Writers: After close to 30 years of writing full-time, and part-time, as a freelancer, staff writer, senior editor and author, I have come to a conclusion about our trade.
It will not make most of us rich.
In fact, very few of us will be able to make a living with our words at all. Lawrence Block knows this as well, and he's been more successful finding gold in the word mines than most of us are. He's been churning out crime fiction under his own name and others since the 1950s. Block has won damn near every award and honor that can be afforded a mystery writer over the years. His books have been made into films, re-issued and reprinted in different languages. I love his work and return to it frequently. His novels are never far from my bedside table. There are usually a few of them sideloaded onto my e-reader.
He knows what he's doing. He's been dirt poor as he did it. Back in 2012, he shared some great advice on how to get by on a writer's income. I first ran across this gem of a blog post 13 years ago. I'd only recently started writing full-time. There was a lot of instant ramen in my life. The lessons I learned from Block, both in his post and–as he's incredibly responsive to email and social media–from the man himself, helped me to learn to live on the unstable wages that come with a career as a wordsmith. One of my favorite lessons from Block's post was his advice to remember the difference between being poor and broke:
…And act accordingly. Being broke is not a crime, nor is it proof of one's inadequacy as a writer or as a human being. If you go around with an attitude of implicit apology for being temporarily without funds, it's going to do you more harm than good.
Conversely, an air of confidence can get you through some tight spots.
Even in an age where I might see my employers or fellow writers once or twice a year, if that, it's advice that's served me well. Fake it 'till you make you make it.
Even if you're not a writer, there's some valuable financial advice here. The post is worth a read.
