Writers here who haven't gone to college but still found a profitable career for themselves revolving writing, what is the basic TLDR of how you accomplished that?

College drop out (and high-school here). I'm making a living (a fucking shit one and it's getting worse as more and more outsource India) by doing technical writing for a law firm or three (all relatively small "firms"). I got the job by saying "fuck society I'm out." and left in my car and drove around for awhile. Got hooked up in a legal argument at a coffee shop somehow, next thing you know I'm doing an editing gig.

I also built DestructiveReaders on reddit and decided "ayy lmao I should be a fiction editor!!" so I learned real well how to do that, and next thing I know I'm running through manuscripts for a video game some dude is producing in the United Kingdom and shortly after a comic book cyber punk project some dude is doing....

Advice:.

  • school is not inherently a waste of time, but just getting a degree is. Anyone who tells you otherwise is delusional or way too American.

  • don't presume that anyone else has their shit together and be honest with yourself what you're capable of and challenge that to do more. If you fail, you don't get paid oh well.

  • the Internet is extremely important. If you're not already a social media and marketing expert, learn up quick. The world is moving too fast to sort through paper applications or shitty little Web blogs to find talent.

  • assume India is going to fuck you over and make your peace with it. English is obviously the biggest market for writers but that's quickly shifting, especially as the American dollar loses its power outside of that little bubble.

  • get ready to use cyber currency, Bitcoin, Apple or Google dollars etc. If you can, set up an international bank account do so immediately, and absolutely not with an American based bank if it can be helped.

  • avoid cess pools of Tumblr and reddit (I'm sorry reddit it's just the truth these days) and people with group think, myopic views, and cynicism (myself sorta included. I'm telling you it's hella tough but not impossible)

  • meet in person with clients whenever possible.

  • meet online via Skype whenever possible. Put a face and name to your work. Even if it sucks.

That's about all I've got. A lot of the shit I built is crumbling, but I'm always building. Living in the United states these days is a bit interesting because of how God damn similar everyone thinks. Makes finding work difficult because or the way they define careers, themselves, and success by the dollar. Don't be like that.

/r/writing Thread