Meryl's Notes Blog

In reading Writing Journey’s latest entry, a thought came to me about why many people say they couldn’t make it as a writer. Those of you who are writers — what do people think after you tell them you’re a writer?

• You’re a book author?
• You write for magazines?

I think these two are the most common things people think of when someone announces he or she is a writer. But they’re not the best ways to become a writer. Great writers can query magazines many times without getting accepted.

Consider diving into a writing career by writing for businesses instead. This doesn’t mean giving up hope of becoming a published book author or a magazine columnist. I’ve done both — just not early on in my career. Opportunities to write books and magazine articles came from networking not querying.

Here’s a Cliff’s version of how I became a writer along with resources I recommend for writers.

So, what do you write? Newsletters? Brochures? How did you break into writing?