How to Become a Successful Writer
I always say that anyone can be anything if they put enough work and energy into it. The same can be said for writing. ‘Everyone can write, but not everyone bothers to know if they can’
So how can one become a successful writer?
Steps to Take in Becoming a Successful Writer
Here are some helpful steps to take:
- #1 Know Your Niche
‘Finding your passion and let it sail your course’
Not many people know this but writing has different niches. Look for your passion. Do you like sports or entertainment? Are you tech-savvy? Know what you know and pitch your passion into your writings.
For instance, do you love football? Do you know that you can make a lot of money from writing for football blogs? Being a global sport, it is pretty easy to start your own blog or contribute to others and get a lot of visitors and traction to your writings.
Tip: It is easy to write about what you love. Just as it is easy to talk about what you love. So if you like something and love to write, why not channel what you love into your writing?
- #2 Be willing to grow
‘Growing is the only change that is never stagnant’
The truth is that even when you know your niche, you need to grow in it. Just because you have written a few articles or blog posts doesn’t make you a success. Research constantly and grow in what you are good at.
Tip: Practice makes perfect is very true in this case. Want to become the next big writer? Then, keep growing. Do not stop till you attain what you want.
- #3 Know what Success means to you
‘What you call success is what brings you much happiness’
What does it mean to be a successful writer to you? There are three factors that many feel determine their success as a writer:
- Money:
Who doesn’t want to make money from what they do? It is normal to gauge your success as a writer based on how much you earn. So even at your early writing stage, you would be keen to make more money by getting as many gigs as you can.
- Recognition:
How many awards would you like to win as a writer? How many interviews would you like to grant? If recognition is how you measure success, then as early as possible, build a good online reputation as a writing mentor.
- Community:
Do you want to have fans? If so, then position yourself as the writer of the people as soon as possible.
A writer can get these three measures of success too. However, having one in mind at first can get you all three in different ways.
Tip: Knowing your success metric will help you begin your writing journey on the right track.
- #4 Read Constantly
‘Reading takes me on a journey of creativity’
Reading other people’s works can inspire you to greatness. In the creative world, inspiration is not objective to one person alone. Anyone can get inspired by another person’s work. While plagiarism is shunned, you can always creatively adapt other people’s work.
Reading opens you to the world of daydreaming and daydreaming inspires you to do much fiction writing.
For example, I got inspired by Chinua Achebe’s Things fall apart and Arrows of God, and some of my writings reflect the way Achebe wrote. I didn’t plagiarise his writings, no, I only copied his creative flair.
Tip: Read what you love. Read what you have passion for. What you read can help you grow and straighten your ‘writing’ rough edges.
- #5 Find a Mentor
‘Learn from others before you learn from yourself’
You cannot move to the top in the writing world easily without a mentor. I know this for a fact. Without a mentor, my progress was slower than I expected. Of course, I am still progressing but if you can, please try to find a mentor.
Cold pitch to people who already have a name in the writing world and ask them to mentor you. As far as they are humble, they would be wiling to help you.
Tip: Be willing to learn from whoever decide to mentor you. Even if they are not a big name, if they have enough experience in your writing niche, stick with them.
- #6 Build an Online Presence
‘Use the available to reach your destination’
Gone are the days were you had to wait for the newspaper to tell you that your favorite writer and poet will be releasing a new novel or play soon. You can get that information at your fingertips. Building an online presence is as important as ever now. If you want to reach the heart of young minds, build a presence. If you want to make money from your writings, build an online presence.
Tip: Without writing a hard copy book, you can be a successful writer through the internet in many ways.
Conclusion
Writing gives me pure joy. I write because I love to and I want recognition for what I do. You can also have what you want from your writing. Keeping the pointers mentioned will not only help you become a successful writer but will help you achieve happiness as a writer.
