Some level of investment is necessary for anyone wanting to develop a creative skill, and writing is no exception. This article covers five investments serious writers need to make in some level or another to give their career a fighting chance. But don’t worry—I’m not about to tell you that you need to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on your writing career (although many people in a position of privilege do). Rather, I intend to get you thinking about these five important areas and how you might invest a little more intentionally to help your writing career advance.
Writing Equipment
Let’s start with the very basics: you need to invest in something to write with—ideally something that is well-suited to the way your body and mind prefer to write. For some people, this means a steady supply of time-tested pens and notebooks. For others, this is a modest Chromebook or perhaps a more expensive laptop or tablet. Still others write best on a distraction-free digital typewriter.
The computer component opens up another level of investment possibilities: software. Do you like the ease and zero cost of Google Docs? Does investing in Word for its hard-drive-based storage and better formatting capabilities make more sense to you? If you struggle to keep your notes, research, character sketches, outlines, and drafts organized, would a program like Scrivener help?
You can take this a step further still and consider whether investing in editing software might help: Grammarly, ProWritingAid, Autocrit?
What matters most here, in my opinion, is how supported you feel as a writer by your writing materials. Whatever will make it easier for you to show up and write, both from a physical as well as mental perspective, is likely worth investing in.
Education
Every writer should be making some kind of consistent investment into furthering their knowledge of the writing craft and the publishing industry. But this is a tricky category, because the sky really is the limit on how much you can spend. You can invest in a full-blown MFA or an extensive, exclusive writing mentorship. You could pay for an in-depth marketing or publishing course or go to all the big-name writing conferences in all the big cities. If you have the money and these seem like smart investments to you, go for it.
But you can also find quality ways to educate yourself for free or very cheap. You can listen to podcasts, mine the blog archives of experts like Jane Friedman, and study books on writing craft (either bought or or borrowed from the library). You can join online writing groups and learn from their discussions. You can pick a few authors you admire and dive deep into their books to see what makes them so good. You can pay for low-to-mid-cost webinars or courses on subjects you need extra help with. You can subscribe to Masterclass for a month or two and take a few courses on writing and creativity from bestselling authors.
Whatever your budget, think about whether and how you’re regularly investing in deepening and expanding your writing craft knowledge. It’s a key way to update and sharpen your skills and refresh your creativity.
Community
Writing itself may often be a solitary process, but writers don’t have to be solitary. In fact, they really shouldn’t be. Make a habit of investing in a writing community of some kind through participation and good literary citizenship. The good thing is, this type of investing often isn’t purely financial. True, if you want to start building your community by joining a writing organization or going to a conference, there is often an upfront cost, but if you put in the work to network and build relationships, the community you build can long outlast whatever initial monetary investment you make.
Professional Feedback
I’m an editor; you knew I’d get here eventually, right? But just like all the other categories, I’m not going to tell you that you absolutely have to spend thousands of dollars to obtain feedback on your work from industry professionals. If you have the resources to do that, I highly (highly) recommend it. But if hiring an editor to do a full-on developmental edit of your manuscript isn’t in the cards, there are more cost-effective ways to obtain professional-grade feedback on your writing. Consider hiring an editor to do a manuscript review, which costs much less but still provides you with an amazing amount of valuable information about the effectiveness of your writing. And if a manuscript review isn’t in the cards, consider a partial edit or review of your manuscript to get an idea of what some of your weaknesses are and how you can start fixing them.
Related: What Level of Edit Do I Need?
Time
While every writer will balance their investments in the other four categories according to their unique needs, challenges, and opportunities, significant amounts of time is one investment that no author can do without. Ironically, it’s also one of the first investments that new writers are tempted to skimp or even skip. Many don’t understand that, especially when it comes to those first few manuscripts, the learning curve of how to write well is incredibly steep. Good writing usually just doesn’t happen on the first draft, or the third, fourth, fifth, or sometimes even the twelfth. It takes years of sustained effort for professional painters, dancers, and singers to develop their skills and style to a marketable, professional level; it takes years for writers, too.
I like to think of investing in time in two ways: active time and passive time. Both types of investment are necessary in developing your writing to your full potential. By active time, I mean both time spent actually writing as well as all the necessary activities that go along with it: researching, brainstorming, outlining, plotting, problem-solving, self-editing, and so on.
By passive time, I mean time spent not writing, both short-term and long-term. You need short-term passive time (hours or days) to connect with your loved ones and engage in self-care. You also need longer-term passive time (weeks or months) in between drafts to engage in other forms of creativity, to read and critique other people’s writing, to gather strength and ideas and excitement for brand-new projects.
How to Invest When Resources Are Few or Nonexistent
All this said, I recognize that, as with any endeavor, our society and systems privilege those who already hold privilege—who have the luxury of money to spend on computers, craft books, writing conferences, and professional editing, who have the luxury of time to spend writing and re-writing and re-writing again. But people with privilege should not be the only ones whose voices become developed enough to find their place in the world.
If you are a writer who is struggling to find the necessary resources to invest in your writing career, there are ways to find help and support. Many writing conferences, associations, and programs offer scholarships or waivers to people with demonstrated need—if there is a particular conference or program you’re interested in, be sure to explore and apply for those options. In addition, many foundations offer grants for underprivileged creatives. Here and here seem like good places to start your search.
Wrapping Up
Whether you’re a new or experienced writer, think carefully about what kinds of investments you are making to support your writing career. Ask yourself what you really need in order to advance and improve, and then prioritize it. Over time, your investments—particularly in education, community, professional feedback, and time—will pay off.
Happy writing!