" qualities are going to become more in-demand. The more weird, charismatic, or unique your personality is, the better you're probably going to do in the creative marketplace. The creators that will thrive are ones that manage to build an audience around their identity, and not merely ones that write/film/create the best works.
The piece provides an open and modest behind-the-scenes look at the author's dedication to her work and will to maintain her creative identity in the face of adversity.
As someone who just started blogging and sharing stories, I'm reminded of how much passion and hardship influence creative work.
My weakness is also my self-doubt.
I understand that living a creative life does not require waiting for the right circumstances; rather, it requires working hard in the face of criticism, uncertainty, or lack of reward.
Thanks for sharing.
Loved this article . It took me back to the days of just reading random stuff out of the blue and just enjoying it undistracted.
Hitting CTRL+F and searching for AI all over the piece, there are 0 mentions. I would have loved to read what a writer thinks of the coming AI takeover in creative writing.
Virtually all the jobs mentioned can already be replaced with AI for a fraction of the cost.
One thing is clear from this text: she can definitely write. I wonder what her erotic stories read like even though I'm not exactly the demographic they were aiming for.
What do HN folks want to read that isn't tech news? What are you reading reading these days?
I have just made the leap into becoming a full-time writer. I had an early stroke of luck and sold a screenplay – which let me write full-time for the next 6 months or so. I write primarily military/espionage fiction, would love to hear what the HN crowd is hungry for on that front.
The part of this essay that convinced me that I like this person was this:
"Horse News makes me feel like a bad person sometimes. Racing is an odd, archaic, and often cruel sport. The more I read about it, the more convinced I become that it should not exist. I root for Horse Laws and grow sad when a state bucks them."
Part of her paycheck comes from the horse racing industry so to be honest in this way is courageous. If she were in any of the common HN industries she would've written how horses have been her life-long passion, ever since she saw a picture of one in some random children's book, and how writing about horse racing allows her to share her passion with the world. She'd also have another job as a life coach.
She’s a good writer, I really enjoyed the article. It was one topic regarding being a writer today I was curiously waiting for while reading: gpt. Nothing can be more transforming for writers right now? The erotic novella will probably be written by AI very soon. YouTube is overflowing with AI generated and narrated stories now. Just a couple of months ago they were quite bad, but it’s huge improvements weekly and this week they have become so good that I’ll say they are better than magazine stories. We can just imagine how good they will be in two months from now.
A friend of mine was determined to make an actual career as a writer, and she gradually followed the money switching jobs in the direction of those that paid the most. She now easily makes upwards of $15K per month writing, sustainably over years (although she does work a lot, like 60 hour weeks). Catch is, it is mostly marketing content for scam companies, crypto peddlers, illegal trading companies, and associated ecosystem (like lead suppliers, salesmen sourcers and so forth).
I can't write erotica or porn no matter how much I practice. I have read some great writers fails like a champ when they had tried to do the same. So, what if I fail. Sometimes I fall in erotica/porn scenes like not wanting to go that way. A detail just spontaneous popupping in my mind. And yes, then It's good. But is not erotica if it happen every 100 pages. PS: practice to write erotica, admin.
Extremely entertaining read!
As a person with a lifetime handicap, reading this article with its plethora of examples and debilitating health issues:
Why did this person insist on denying their handicap and status as a disabled person and pursue benefits available to provide for basic needs, if available in Canada or elsewhere?
There are other options than going to the “dark side” as I call an avenue like Horse News.
I’m sure she’s intelligent enough to admit that “reputation management” is a fucked up way of relabeling “propaganda outlet” so it’s more palatable.
Honestly I’ve got no qualms with the smut angle because that’s a long running tradition and readers very much have made it a worthwhile enterprise over hundreds of years.
I do find some odd comedy in taking a position that writing literary pornography is actually the lesser of two evils, morally speaking, in her method of making a living. I won’t be checking out her book because of the pervasive comments about her health issues. I have a far worse one and I rarely bring it up and that’s my choice, as it’s hers to wave the flag or tout overcoming it as some kind of accomplishment to celebrate. I suppose in some ways it is, but personally speaking working for “reputation management” is absolutely distasteful to me and I won’t try to rationalize it, even in the context of physical limitations.
A totally different working life compared to mine. Definitely worth reading, thank you!
Was enjoying the article 'till a massive popup tried to grab my attention. Unfortunately I have a policy that requires the page be closed within 5 seconds of any such popups :'(, hope the horse writing turned out OK for him/her/them/they.
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You don't?
So born rich is the strat?
Writing is fun. I have a small personal blog with 21 subscribers -
If you like it and you're feeling extra generous, you can leave a donation.
I've been writing for many years, and I I'm still very far from being able to pay rent
> Throughout all of this, Horse News was the only stable work I had.
Only a good writer, that truly enjoys their craft, is able to masterfully insert a witty dry pun like that into their work. Bravo!