If you want to become a writer and make a living as a writer, it is important to write more than one book. It’s also considered an absolute necessity to write these books at a certain interval, so that your readers don’t forget about your very existence. I bet this doesn’t come as a surprise.

However, if you’re new to the playing field and go online, searching for keywords such as ‘how to become a writer?’, ‘writing tips and tricks’, and ‘how to make a living as a writer?’, you might notice (actually, it’s quite hard not to notice) how much emphasis there is these days on being prolific— especially so if you find yourself in the world of self- or Indie publishing.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve fallen in love with Indie publishing a long time ago and there’s no community I’d rather be in, but that doesn’t take away the fact that there is enormous emphasis on how many words you write each day, how many novels you intend to publish in the next year, whether you made it through NaNoWriMo, and so on.

You want to make a living as a writer? Great! Publish at least a novel a year and the odds are entirely in your favour! Can you produce more? Excellent! The more you publish, the sooner you can quit that day job of yours!

The thing is, these voices aren’t wrong. If your story telling abilities are good enough, and you are able to publish at great speed, you probably won’t have any trouble becoming an ‘authorpreneur’. There’s a reason why there are so many articles, books, podcasts, competitions, and more that try to make you a faster writer: it increases your chances of becoming a full-time writer.

But, amidst the friendly competitiveness that comes with this sense of always having to write and publish more, those writers who don’t have the ability to set apart large portions of their days to write might feel absolutely overwhelmed. I remember how I felt when I first happened upon the field: I was constantly worried I wasn’t doing enough, and convinced I would never ever make it as a writer because I didn’t know how to find the time to write 5000 words a day. What’s more, I became close to feeling blocked: if I couldn’t do it the way I should, why try at all?

So, what do I tell my clients when they are feeling overwhelmed by all this? I tell them there is no one way of doing this, of becoming a writer. And the one thing they need to do for themselves is figure out what becoming a writer means for them. Today, I will share the first question I ask when trying to figure out what my clients want from their writing.

Figure out YOUR personal goal

I have yet to come across a book that isn’t written for those who want to become full-time writers. There are often a few words on ‘hobby writers’ or what have you, but, in general, the audience targeted are those who want to quit their jobs rather sooner than later. As if making a living writing automatically means making ALL of the living writing.

The first question I always ask is: Where do you want your writing to take you?

You’d be surprised to find how many people haven’t thought the answer to that question through. There’s so much focus on those who want to write full-time, it almost seems the only option available. I know enough people who do want to write full-time, and I’m not saying they shouldn’t (by all means, follow it if it’s truly your dream). However, the moment you reach that point in your life when you realise you want to take your writing more seriously, it wouldn’t hurt to ask yourself what that entails exactly.

What does it mean for you to become a writer?

• Does it mean you can quit your day job(s) within the next 5 years? Or 10 years?
• Does it mean you want to make enough of a living with your writing to, at the least, start working part-time?
• Does it mean you just want a particular story out of your system?
• Does it mean you want to start entering competitions just to see where you end up?
• Does it mean you finally have an outlet for your thoughts, your frustrations, your whatever?

If it’s your personal goal to quit your day job(s) within the next 5 years, by all means, read those books, articles, whatnots, and get cracking! Stop reading this post and get your ass-to-seat!

If it’s your personal goal to make enough money with writing so you can start working part-time and devote the rest of it to writing, take a good, deep breath. If it means for you to get a story out, enter into competitions, having an outlet, take a good, deep breath as well. There’s no need for you to get caught up in the being prolific frenzy. Different goals come with different paths and different timeframes.

If you do want to get caught up in that, please do. Some writers thrive under that constant pressure, are better writers because of that constant pressure. Just make sure you make that decision consciously and not because you feel there’s no other way. And if you find it isn’t for you after all, accept that it isn’t and continue in a slower pace.

I got caught up in it once, the idea that I needed to write more so I could quit the work I was doing and become a writer full-time within the next 10 years. It wasn’t until I remembered I absolutely love the work I was doing—teaching undergrads, mentoring writers, and editing—that I stopped hitting myself over the head because I wasn’t writing a book a year. I realised I didn’t want to imagine a life without any of these jobs—even though combining these jobs with writing is quite a challenge sometimes—but that I needed to find a way to balance these in such a way that I have enough time left for writing. I changed my goal from ‘becoming a fulltime writer in the next 10 years’ to ‘having reached a balance between writing, teaching, mentoring, and editing in the next 10 years’.

There is no universal goal when it comes to writing. There are only personal goals. What is yours?

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