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How Much Work Is It to Be a Creative Writer?

Being a creative writer is a truly fabulous thing. You get to do what you love for a living, and the world is your oyster. But, as with anything in life, there is a trade-off. The more you put in, the more you get back. It’s all about balance, and being able to say no to things that don’t serve you, creatively or financially.

So, how much work is it? Let’s find out. To do this, we need to explore the different aspects of being a creative writer, how much each one takes, and how much you’re required to put in to be successful.

The Overall Workload

For starters, simply being a creative writer means you need to have your head in the creative part of writing. That is, you need to be creating something, perhaps, a story, a television script, or even a novel. But, to keep things simple, let’s say you’re writing a screen play. You’ll need to research the market for your story, develop a plot, and write the script. This involves a lot of thinking and a heavy workload. If you want to be considered a successful creative writer, you need to be putting in a significant amount of work.

The Time Investment

Obviously, you’ll need to dedicate some time to this. Depending on how much you want to put in, and how fast you want to see results, you could set aside a couple of hours each day, or even a couple of hours several times a week. Even if you want to write only 500 words each day, that is, five or six pages, you’ll need to put in around 20 hours a week. If you’re aiming for monthly deadlines, that is, publishing a piece every three months, you’ll need to be putting in around 40 hours a week.

The Financial Investment

If you want to be considered a successful creative writer, you’re going to need to be looking for ways to generate income. Even when you’re being paid for your work, you’ll still need to be generating revenue. This can be in the form of royalties from your books, or sales of your artwork; or, it could be through affiliate marketing or being a part-time copywriter for a company. Ultimately, though, the only way you can make money from being a creative writer is through sales of your work. So, even when you’re being paid, you’re still going to need to be spending money to make money.

How Much Do You Need To Be A Successful Creative Writer?

Okay, so you’ve decided you want to be a creative writer. What now? Well, you need to put in the work to be considered successful. The above gives you a pretty good idea of the overall workload. But, beyond this, and as with anything in life, there is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. So, to be considered a successful creative writer, you may need to do any or all of the following:

  • Create compelling content
  • Find an agent
    to represent you
  • Get your work published
  • Promote your work
  • Make a living from your writing
  • Find inspiration
  • Enjoy what you do

The point is, there is more than one way to skin a cat, and as with anything in life, the more you put in, the more you get back. Being a creative writer is a fabulous career, but you’ll need to be prepared to put in the work to make it successful. Hopefully, this article will help you achieve this.