by Gordon Hamilton

Created on: February 09, 2009   Last Updated: December 11, 2010

When they think of writers, a great many people will think automatically of the likes of Stephen King or Jackie Collins, novelists who have made untold millions from their craft and live a life of luxury that most of us will only ever dream about. Alternatively, some may think of such as Ernest Hemingway or Robert Louis Stevenson and the lives of adventure they led travelling the globe. The reality, however, is that ninety-nine percent of full time writers do not fall in to either of these categories and that life and the levels of success achieved are very different.

The majority of writers will start out only on a part time basis. This is because it can take years to become established as a writer and earn enough money to give up the day job. The advent of the Internet has expedited this process for some to a certain extent but it still requires time to build a portfolio of writing from which royalties can be earned, or make a blog successful enough to generate significant Google Adsense or affiliate marketing revenue. Even writers who intend writing articles on a regular basis for fixed payments have to build their reputation and become established as an authority within their chosen field.

"Why don't you just get a proper job?" is a question that struggling writers are frequently asked. The reality in this respect is that writing is a proper job, with very often a great many more long, hard hours put in by the writer than by people in what may be deemed to be conventional occupations. Writers have to have a passion for their craft if they are to succeed and this means that a nine to five, five day a week work pattern is nigh on impossible, regardless of what level of success may be attained.

There are of course a great many benefits to being a writer. Very often, although the hours may be long and hard, writers can choose the hours which they wish to work without restriciton. Writers can also work just about anywhere, either from home, a park or beach in the summer, or a place which they find inspiring and conducive to producing quality material. Meals can be eaten when desired and coffee breaks are of course possible at any time.

It should be noted carefully that anyone intending becoming a writer simply to secure the benefits and freedoms of the pursuit is almost certainly doomed to failure. These benefits are residual, which only come about through a love of writing that is essential to enjoy success. Writers should be writers above all because they love to write and have a passion for the subjects upon which they choose to do so.

There is little glamour in the life of the vast majority of writers but the satisfaction of a piece well crafted and subsequently published is something beyond that which most people regularly experience.

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