The Apprenticeship — What You Need to Do Before Writing Professionally

A few things have to happen before you’re ready to make an impact as a writer.

A lot of us on Medium want to write professionally. It may not have been your goal from the start to do so. But somewhere along the line you decided “hey, that sounds like a novel idea” pardon the pun. In that case, you may also be wondering what it actually takes to get there — to the point where you can get paid to write.

It may even sound a little bit too posh — too lofty of a goal. Someone will actually be paying me for my written talent? Yeah, sort of. That’s how it goes. Writing, as they say, is like any other form of craftsmanship. And just like any other form of craftsmanship, it takes time to learn it.

But can’t anybody write? Let’s dive into that first, and then, let’s look into what needs to happen before you can make a living from you writing abilities.

Who Can Get Paid to Write?

Sometimes, writers like to think that we are a rare breed of people gifted with something since birth that makes us able to write while the rest of the world is destined to simply attempt to write or communicate via IMs, texts and emails.

There is some truth to that. Stephen King puts it pretty well in his book, and…