This is how to become a rich writer:
You will publish books yearly or many in a year and watch your work get to the bestseller list.
Each one of them would bring you millions of dollars for years.
You will build a big mansion in a small town (or a city) and marry a beautiful or handsome partner.
Then, you will grow old and die, but the world never gets tired of reading your books.
— The ambition and fantasy of many writers.
Okay, let’s get real.
This vision is hard — nearly impossible — to achieve for many writers.
If you have been reading interviews with famous and rich writers, you will know things don’t usually happen flawlessly.
Writing as a career is messy and brutal and sweet. It’s like crawling to the top of a mountain with bare hands. You will get to a landing and have time to rest, but then you look up, and there is more height, and it continues for the rest of your life.
Yes, you will enjoy the ephemeral wins.
And if it happens — that you become a rich and famous writer — you’re one out of a hundred million.
Look around the internet and social media. How many writers want to become rich?
And one of the hindrances to creating wealth as a writer is how you think about writing.
How can a writer become rich?
Well, it starts with your thought process.
This post explains some of the things about the mindset of writers.
Why does the way you think about writing hinder your chances of making money and getting rich?
Tales of Two Writers
I have been writing for a while and think there are two types of writers.
The artist and the businessperson
I believe every writer is a mix of the two.
If you are an artist, you will realize you need to become the other guy at some point.
If you’re the other guy, you will realize that you need some artistic intent to get far in your writing career.
But I need to differentiate the two. You have to read the whole post to figure out the two types of writers.
How do you quickly become fairly wealthy as a writer?
Well, meet the two types of writers.
The Artist
She is a craft person. She likes beautiful sentences, innuendo, and styles.
If the writing isn’t appealing at the sentence, syntax, and word choice level, then she feels ridiculous about her work. She wants sentences that speak. She uses double entendres.
She often sees writing as an opportunity to seek awe, something special, things she can’t explain.
For career choice, she will likely choose to be a poet, lyricist, and literary fiction author.
The Businessperson
The businessperson is the other guy who comes into the writing business to make an impact or achieve something. It doesn’t have to be money most times, but it’s often money or fame.
He is not that interested in artistic things such as artful sentences and poetic prose. Instead, he starts writing with the mindset of creating a disruption. During the idea stage, he is probably asking himself the following questions: what can I publish to make lots of money, or how do we create an insane reaction on the internet?
He is likely to write about politics or become an erotic writer.
Why?
He knows becoming rich starts with finding what you can write that will profoundly affect people.
This guy will do well as a writing agent or by starting a publishing house — as a copywriter or self-help author.
Still, on the topic of how to become a rich writer, all of us have the characteristics of the two.
Everyone Is a Mixture of the Two
Most writers (if not all) still want to make money from writing.
That means you have to think like a businessperson at some point.
Yet, most of the general public views writing as a hobby because most of us have been taught how to do it at some point. Many of us do it every day. So if you’re pursuing it as a career, you better write something beautiful.
Usually, the poet is likely to get admiration for how she writes. People tend to compliment the artist a lot about how she writes.
I enjoy how you write. I like that line. Your style is so amazing.
A businessperson is often complimented about what he writes.
I like your article about gender. I like the way you describe your story of addiction. What you said about race is so true.
When You’re a Mixture of the Two
Earlier, I said we are a mixture of the two.
Are there writers who are a mixture of the two in a 50-50 kind of way?
I have only read a few writers, so I can’t say about the millions of writers.
But in my humble opinion, no one is completely 50-50.
It’s mostly like 40-60, 70-30, 80-20.
If you pick a short story like The One Who Walks Away From Omelas, you have an amazing short story in your hand. It captures a lot in the short time you read it.
But if you are to judge, you will likely appreciate its artistic style than how it was written for entertainment or to push you to react. I mean, 70 percent artistic and 30 percent about moving the readers to action or writing to sell.
If you pick a book like Fifty Shades of Gray, you will realize it is more like 30- 70. It is written to appeal to readers who want some weird fantasy. Poetic and artistic styles are the least of the author’s worries.
So, there’s something about how to become a rich writer that everyone needs to know.
The Truth About How to Make Money Writing
If you ask the artist to write in a certain way, to write a certain story, or to use a certain theme, she will get angry and defensive. Writing to her is freedom. It’s like a pet. She can carry or bend it, but not in a way she doesn’t enjoy, or it becomes unattractive. She adores the writing process like it’s worshipping a god. So she is likely to publish less often (except she has learned to become a businessperson) — once a year, once a week, or once in a decade.
If you tell a businessperson kind of writer to write a certain way, a certain story, or a certain style, they will try it out. They see writing as a tool — to communicate, to create a movement, to get rich, etc.
Since it is a tool, they can bend it to a greater extent and more easily than artists. They let it go if it’s not working the way they want. As a result, they are likely to become prolific writers.
The truth is, you have to write a certain way, certain topics/genres/tropes, or certain themes if you want to make good money.
How to Become a Rich Writer
Strive to create a balance between the two types of writers.
Businessperson
If you are a business person, you have better luck. You always have a better chance of becoming a rich writer because you don’t mind. You can infuriate or excite people by touching on topics that would create debate. And you don’t mind stepping on toes. You just want to make money or get attention or wake people up.
When I see a Twitter post that addresses a sensitive topic, I see a businessperson kind of writer.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s not bad. Their goal is more important than the process because they care about what they want to achieve. We need them. Society needs them. Businesses need this type of writer (or those who think this way) to sell products, create ads, or start a community.
Advice:
Hire editors that care about style to create a balance. For example, you don’t want people to find your sentence as dull as stale bread.
Artist
You care more about prose style.
Advice:
What you need is an agent-type of friend. Someone who cares about your work but will be honest about his or her reviews, especially when it comes to telling you about the chances of your work becoming a hit. Like agents do for publishing houses, she should be able to close her eyes and say, hey, this one won’t make it.
Interview With the Two Types of Writers
Let’s interview two writers with different mindsets but who write in the same niche or do similar work.
Blogging
Will you use AI to write? (We assume both of them have spent time to know how AI works in writing)
Artist
I can’t. I don’t think AI can help me write the way I want.
Businessperson
I’m trying it. If it works, I am starting multiple blogs. AI could make it possible to earn seven figures annually.
Fiction writing
Will you hire a ghostwriter?
Artist
No, I don’t think anyone can write the way I would…
Businessperson
I have hired one before. It didn’t work out well, but if I see someone good, I will try it again and see how far it can go.
If you have been researching how to make money as a book author, you might have heard that some authors use ghostwriters. Those writers are the businessperson kind of writer.
Content writing
How many words can you write per day?
Artist
It depends on my muse/mood/inspiration. Sometimes, I write 100 and sometimes 2000 words.
Businessperson
1000 — 2000 words
Harry Potter, Alchemist & Davinci Code
I look at the bestselling books of all time and picked three for our example here.
Harry Potter
Harry Potter was written at a time when a book with such a theme was strange. The book is about an unlikely hero, a young boy who wears glasses and looks awkward.
It doesn’t do much in artistic (prose style) but did well in business.
I will score it 35 (artistic) — 65 (businessperson).
Don’t get me wrong. Its style is great, but you will get my point if you check books like Lolita (Raymond Carver) and Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Wolf).
Alchemist
Alchemist has a powerful theme. From nothing to something. A Shepherd on a journey that was inspired by a dream.
It has the surreal feeling that was uncommon when it was published.
33 — 67
Da Vinci Code
I have tried to read it several times, but I couldn’t. It’s hard for me to read (maybe because I lean more towards the artistic side). But there is something about it, the synopsis, the story, the plot, and even the title — Da Vinci Code— did justice to its success.
22 — 78
Have I said you have a higher chance if you keep asking yourself, what can I write that can generate the most insane reaction?
Well, start asking yourself that every day. Then, when something pops up, hold it tight and start writing.
This kind of question can lead a poet to write erotic poetry.
It can turn a writer into an active political commentator, a bitter feminist, an offensive patriarch, or a one-sided activist.
So I should warn you.
Warning
Be careful. Business persons can be dangerous and damaging. It can make you an asshole, choosing sensitive topics to rile people up.
What they want to achieve becomes so important that they use any topic as material and writing as a tool. Be careful.
So Is that All You need to Become a Rich Writer
Once you have worked close enough to achieve 50 – 50, the rest depends on luck, hard work, talent, and consistency/compound interest.
My job in today’s post is to explain why you’re struggling because of how you view writing.
I wish you all the best as I wish myself.
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