A friend asked me the other day what my career plan was. It was a good question. Although I love what I do, and wouldn’t go back to working in an office, in another ten or 15 years, I would like my writing career to look very different.

When you start writing, you often don’t think past getting those first few jobs. If you do, perhaps you think about getting to the point where you’ve got a fairly reliable income coming in across the year, even if there are peaks and troughs. But what about getting beyond that time?

Making Dreams Into Reality

Let’s face it, we’re all going to get older. When our office bound peers are thinking about retiring to Florida, do we still want to be chasing every writing commission? I think not. That’s why it’s important to have some sort of long term plan for your writing career. What this might look like will depend on the individual, but here’s mine. It may have an element of fantasy about it, but there’s no reason why I can’t make it reality.

Spreading My Wings

My long term plan involves diversifying so that I am less dependent on the income I produce with my own flying fingers. I’m sure I’ll want to slow down at some time, and I’ve already had a couple of wake up calls about how illness can throw your writing career into disarray. My first step in diversification came last year, when I started working with a small team of writers. Not only do I get the satisfaction of helping other writers with career development, but I also have a group of reliable writers who can help me out in a pinch. One person I know who did this now does very little writing herself, concentrating on editing others’ writing. While this won’t suit every writer, as a former editor, I might not mind making this part of my daily routine.

Writing For Myself

The second option is to write not just for clients, but for myself. I’ve already started doing this, and if I can get my act together, I’ll soon have a couple of new ebooks to add to my list. Writing something that might also transfer to print increases the options for this strategy. Creating information products that can sell means a reduction in the daily grind. (It’s not really a grind yet, but will I feel the same in ten years’ time?) I will have to update them from time to time, but that’s a manageable task.

Passive Income

Passive income is the third plank in my strategy. You hear a lot about making money online, and at least some people must actually be doing it. I am already making money online, but it’s not enough to retire on. However, if I add some new sites, or increase the options on my existing ones, and promote some products that I believe in, maybe I can get a share of that ‘untold wealth’ that seems to be knocking around. I’m not looking to be a millionaire, but to have enough for my needs and savings to handle any emergencies.

As time goes on, I’m sure I’ll think of different things that I can do to secure my future. Maybe I’ll get around to finishing one of my novels and will become a runaway success. Maybe not. In the meantime, I am starting my career planning with the things that I can do now, knowing that the plan is likely to evolve. How have you planned for your career as a writer?

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Tags | freelance writing, get paid to write, writing business, writing career