“How can I make a living as a writer?” As a writer, that is by far the most common question I am asked. There are many guidelines to follow, some of which I hope to cover in coming weeks (and which have already been covered in many books and articles). For now, however, I’d like to discuss one of the main obstacles faced by people who make their living as writers. Quite simply, too many would-be writers out there are underselling themselves.
As a journalist, my father covered everything: politics, business, crime, movies, even (occasionally) sports – something for which he claimed total disinterest. In a newspaper profile of him, one of his editors noted that he was one of the few people who, given time, could single-handedly write an entire newspaper. In his day, it made him one of Australia’s top journalists, an exponent of “old-school”, jack-of-all-trades journalism.
Consciously focusing on the heart rather than the mind can help unlock ever-new writing potential, keeping your creativity flowing ever more consistently, bringing forward from within your own unique writing capacity. Writing from the heart is allowing our true inner self speak about the world around us.
