How to Become a Writer

Becoming a writer is actually quite easy. Contrary to the stereotype that writers are divinely-gifted recluses or quirky Beatniks, the truth is, anyone who writes is a writer. Yes, including you. Nonetheless, wordsmiths at the starts of their journeys inevitably wonder how to become a writer. 

There is no signifier, no before and after, no threshold or concrete line you have to cross that determines whether you are a writer. If you write, you are a writer—even without publication credits or a significant body of work. At the same time, the writer’s life is intimidating, fraught with insecurity, and everyone—published authors included—wants a magic formula that ensures a successful writing journey. 

That formula doesn’t exist. But this article will help guide you through the essentials of becoming a writer. Rather than prescribe an arbitrary list of dos and don’ts, we offer you different ways of thinking about your journey as a lover of words and stories. No matter your genre, your intent, or your motivation to write, this article will help you understand more clearly how to become a writer. 

What does it mean to become a writer?

The idea of “becoming a writer” comes with a few assumptions. You might think the following:

• You aren’t a writer until you get published. 
• You need to have a degree in English or Literature to call yourself a writer. 
• Writers have to know a bunch of hifalutin words and employ arcane literary devices. 
• To be a writer in the 21st century, you need to be active on social media, have a Substack or mailing list, and live in a major urban area. 

None of these assumptions are true about becoming a writer.

None of these assumptions are true about becoming a writer. If there’s one answer to the question “how to become a writer,” it’s this: an admiration for—and a longing to create with—language.

Does that describe you? Congratulations! You are already a writer. 

The above assumptions are based on the mythology of what writing entails. Yes, there are plenty of writers who fit the above mold. There are also plenty who don’t. The problem is not one of identity, but one of optics: the writers we know and admire are the ones who are constantly promoted or promoting themselves, and they’ve been able to do so because of the above privileges. 

If there’s one answer to the question “how to become a writer,” it’s this: an admiration for—and a longing to create with—language.

How many writers are there who never published? Who lived in small towns, eschewed the internet, and never used the phrase “it contain multitudes”? We don’t know, precisely because they toiled in anonymity, but that didn’t make them any less of writers—they just didn’t subscribe to the same professional aspirations. 

Later in this article, we talk a bit about those professional aspirations, whether they’re worthwhile, and how to start building a career for yourself as a writer. But for now, start calling yourself a writer. The sooner you do this, the sooner you will accept that your own journey is valid, and that, regardless of any arbitrary markers of success or value, your status is a writer is worthy and true. 

Start calling yourself a writer now. 

You can become a writer without having a privileged background.

Even today, there’s a persistent myth that writers are elite, born-with-it Ivory Tower folks who possess some ineffable gift of the Muses. Yes, some great writers were born with a knack of language, and plenty were born with wealth and privilege, but anyone who calls themselves a writer does so because they labor with the written word.

Becoming a writer simply requires an ardent exploration of language.

In others words, you don’t need an MFA from the University of Iowa to call yourself a writer. Becoming a writer simply requires a love language, and what it can do to tell a good story, to understand the world, or to explore and expand upon the human experience. 

Does this sound like you? Many writers who have this love stop themselves from writing. Maybe because they’re wondering how to become a writer without a degree, or maybe they don’t believe in themselves without the privilege and connections writers seem to have.

Now, writers certainly benefit from a university education or a family legacy in literature, but countless writers have acquired respect and success without a degree or name recognition.

Ernest Hemingway never went to college, but he still won a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize; neither did Maya Angelou attend university, yet she’s celebrated as the “black woman’s poet laureate”, and she later accepted a professorship with Wake Forest University.

Becoming a writer merely requires a love of writing. Degrees are just paper; it’s words that matter.

Degrees are just paper; it’s words that matter.

It is never too late to become a writer.

Becoming a writer has no age restriction; the act of writing is rated G for the General Public, and the love of writing is found in writers from ages 2 to 99+.

Many writers discover their writing talents in their later years. Why, exactly?

A few reasons. At a societal level, many people don’t pursue their own passions until later in life. This is because we are often forced to secure our own stability before we can indulge in our own creative desires. Many writers spent their 20s, 30s, and even 40s and 50s focused on other objectives: their careers, their families, their health. We are told, unconsciously, that pursuits like creative writing will not help raise our kids or give us health insurance. So the idea of even becoming a writer doesn’t occur to us until later in life, or, if we think about it, we only think about it as a passing whim, not a serious inquiry. 

Moreover, it’s no secret that most writers do not bring in 6-figure salaries. Why would you indulge in a passing fancy that doesn’t offer long-term stability? (An answer to that later.)

Additionally, some people don’t feel they have anything to write about until they are older. After all, how many TV shows are there about lost 20-somethings trying to survive in New York? But really, people aren’t drawn to writing until they start reviewing the facts of their lives and realizing, wait a minute, I have something to say.

The good news is, writers who discover their interest in writing later in life are well-equipped for success. Neurology reveals there are two types of intelligence: fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. “Fluid” refers to creative and adaptive thinking, including activities like writing and problem solving. “Crystallized” refers to the solidified body of knowledge people draw from—all the words, definitions, and experiences that build a foundation for the world.

Generally, younger adults have more fluid intelligence, whereas life experience builds one’s crystallized intelligence over time. The two intelligences tend to converge in a person’s 40s, since this is an age where the faculties for fluid intelligence haven’t declined, and crystallized intelligence abounds. Not-so-coincidentally, many writers see their careers flourish in their 40s and 50s. 

Many celebrated writers didn’t put pen to paper until middle age or later.

Many celebrated writers didn’t put pen to paper until middle age or later. Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t start writing until her 40s, and her Little House series didn’t start printing until she was 65. Likewise, Most of Wallace Stevens’ work was published after he turned 50; despite being a poet, he worked at an insurance company, and most of his coworkers were shocked when he won a Pulitzer at 75. Nobody knew that he wrote!

Finally, while university degrees are not the only way to become a writer, many university students return for a writing degree after establishing a career elsewhere. BFA and MFA programs around the world educate students in their 30s and beyond; in 2017, the average age of a low-residency MFA student in the U.S. was 35.4, according to LitHub and AWP.

Whether you’re 19 or 90, you’re never too old to write. It doesn’t matter if you didn’t write yesterday—the best time to write is today. 

How to Become a Writer: Becoming and Because

Rather than an If-Then structure, the writing profession follows a Became-Because structure.

How do you become a writer? Where do you begin? The writing profession is unlike most professions, which follow an If-Then structure. If you get a bachelor’s degree, Then you can work as a nurse, computer scientist, or accountant; If you join a worker’s guild or apprenticeship program, Then you can find work in a number of trade jobs.

The writing profession follows a Became-Because structure. Zora Neale Hurston became a writer because she obtained degrees from Howard University and Barnard College, encouraging her to dissect the African American experience through a literary and anthropological lens.

Conversely, Haruki Murakami became a writer because of a baseball game.

The qualifications for becoming a writer are unique to the individual, and every writer is formed by personal interests and experiences. As a result, no one can tell you where to begin your writing journey; however, if you’re wondering how to become a writer—or how to advance your career as one—the following advice is for you. 

Ask yourself, what is it that draws you to becoming a writer?

Ask yourself, what is it that draws you to becoming a writer? What are the stories you are trying to tell? What themes do you see emerging in your work? What first drew you to the page, and what keeps you there? These questions are the basis of your origin story, and your answers are valid, true, and necessary, no matter how unimportant you might think they are. 

How to Become a Writer: Developing a Writing Habit

Regardless of your personal or professional aspirations, it is much easier to take yourself seriously as a writer if you write consistently.

Now, the key word is consistently, not daily. I do encourage you to write every day, if possible, and to not make excuses for not writing. But you might find that writing every other day or bi-weekly is more realistic or useful for you, and if that’s the case, find a schedule that works for you and simply stick to it.

But it is important that you write regularly, regardless of your goals as a writer. If you want to hone your craft, you can only do this by regularly exercising the writing muscle. The more you put words on the page, the better you get at it—even and especially if you write on the days that are difficult, or if you dislike every word you write. 

Actually, let me emphasize this facet of how to become a writer. It doesn’t matter the quality of the words, only that you wrote them. 

It doesn’t matter the quality of the words, only that you wrote them. 

It would be fantastic to write divinely inspired, lyrical sentences all the time. But writing is work, and often hard work. You become a better writer by working through those hard days, because you are telling yourself that you will show up for your passion even when your passion feels hard to pursue, and because a bad page is better than a blank page. 

Also, you don’t need to be writing towards a particular project to write every day. If you aren’t sure what to write about, or even if you do have a long-term project in the works, I encourage you to keep a journal. Journaling helps you keep your writing mind engaged, and many writers return to their own journals to discover or retrieve ideas for later projects. 

Here are some useful guides on the writer’s journal:

• How to Start Journaling
• How to Keep a Spiritual Journal

Now, professional writers typically write every day, or almost every day. Part of this is simply the financial demand of being a writer: if you don’t write, you don’t publish new work, and the royalty checks dry up. 

But, again, a consistent writing practice hones better writing. 

How to Become a Writer: Experiment

Experimentation is key to your evolution as a writer. 

Let’s first stick to the topic of establishing a writing habit. Wouldn’t it be nice to just sit at your desk and get your pen moving? Some writers do this successfully, and I admire their discipline. 

But some writers have also found strange tricks that somehow work for them. 

For example, Haruki Murakami runs a 10K every morning to support his writing, and Charles Dickens wrote (and slept) facing north to improve his creativity.

I was also floored by this article, in which the podcaster Kelsey McKinney explains how she pushes through writer’s block: 

Now, I’m not advising you to go to any extremes. But what works for one person rarely works for another, so experiment with writing habits—and when you find one that works, stick with it.

For more ideas on approaching your writing habit, I like this article from The Marginalian that dissects famous authors and how they approached their craft. 

There is something new to be learned and gained on every step off of the beaten path. 

And, I encourage you to take this ethos of experimentation into other aspects of your writing life. Even if your primary goal is to write and publish poetry, you should study the art and craft of fiction or playwriting, if only because you can learn something from anything and it will make you a stronger writer. Take risks in your writing, do the unexpected, and allow yourself to deviate from your own standard ways of being. There is something new to be learned and gained on every step off of the beaten path. 

Reward yourself, and be gentle.

Before we look at how to become a writer professionally, I want to emphasize one last piece of advice: reward yourself, and be gentle. 

Writing is a lonely business. We often have only ourselves—and thus, only ourselves to blame. Because I am the person who decides if I write, I am also the person who chastises myself if I don’t. Because I am the person who submits to journals, makes money as a writer, and attempts to discover new things in my writing, I can also be the critic who admonishes myself for not achieving my goals. 

But I’ve learned not to do this—and you shouldn’t, either. 

We become writers because we love writing. When we castigate ourselves for not doing what we want with writing, then our attention turns from love to anger. 

If you didn’t write on the day you said you would, it’s okay—there will be another writing day. If you didn’t get an acceptance from that journal or magazine, remember that publishing is a punishing business, but it doesn’t reflect the merit of your work. 

When you do write, reward yourself.

Anything that tries to drive a wedge between yourself and your love of the craft is not worth indulging. When you do write, reward yourself. If you don’t write, or don’t write what you want, remember that tomorrow is another day to do so. 

And, join a writing community if you can—it makes the work a lot less lonely, and makes remembering this advice a lot easier. 

How to Become a Writer: “Amateur” vs. “Professional”

I don’t like to make the distinction between an amateur and professional writer. If I had it my way, the distinction wouldn’t exist: we are all writers, after all, and the primarily distinction between these two categories is one of money. 

Nonetheless, there are, generally, two classes of writers: amateurs and professionals. Before describing the professional writer, let’s be clear: “amateur” is not derogatory, and professional writers are not “better” than amateurs. Amateur comes from the Latin amator, “lover.” An amateur writer loves the written word just as much, sometimes even more, than the professional; amateurs simply have less pressure, deadlines, and financial dependence on writing. It’s a pastime, a way of building self-knowledge, or a healing practice—but not a career.

If you want writing to be a significant portion of your income, then you aspire to being a professional writer.

If you want writing to be a significant portion of your income, then you aspire to being a professional writer. Professional writers have to approach their writing as a business, building a literary audience and keeping a regular writing schedule. Professional writers need to understand the ins and outs of the publishing industry—which they often learn through obtaining a university degree—and it also helps to have formal training in the publishing world and experience operating literary magazines.

How do you work toward becoming a professional writer? Below are resources to get you started.

How to Become a Writer: What the Professionals Do 

Every writer, amateur or professional, is on their own journey, and the scope of those journeys is too broad for this article. After all, here’s a non-exhaustive list of professional writing career paths:

• University professor
• Magazine writer
• Journalist
• Digital copywriter
• Published novelist / memoirist / poet
• Screenwriter / playwright 
• Literary agent
• Publisher 
• Editor 

The path you want to take requires its own work and expertise, and your journey will not look like anyone else’s. 

However, I have one piece of advice for anyone who wants to write professionally: compartmentalize. 

Compartmentalize.

Because a professional writer has to do much more than write. You can parse the writing business into 3 separate components:

1. The writing life—putting pen to paper at regular intervals.
2. Scheduled time for “the business of writing”—submissions to literary journals, applying for grants, attending literary readings, networking, etc.
3. An active media/marketing presence—blogging, tweeting, emailing, etc.

A professional writer is also a self-promoter, an entrepreneur, and a networker. If you want to become a writer in a professional sense, you will want to schedule time for each of these elements in your daily writing habit.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Budding writers often overestimate their ability to work: they think they can spend 3 hours writing, 2 hours replying to emails, and 2 hours submitting work to journals. Then they spend the afternoon watching reruns of BBC quiz shows. (Yes! I did do this recently.)

That’s why forging a consistent writing habit is essential—for amateur writers as well as professionals. You need to create the space to focus on your craft, and then you need to create additional space for the other work that goes into becoming a professional. 

Make time for reading. 

Also, make time for reading. I don’t include this in the above list only because it isn’t directly related to the business of being a writer, but all successful, publishing writers read regularly and widely. You should do this whether you an amateur or a professional: you will continue to foster your love of writing and desire to write if you make a practice of reading all the time. 

How to Become a Writer: Resources for Becoming a Professional Writer

At some point, the professional writer needs to know the ins and outs of writing as a business. This list covers the essentials of how to become a writer professionally. 

How to make money as a writer

• Explore freelance writing opportunities (updated weekdays at F.W.G.)
• 6 writers explain how they make money (NY Mag)
• Self-publishing versus traditional publishing (Self-Publishing School)
• Writing to market (Funds For Writers)

Taxes as a self-employed creative

• Taxes on freelance writing and royalties (TurboTax)
• Tax tips and unique situations (The Balance Careers)

Resources on publishing

• Poetry journals
• Fiction journals
• Creative nonfiction journals
• How to get published in a literary journal (Reader’s Digest)
• Book: What Editors Do by Peter Ginna ($25 at UChicago Press)

Becoming a writer online

• Basic guide to each social media platform (Kindlepreneur)
• Building an author’s website (The Write Practice)
• Free website template for authors (Copyfolio)
• Running a mailing list (Your Writer Platform)

Things to know before taking writing classes

• Poetry courses
• Fiction courses
• Creative nonfiction courses
• Why take a writing course?
• Best online creative writing classes

Additional resources for learning how to become a writer

• Setting SMART goals
• Reading like a writer
• The golden rule: show, don’t tell
• Overcoming writer’s block
• Becoming a poet
• 8 tips on learning how to write
• Creative writing programs (Answering the question: should you get an MFA?)

Lessons from my own journey in becoming a writer.

Remember how I said that every writer’s journey is unique? Here’s what I’ve learned in my own pursuit of becoming a writer.

I actually never expected to become a writer. I hated English class. Why were we reading all of these stuffy books that had nothing to do with my own life and challenges? Who cares about the oxford comma? I excelled much more in math and science, and, since that’s the path I was told to follow, I assumed that I would follow it. 

But then, somehow, writing saved me. 

It was not in the form of an epiphany. No crack of the baseball bat. No dreamworld conversations with Edgar Allan Poe. Really, I discovered a love for writing outside of the classroom: that there were poets and writers out there who had experienced what I was experiencing; that my feelings were intense, but not abnormal; and, more than anything else, that there was a reason to keep on living. 

By the time I had gotten to college, writing was the only thing I could see myself doing. So I got my degree in creative writing. 

And, if I’m being honest? I often regret it. 

I don’t know what I would have done differently. Maybe English Literature instead of Creative Writing. Maybe what I wanted to do when I was 4: Astronomy. 

Through no fault of anyone, except maybe the broader American writing curriculum, I had lost my love of writing by studying it in undergrad. I was told about the tenor and the vehicle of a metaphor, about theories of language, about the arbitrary standards of what makes writing “good” (hint: there are no universal rules)—but I was not told how to foster my love of language, or how to turn that love into a life. I was too young and impressionable, and as a result, I let the university tell me what to think and how to write. 

But I had my degree, and I was already working for Writers.com, and I did what any clueless writer does when they don’t know what they want to do next. I moved to New York City. 

And I got even more lost for a while. I found myself performing my idea of what it means to be a writer, but not actually pursuing my love of writing. When I wrote (if I wrote), I was still writing towards what I expected other people to like. I was not writing what I needed to write. I also expected NYC, with its mythos as the center of the writing world, to answer the question I wasn’t yet asking: how to become a writer—a question I thought I had already answered. In actuality, I was a bit swallowed up in the city, bouncing from one community to the other without finding my place, my people, or my passion. I was waiting for the agony to make sense. 

I am not an exceptionally wise man. Nor do I pretend to hold all the answers like I used to. But I have followed the common path of the modern American writer, and I can confirm the following:

1. Every writer’s journey is individual. I will not recreate the life lived by the writers I admire. You won’t, either. Even if this were possible, there is no point in trying, because our writing and our voices are informed by our individual journeys, and it is better to be faithful to that journey than to follow the path someone else has walked. 
2. Writing is lonely, but writers not alone. We become the writers we want to be when we share our journeys with others. Finding community, making friends, and building a support system for your own creativity is essential. 
3. You have to chart your own path forward. No one else will tell you how to become a writer. The advice in this article is only exploratory, not definite. What you have to do is take agency over your life: decide what you want, know why you want it, and figure out how to get it. 

For example, I thought that I had wanted the traditional markers of writing success: a literary agent, a desk over a view of the Manhattan skyline, a pretentious salon of insufferable artists who wax poetic about ideas they don’t understand. And, okay, maybe that life still seems glamorous. But that’s not why I came to writing—it was because I needed to understand the world and my place in it. And I can pursue this even if, God forbid, I move to Siberia and become a data scientist. (No offense to any Siberian data scientists.) 

When I realized the writing life I wanted didn’t exist for me, I had to make it. For example, I never found a writing community that I liked and wanted to join. As a result, I had to start and run my own—and it is the best decision I ever made for my own creativity. When I realized the book-length projects I was working on were just attempts to write a “publishable book”, I scrapped the projects entirely. I am still trying to find my own voice outside of the voice that was handed to me, but recognizing this has made me excited again about writing, even if the work never goes to print. 

And, I’ve found that my desire to write is also my desire to transform the world, at least a little. No one told me how to do this, either, and I might spend my entire life failing at it. But between now and the failing, I’m making a poetry card game, I’m building richer writing communities where I live, and I’m trying to help other writers fall in love with the craft, too. 

I say all this so that you understand: my journey is not yours, and no advice is universal—other than to put faith in your own journey, and to always love the craft. 

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