So far I've focused mainly on novels and other creative writing. I haven't really touched on non-fiction, poetry, or anything like that. Although, these can all be just as important regardless of what sort of writing you do.
First, as you have probably heard, it's not easy to make money as a writer. You probably heard of Stephen King and J.K. Rowling. They're often thought of as the exception. There is, of course, no reason you can't become the next great writer of our world, but it's not easy. Every author started off with nothing published, and no one had even heard of them, and getting their name out there would have been the hardest thing for all of them. G.J. Stroud is probably best known for her book Measuring Up, which she published in 2009. However, she told me that when people first noticed her it was for an essay of all things. Yes, I said an essay! If you ever have a chance to talk to a writer of any kind, I suggest you ask them when they were first noticed by a publisher. It's probably not what they're best known for now.
So what does this mean for you? In If You Do Want To Write I talked about finding your niche and honing that skill. That's a good start, but now I want you to do something else as well. I want you to find some side projects. Why? Well if you have a contract that's good. For the length of that you'll know where your money's coming from, but have you thought about after that finished? As for everyone who's a freelance writer (that's anything you've decided to write yourself instead of someone asking for you specifically and giving you a contract) do you know when or how much you're going to get paid? probably not. That's why you need side projects.
What to choose though? There are so many different sorts of writing out there. My advice is to try everything, but don't commit. In other words, write something that you might show to family, friends or teachers, but don't try submitting it to a publisher or anything just yet.
You have all the different genres to try including realism, fantasy, crime fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, gothic, the list goes on. Try as many as you can, and don't forget to look at sub-genres. Then see what people you know think. There are also many non-fiction writing styles to try. You could try this, blogging, but rather than stating your own straight-up try writing an article for a friend, or search online for someone looking for an article. If all else fails just write one and show your teacher and someone to see what they think. You might like to try copywriting. That's the junk mail you find in your letterbox. Read a bit and see what works, and what makes you want to buy something. Then try it for yourself. Say you really want a Wii U console, but your parents are against video games of any sort. Write down a letter explaining why it is the single best purchase they can make in their entire life. Use everything that the junk mail uses. If they even consider, that's a win. Find every sort of writing you can ad give it a try without committing.
Now, out of all of those, what did you enjoy? Did you like it better than your niche? Maybe your niche needs to become your side project. If not, whichever types of writing you enjoy should become your side projects. The Write Life should give you some ideas of where you might be able to submit some of these for money. You could also try your local paper, or start your own blog if that's what you want to do.
Hang on. If this is so that we're earning something while we work on our niche, why are you asking if we like it? Well, side projects can take up a lot of time, and eventually, sometimes, they stop being a side project at all. If you have a set time you work on it, and only have one you don't love, it's not so bad, if you don't deviate from that pattern, but otherwise, you want to enjoy what your doing. Have you heard the stories of adults who hate getting up in the morning? They dread going to the office every day. They try so hard, but only make just enough. Did you ever wonder why? It's because they don't like what they're doing. Think of something you love to do. I don't care what it is. Cooking, reading, anything. How long does that take you? Now think of something you hate, a dreaded chore or school project. How long does that take you? Even if your working really hard it probably still takes you forever right? No matter what you do, you'll do better a better job if you enjoy it.
So, try everything without commitment. Find things you enjoy and start them as side projects. Finally, start publishing them (free or paid), and get noticed!
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