How to Think of Your Writing Career as a Business
10 tips from successful Medium creators
Writing is an art, yes, but it can be useful to think of it as a business, too — a service you provide for your readers in return for their time (and money). This mindset can be especially useful if your goal is to earn a living (or part of a living) from your writing. Building a sustainable career as a writer is a long game, sure, but it’s not impossible. We’re seeing more and more writers turning their interests into careers every day, on Medium and beyond.
To help you get started thinking of yourself as a business of one, we’ve gathered a few tips and resources from the Medium creators who know best:
1. Serve your readers (instead of trying to impress them).
Don’t fall in the trap of writing to impress. Honestly, no one cares. This is a harsh lesson, but the world really doesn’t care about what a great writer you are. Only your readers and customers care. So you need to care about the ones who care about you — and preferably even more than they care about you. — Darius Foroux
2. Believe wholeheartedly in your work.
If I don’t believe in myself and in my work, my whole day gets harder. I take it too personally when I get a rejection or edits. If someone passes on working with me, I feel worthless and untalented. But that’s all lies. I know, because as I write this I’m filled with so much joy just to be writing. — Lindsay Hamilton, MFA in Start It Up
3. Clearly define your goals.
Set goals and then deliver on them, whether that’s turning out one novel per year, a certain amount of articles in a month or pitching to certain types of publications. Have goals because they give you focus. They can also help you decide what not to do. — Don Simkovich, MA
4. Think of yourself as an artisan, rather than an artist.
Writing has always been a messy, desperate business. Writers have always taken on “embarrassing” jobs to make a buck. And so the reason I mention all my odd writing jobs in my bios is because, in their hilarious, twisted way, they’re precisely the thing that makes me feel like a writer. They make me feel like I’m part of a long tradition of busy, over-caffeinated wordsmiths who wield their craft like a tool, and not like some precious jewel. — Tori Telfer
5. Focus on quantity… as a path to quality.
Writers tend to be perfectionists. As creatives, our natural impulse is to labor at a project until it’s perfect. Yet successful authors adopt a seemingly counter-intuitive approach. Instead of getting stuck on a single project, they focus on churning out lots of work, recognizing that real perfection comes through repetition.
In the book Art and Fear, the authors tell a story about a ceramics teacher who divided his class into two halves. One group would be graded on the quality of their work, while the other would be graded on quantity — their raw output.
When grading time came around, the results were telling: “The works of highest quality were all produced by the group being graded for quantity. It seems that while the “quantity” group were busy churning out piles of work — and learning from their mistakes — the “quality” group had sat around theorizing about perfection…” — James Yu
6. Especially in the beginning, learn as much as you can from your successes (and your mistakes).
Writing is damn hard work. It requires thinking, honesty, resilience, lots of discipline, and the desire to move on, even if you get rejected hundreds of times. At the end of the day, the difference between those who keep on wanting and those who actually achieve their writing goals is rooted in their ability and willingness to learn. — Sinem Günel in The Writing Cooperative
7. Know why you’re doing it. What’s your mission statement?
A company’s mission is about its consumers. For you and me, it’s about our clients/readers/customers, etc. What will the company provide them? No company ever says, “Our mission is to make a shitload of cash.” The mission is focused on the experience that the customer will have when using the company’s products. — Julio Vincent Gambuto
8. Diversify your revenue — and consider expanding to other formats, like podcasts or online courses.
Don’t get me wrong; I think it’s essential to have focus and hone your skills. You never want to spread yourself too thin. But no matter what field you’re in, whether you’re a writer, a social influencer, or you work for a nonprofit, it’s always going to benefit you to have multiple revenue streams. — Erica Velander in Start It Up
9. Connect with more experienced writers.
Having an open dialogue about writing and editing each week with experienced writers has helped me grow. This gives me the opportunity of benefiting from their experiences instead of just my own. Collaborating with others provides an opportunity for you to synthesize what you know about writing while considering other people’s perspectives. — Allison Gaines in Creators Hub
10. Don’t be shy about self-promotion. It’s essential.
Self-promotion isn’t egotistical. Rather… it’s designed to draw more eyes and exposure to your portfolio. With a bit of strategizing and a lot of voice, you can craft a social media presence that matches the quality of your work. — Elie Levine in Creators Hub
For more tips on growth from creators of all stripes — and from Medium’s in-house team — head here.
