| > | | | | also expect that I'll someday produce a string |
| Okay, so you've decided that you want to write for | | | | ofromance novels. So I've had a versatile writing |
| fun and profit, and notnecessarily in that order. Perhaps | | | | career, yes. A lucrativeone? No. |
| you've already abandoned your day job topursue your | | | | The reason is pretty obvious, if you think of your own |
| dream of the full-time writing life, or maybe you just | | | | experience as aconsumer. Certainly, many of us shop |
| want totest the waters part-time until you have the | | | | at discount department and varietystores, never |
| guts (and money) to jump in withboth feet. In any | | | | knowing what kinds of bargains we might find at these |
| event, you've decided that you want to start your | | | | places. |
| ownwriting business. | | | | But where do we go when we need something |
| Now what? | | | | specific, or of high quality? Thedepartment store may |
| You head for the nearby library, rush to your favorite | | | | or may not have a particular book we want to read, |
| bookstore, or jumponto the Web to see what other | | | | butchances are excellent that a bookstore will have it. |
| writers are doing. And you find that thereare so many | | | | The variety store maycarry tools, but a hardware |
| opportunities "out there" for writers, it makes your head | | | | store will more likely carry exactly what we needfor |
| spin. | | | | that fix-it project. In health matters, we go to general |
| "Make a Gazillion Bucks as a Copywriter!" gushes one | | | | practitionersfor routine check ups, but prefer to have |
| book title. "Big | | | | specialists treat any seriousconditions. Moreover, we're |
| Profits From Short Pieces!" promises another. Book | | | | often willing to pay top dollar for the expertiseand |
| after book, web siteafter web site, take you down | | | | reliable reputation that the specialist, or specialty store, |
| pathways paved with gold, fortunes made fromwriting | | | | provides. |
| everything from greeting card verses to computer | | | | The same holds true for people in need of a writer. |
| manuals. Yourexcitement builds. | | | | The celebrity seeks anexperienced ghostwriter for her |
| Although some ideas appeal more to you than others, | | | | tell-all autobiography, one with a trackrecord of |
| it is tempting to want todabble in them all. Let's face it, | | | | completing entire books and getting them published, |
| we writers are a creative lot, and eschewthe thought | | | | while thepolitical candidate needs a seasoned speech |
| of being tied down to a particular type of writing. Who | | | | writer. Software companies wantwriters skilled at |
| wants tochurn out press releases all day, or catalog | | | | putting together user-friendly technical documents, |
| copy, or annual reports? | | | | whileadvertising agencies look for samples of creative |
| Variety, after all, is the spice. | | | | copy. These writingstyles differ as greatly from one |
| Besides, why close yourself out of several | | | | another as, say, a watercolor from an oilpainting, or |
| money-making opportunities byconcentrating on one? | | | | reggae from a symphony-and our potential markets |
| Couldn't you be a sort of one-stop writer, | | | | and customersknow it. So although we might be fully |
| aone-size-fits-all kind of scribe, able to satisfy | | | | capable of switching gears from oneform or writing to |
| whatever kind of customercalls upon you for your | | | | another, few people are going to gamble on us if there |
| services? Why limit your customer base or market toa | | | | isa tried-and-true specialist out there for hire. |
| certain kind of person, or company, or publication, when | | | | So yes, I am advocating that one of the first things |
| you could peddleyour skills to the whole world? | | | | you do if you want tostart a profitable writing business |
| I subscribed for years to this very line of thinking, and | | | | or career is decide what kind(s) ofwriting you will |
| my writing resumeshows it. I have published over a | | | | specialize in offering. Start out with as narrow a scope |
| dozen non-fiction articles, put together anewsletter or | | | | aspossible-keep in mind the mechanic who works |
| two, created a few radio spots, won a short story | | | | solely on Mercedestransmissions-and become the |
| contest,developed training manuals and revised job | | | | very best at whatever type of writing it is thatyou've |
| descriptions. I've writtentelephone scripts, business | | | | chosen. Once you have established yourself in one |
| correspondence, procedure documents and | | | | area, you canalways diversify into others. |
| users'guides. I am the first person my friends think of | | | | At the very least, you'll be able to write that book: |
| when they need a resume,and yet those same friends | | | | "How I Made Millions asa (Fill in the Blank) Writer! |