At what point do most writers write for a living?

Question

Just writing books and short stories, really...

Writing for a living, meaning getting your income off your writing only.

Answer 1

You start writing for a living when you can financially afford to. When you either win the lottery, inherit a bundle or when the royalty checks start pouring in in amounts that cover expenses. Then your life becomes dedicated to your craft without outside interruptions. C

Answer 2

For most writers, it never happens that they just write for a living. The number of writers who can write and not have another job is getting smaller and smaller as book publishing becomes a smaller and smaller part of the entertainment economy.

There are very few writers who make a living from short stories. Ed Hoch is one. And it's not much of a living that he makes. Short stories are a commercial publishing category for almost no one these days.

I can recommend writing as a way to make a life. It's a very satisfying occupation. But I can't really say that I'd suggest it as a way to make a living, even though it's how I've made my own living for the past twenty years. If my wife didn't have a career of her own, I'd be living in poverty. (But that wouldn't lead me to stop writing!)

James Michener once said, "You can't make a living as a writer in America, but you can make a killing." I think that's more true than ever. A smaller and smaller number of bestselling writers will be responsible for a larger and larger portion of book sales. Some writers are rich, and hit it big fairly early in their careers. For the rest of us, the wolf will never be far from the door. But there's still no other work that I could find so satisfying!

Answer 3

Ever since I was three (or however old I was when i learned to read and write), I decided to start writing novels. I am not at the point of writing for a living, but once I can produce something I approve of and find publishable, I'm going to go for it.

So, to answer your question, once a writer accepts being a writer, exposes his/her work, and produces something publishable, that's when the process of making money begins.

Answer 4

Most writers don't simply write for a living. There are tons and tons of writers who never quit their day job. But the writers who can do so when they are making enough money to do so.

Answer 5

When they become so rich they don't need a regular job I think.
Like that sparks fellow who writes female type of books. But to be truthful I prefer for exciting fiction for I find some of those books pretty boring.

Answer 6

Back in the early seventies STEPHEN KING was an elementary school teacher that lived in a small apartment with his unemployed wife until his agent called and said, "okay, the publisher is offering you four hundred thousand for CARRIE but you only get two hundred thousand and they get the rest. Do you want the two hundred thousand?" That's when!