writer

How To Succeed As A Writer: A Guide

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

Dorothy Parker

To Begin With

I’ve been writing for over a decade, and I’ve been doing it full-time for nearly eight months. In all that time, I’ve earned a few thousand bucks — enough to complicate my income taxes, not enough to pay for my daily ramen and now weekly cup of coffee. If you hope to write for a living, either start off wealthy or be Stephen King.

But that’s not success.

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How To Get Published: Use A System

In an earlier article, I supplied a list of publications to which a prospective writer of short genre fiction might submit their work. While that’s an invaluable resource, by itself it won’t get you far. In fact…

…but before I get started, let me give you some excellent second-hand advice:

“If you have any young friends who aspire to become writers, the second-greatest favor you can do them is to present them with copies of The Elements of Style. The first-greatest, of course, is to shoot them now, while they’re happy.”

Dorothy Parker
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