By Abdulraheem Jameel Ango
A writing career can be exciting and rewarding. Nevertheless, venturing into the writing space can also be laborious, with a lot of hard work to be put in before you get established; and the odds are highly stacked. However, it need not be all tedium. Here are four paths to follow to help get your career off the ground.
- Review Books
There are many aspiring writers who are deeply engaged in reading. If you’re one of them, then consider joining a book review club or community. Writing reviews takes a small amount of your time, and can be relatively easy to do. By simply writing good reviews and reading reviews of books you’ve read, you could enhance your creativity, and learn from the mistakes other writers make. Most importantly this is a way to become part of the writing and reading community. It will help you make connections and get your name out there.
- Edit Books
Another way to kickstart a writing career is by taking up editing, full-time or part-time, professional or not (you can start by editing a friend’s work). An editor’s involvement with the work is significant and you can learn a lot through editing the work of others. It could help you develop a strong writing habit, build the creativity, mindset, and skills required of a writer, as well as give you a stronger sense of discernment.
- Edit Literary Journals
Literary journals are online and print publications that publish short work by new, emerging, and established writers. Editing a literary journal exposes you to a wide range of genres, styles, and talent consequently, making it a good path to follow when launching a writing career. Prominent writers such as Edgar Allan Poe and Joyce Carol Oates were literary journal editors at some point in their careers. The wide array of writing styles and genres a literary journal offers is a huge advantage, as this gives you an encompassing experience of the writing space, immense creativity and a diverse skillset. Again, you’ll also get to learn from the mistakes of different writers, and make relevant connections. As an editor of a literary journal and the key person who evaluates and accepts manuscripts and submissions, you’ll surely learn how to better craft your writing to meet editorial requirements. If editing a literary sounds like too much of a commitment, it can be good to start off as a reader for a literary journal. You can learn more about that here.
- The Social Media Path
Social media has become a part of our daily lives, and presents a remarkable career path to aspiring writers. You can join writing groups or communities on any platform of your choice. Writing communities and groups can be found on Facebook, Discord, Reddit and other platforms. Joining writing communities can help you hone your writing by reading other writers’ works, connecting with other aspiring writers, and also getting reviews of your writing when you start putting your work out there. With time your writing will earn the attention of your community, and help you build an audience. You can eventually open a dedicated community of your own for your audience so you connect more closely with them and keep them updated and engaged with your writing.
Bio: Abdulraheem Jameel Ango is a freelance writer with years of experience, that has written for a wide range clients and businesses. Find out more at: https://medium.com/@abdulwrites
