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That's a good point - there's nothing wrong with donating your time to do a grant proposal. It's a great way to get some experience (and, with luck, a successful track record) and to help out an organization that may not have the resources - mostly time - to go after many grants themselves. As far as the percentage payments, I should also note that many of the organizations suggesting them aren't intentionally trying to pull one over on the writer. They tend to have a small budget, sometimes few or no staff, don't want to spend money on a grant that they won't necessarily get, and haven't thought through the situation.
If you don't get the grant there is always going to be some amount of blame put on the grant writer
It's never my fault .... Usually it's the budget director's.
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If you pursue grant writing don't let a place pay you a percentage of the grant, or pay you only on receiving an award - it's considered by many to be unethical (including many funders)
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (a pricey but very worthwhile organization to get involved with) forbids the practice in its code of ethics. Most government funders and many foundations frown upon percentages or contingencies, and many do ask. Their grants are supposed to go toward programming, not toward paying the grantwriter.
If any organization offers to pay you in that manner, say no.
However, there's nothing wrong with discounting your rate for an organization, or as mentioned upthread, writing the proposal as an in-kind donation.
It's nice to be a salaried employee. I don't have to worry about that kind of stuff.
You can certainly make a living as a writer, I have been doing so for a couple of years now, but it takes a lot of talent, hard work, and will power. I get to work at home and set my own schedule for the most part which is great, but you have to stay on your toes and constantly hunt down that next gig and you will have to write some boring stuff for very low pay when you start out but as your portfolio grows and improve your craft you will get better and higher paying gigs.
Joining a professional organization for freelancers and writers is also a good way to network.
Everyone is a writer now. Everyone is also a web master, a computer guru, and a freelancer. That's the computer age we're in.
To be a good writer, a creative writer, a serious writer, is a kind of artist that seems to get buried. Tell someone you're a writer and you'll get, as you have on this forum, "I write FB/Twitter/IM/e-mail" etc.
Fine and good. Everyone who owns a computer is a writer.
I can draw stick people, or a round circle with lines spoking out from it and call it a "sun" but I would never dream of calling myself a painter.
If you want to know what writers do, read Steinbeck's "Journal of a Novel" or Stephen King "On Writing." Julia Cameron is better at recovery, woundology (poor me, I'm an artist, so abused!) and learning discipline of morning pages than getting to the art of if. I liked her book way back when, but now I see it as I've already stated.
Someone who likes to write, will. There's no such thing as writer's block. A true artist will do the work whether it pays or not, whether it's published or not. I speak from experience. Naturally a writer can do both, and sharing via publication and earning money is a good goal--but not enough if a person simply doesn't enjoy writing.
At least, not as an art. Read Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet" and Faulkner's Nobel Prize Speech; they write it more beautifully than I ever could.
I feel that this award was not made to me as a man, but to my work--a life's work in the agony and sweat of the human spirit, not for glory and least of all for profit, but to create out of the materials of the human spirit something which did not exist before...."
Last edited by TwoYearsMax; 08-28-2009 at 09:01 PM..
for most writers they have to supplement the lofty goals with writing more mundane stuff that pays the bills.
Indeed.
I make a good chunk of my income as a writer. Three published non-fiction books - one that continues to sell well, so I get quarterly checks. Two others that were commissioned for ten grand each.
However my bread and butter writing is web content. Definitely mundane - in fact I use a pseudonym for most of it.
I'm a pragmatist and write for money. I haven't much interest in writing fiction, although I did Nano in 2007. Writing a steaming heap of dreck at high speed in thirty days was fun! I may do it again this November if I have time.
Writing can be an art, and you certainly shouldn't give up a dream of doing great things, but for most writers they have to supplement the lofty goals with writing more mundane stuff that pays the bills.
Agreed. I write sales proposals and software manuals, mainly. I've always loved to write stories and wanted to be an author, but it's hard for me to write anything long. I would love to have a column or write for a television show, but I am afraid of failure and its consequences. That door may be rusted shut now anyway--who knows. The safe job isn't glamorous, but it's a good one that will always be in demand.
I write TV comedy (I don't know how to do anything else), mainly animated kids stuff and one show I'm proud of, but no one watched. It pays decently -- sometimes even handsomely -- but it's not a year-round gig, and cancellation, firings, lay-offs, network power struggles, etc. mean that you and your agent are always hustling for that next gig.
It helps to be married to someone who's not in the Business and can provide a stable income for when times are lean. I think this is a truism for any writing field, in fact.
As a writer myself, I think one way is to gain exposure and network with publishers that are around the world. I think writers who are successful in their own right write about their own experiences or interests.
Here are some sites that provide some opportunities, in particular, travel writers:
Both these sites allow submissions for various categories, so there are several options to take when submitting an entry. I guess the important thing is to start somewhere, and for those who aspire to write a book and have little idea where to start, writing an article or a (first) chapter always helps!
I've been making a living as a writer full-time since 2000, but started out part-time in 1994. I originally contacted all of the newspapers and small publications in my area and asked about freelancing for them. It didn't pay a lot but it was a start and gave me a little bit of money + published clips. Now I do academic work, Web site copy and articles, and all kinds of other little things like product descriptions and reviews. Mostly Web copy and articles, though. I have a literary agent, but no book sales yet. It'll happen. Patience, patience.
Anyone who writes well and is willing to work hard and be persistent can make a living (on some level) as a writer.
Interesting thread! I'm 50 years old, and I spent many years struggling with this question. I realized there are many related questions one needs to answer for oneself: What do you mean by "writing"? What is your definition of "making a living"? What motivates you to write (love of the creative process, purging personal demons, the hope of fame and fortune, etc.)?
I've written for fun since I was a kid, but when I decided, in my early 20s, that I wanted to become a professional writer, I had visions of being a wealthy, brilliant, best-selling, serio-comic novelist like Tom Robbins or Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. I wanted to be able to work from home and set my own hours. To pay the bills, I got into technical writing and editing, and eventually I was making a pretty good middle-class living, even working from home and setting my own hours for several years. But I still didn't consider it to be "real" writing. The one novel and several short stories I completed didn't sell. During my 30s, I switched to writing screenplays for an aspiring-producer/director friend in Hollywood. We had a few nibbles, but nothing ever sold. I had great fun writing those screenplays, but eventually I got married, took on stepkids, and stopped writing creatively. To earn a living, I wrote and edited technical manuals, computer training materials, and proposals. I've never been a freelancer -- these have all been full-time jobs with salaries and benefits. Now I manage an editorial department, but I still do some writing and editing.
So I've spent most of my career as a professional writer, and I've made a good living at it. Has it been what I envisioned during my early 20s? No. As I matured, though, I realized that I was never willing to starve for my art -- I wanted to be able to pay my bills, buy a house, travel, and have some savings in the bank. I also realized that I wasn't a burning, passionate Artiste who had Something Important to Say. I wrote because I loved creating characters and a plot, and using language creatively. It was what I did instead of playing chess, solving crossword puzzles, or building furniture. But I also accepted that I have a gift for clearly explaining difficult concepts to a variety of audiences, and instead of dismissing it as "what I do to pay the bills until I make it as a real writer," I now view it as something valuable and important that very few people are really good at it. As for my creative writing, I've found that any number of pursuits satisfy my creative needs: painting, photography, songwriting, home remodeling, and landscaping. The difference is that I no longer expect to make a living from them, and I'm perfectly happy being a dilettante. :-)
Hope that gives some perspective...
Now THAT is a good post and answers the OP's question. OP seems to be sincerely asking if one can actually pay the bills being a writer -- it seems a lot of the more verbose responses missed the point!
OP - check out Jennette Fulda's site "PastaQueen.com" and see how she inadvertently has become a writer -- enjoyable and fascinating journey -- hope you enjoy!
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