The writer's life is not an easy one. Very few people actually make enough money to live on, nor will they ever achieve the stardom of a J.K. Rowling or as Stephen King. Writing has a romantic appeal. Unfortunately, it is one of the most difficult careers from which you can make much money.

With all the negative aspects that writing presents, there are methods that can help you establish your presence as a writer and perhaps some day you may succeed in drawing enough income from your work to make a respectable living.

* Don't quit your day job. While you might be inclined to devote your full attention to the art of writing, you will need some source of income to pay the mortgage. The best way is to start out in a writing career is to start out on a part-time basis.Start small and test the waters.

* Practice writing. You won't get better in anything unless you practice. And that means write and write constantly. Just because you took an English language class in high school doesn't mean you know everything to become a professional journalist or technical writer. It takes practice. And much of what you write will eventually recognize as extremely poor writing as you constantly improve your skills.

* Be observant. Writers are a curious lot. They read constantly. They look at the world and people from different angles that gives them many perspectives that help them improve their writing skills. You need a sense of curiosity before you can write effective prose. Many writers employ the W-5 method to everything they see and observe.

* Be Patient. Patience is an important part of the creative process. You'll never write a perfect manuscript at the first sitting. It takes time and a lot of grunge work before your all American story is good enough to be accepted by a publisher.

* Associate with other writers. If there is a local writing club, join it. Nothing helps better keep the motivation going than associating with like-minded people. There's no excuse for keeping yourself isolated when you can join Facebook, Twitter and many of the other social groups online today.

* Test your work. That means rewrite and edit your work for clarity and diction. But it also means getting your baby out there, into the wide and cruel world of publishers. With the advent of the Internet, you have a great way to test how good your work is by submitting to online publishing sites such as Helium, Suite 101, eHow and SubmitYourArticle. If you want to be a writer of some not you should have a blog you can regularly post material on. If you feel you've got what it takes, post articles on Constant Content where you can place a price and sell your work. If no one buys your work, you may be asking too high a price or your work isn't up to standard. Once you have succeeded selling your work, you can join Freelancehomewriters.com or post to Elance where you can bid on jobs.

* Stay positive. The writing life has its ups and downs. Writing has to be a passion. It's that passion that drives people to get those words on paper and reveal his talents to the world. Non-fiction writers are educators. They need to reveal truths, inform the public and do it within a few pages of text.

The writing life is never easy but it can be exciting. If you have a way with words, all you need to do is make a start and work your way to where you start to make a good income. And who knows? Perhaps some day you're name will be as well-known as J.K. Rowling.

Learn more about this author, Mario Carini.
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