The Surprising Truth About Becoming a Professional Writer That No One Tells You

THE RECKLESS WRITER

When people say, “Maybe I’ll write a book someday,” it indicates they know next to nothing about the craft of writing. Perhaps the easiest way to set them straight is to reply, “Writing isn’t about you, it’s about everyone else.”

Becoming a professional writer doesn’t mean you can close yourself off from the world and write about whatever you want. Well, you can, it’s just that you’re never going to sell anything that way.

In order to be successful in any undertaking, you have to fulfill a need. That sounds like a basic concept, but the way it applies to writing is extremely complex. The need you’re fulfilling is psychological. In many instances, you have to provide your audience with something they didn’t even know they were looking for.

You’ve heard the phrase, “The blind leading the blind.” When it comes to writing, perhaps you could say, “The intuitive leading the agitated.” Unfortunately, this process often involves progress to nowhere.

But every now and then you get lucky.

Developing a nose for news

When you’ve been writing for a while you start to develop an awareness about what’s driving public curiosity. Everybody understands the titillating draw of gossip. There’s a certain energy that comes into the atmosphere when big news is in the air.

Consider how you feel when you’re waiting for election results to be announced. That feeling isn’t just about you. In that moment, your thoughts are in harmony with every other person in your country.

Most news stories aren’t that big and they aren’t that obvious, but the potential for that connection always exists. Writers must develop a heightened awareness of the compulsions and curiosities that captivate the general public.

What’s trending?

It used to be a lot easier to get an honest read about what was driving public interest. You could go and check out…