💡 how to live a writer's life, but with pleasure
the satisfaction of making a living from your words
I used to believe that a writer’s life was meant to have equal doses of straight suffering and careful optimism. That to choose the path of an artist was to, in a way, carve out a piece of yourself and lay it on the altar. Not a generation of something entirely new, but a bloody sacrifice cut from your flesh and blood.
I was wrong.
As you read from the first chapter of my upcoming book Write for Money and Power: The Anti-Starving Artist’s Guide to Becoming a 7-Figure Writer, the myth of the starving artist is propaganda meant to keep us small and broke.
These days, I believe that creativity is nurtured. It’s a spark of a flame we must fight to keep lit within us. To keep those precious embers growing into a flickering bonfire, we must draw from wells of inspiration. We must fill our cup. Our inputs matter, and we must curate them carefully to get the outputs we desire.
These days? I’m curating my inputs with my favorite pastime of choice: travel.
Right now, I’m writing you from a rooftop penthouse hotel room in Chongqing, China, and I’m nearing the end of my month-long trip across the country. The front desk made me my morning coffee, my breakfast is being delivered, and I’m alternating between sitting on my balcony and on the rooftop where the skyline juts out proudly around me.
The fact that my writing life allows me to jaunt around the world for over a month is nothing short of a dream. But this has only been possible in part because I took the leap and believed in myself. I believed that I could make seven figures from my writing, travel the world, take on amazing freelance book ghostwriting clients, and be a bestselling author of my own books, too.
I’ve seen proof of other writers making their dreams come true by just putting themselves out there.
This morning
, a member of our community over at MakeWritingYourJob.com, just shared how she submitted her very first pitch over at our pitch list — and that first pitch got accepted!
I get messages and am tagged by so many writers who find themselves surprised by the momentum they get by just… believing that they can do it, and then taking action to make their writing dreams come true. (And btw, if you’re one of those writers — would love to hear your story!)
Last night, I spent hours chilling on a mountaintop with incredible city views. Kyle and I spent the night talking to new friends from Singapore (one of our favorite cities in the world!) and then going out for drinks/tea with a couple we met when we were in Beijing.
The conversations we had as the sunset bled into sparkling city lights of dusk revolved around one thing: freedom.
I write to free the thoughts in my head. But I also write for freedom in the way I move about the world. My writing pays for my travel, my healthcare, my home in San Francisco.
And it can pay for your life, too.
So many people have a knee-jerk reaction that no, it can’t. Writing can’t be a sustainable career.
That’s why I wrote my upcoming book for you — to dispel those myths and help you see the path that myself and so many other amazing writers have walked and are walking right now.
So if you’re ready to take the leap? I hope you’ll pre-order my new book for just 99 cents (which helps boost the book in the algorithm and helps other writers find it — plus I have some free gifts if you pre-order early!), and join us at MakeWritingYourJob.com to bet on yourself and your writing.
Betting on myself transformed my entire life. It showed me that you don’t have to destroy your precious happiness in exchange for the writer’s life. Instead, your words can power your adventures, your joy, and your ability to share what’s in your head with readers waiting for your work.
I’m excited for all of your writing dreams to come true.
-Amy