How did you get into writing?
I always wanted to be a writer, but of course, the Careers Advisers at school always said 'Get a proper job with a pension,' so being an obedient Child of the 1960s, that's what I did. I went into catering, and then I got medically retired at the age of just 44. I wasn't ready for the scrapheap though - I decided I would become a home tutor for exam candidates, and I studied for two degrees. Problem was, I couldn't get the appropriate teaching practice to get the certificate I needed to guide Little Johnny through his GCSEs or A Levels.
So I drifted into writing. I started writing for Helium just to pass the time, and then my stuff got noticed, and I earned money from page views and stock sales, as well as getting commissioned to write articles for websites. Now I have my own website, and I write for a number of websites and private clients. I'm also working on my first book, and although I don't earn megabucks, I can truthfully say I write for a living, because if I needed to, I could live off my writing earnings.
So, there it is. I got into writing by accident, and now it's turned into a second career for me. How did you get into writing, and is it a career for you, or just something to fill in some spare time?
Image Credit » My own screenshot from my website
Comments
oneoveralpha wrote on January 6, 2015, 2:10 AM
How I got into writing - and how I ended up here - is a bit of a long story, which I think I'll turn into a post. But the key point was when a college friend told me - almost out of the blue - that I should write science fiction. It was something I had thought about, but hadn't really considered. But once she said that, it kicked open the floodgates and I got overwhelmed by ideas and I just had to start writing them.
Debbie wrote on January 6, 2015, 4:57 AM
I've always written ever since I was a child. It was only when I gave up full-time work to have a family I was able to concentrate my efforts into short stories and other writing pursuits.
SandraInSpain wrote on January 6, 2015, 5:11 AM
I'll look forward to that post, honey.
SandraInSpain wrote on January 6, 2015, 5:12 AM
It's amazing how many people 'always wanted to write' isn't it? And even more amazing how many people manage to realise their ambitions, thanks largely to the Internet.
Quinbe wrote on January 8, 2015, 6:44 AM
I won a writing competition at the age of nine - where i wrote about my family and our pets in a National essay competition and ever since then I was always first place in essays, speeches and other debating competitions. I have the gift of the gab as my dad would say, sometimes i am ass about face, but that is because my mind is faster than my mouth!
LilyDay wrote on January 8, 2015, 9:45 PM
I have always written. Since I could hold a crayon, I was trying to write some story.
LadyDuck wrote on January 12, 2015, 8:38 AM
Congratulations Sandra, I cannot say I could live off my writings. I started writing for Squidoo, my husband received a guide how to write quick posts to make money with Amazon affiliation. I tried, in the beginning I made money, until Squidoo messed up everything. After that I joined Bubblews, I made good earnings, but now it seems that everything is down.