Write On

(Or the cold hard truth about writing)

Many people have asked me what it is like to be a writer - what advice would I give to aspiring writers, well read on....

Writing is not a profession, it may, possibly, be a craft, seldom an art, but more often than not it is a vocation.

In Latin, vocation means a calling, aligned with notions and concepts of talent and having a ‘gift’ to do or perform certain tasks. To have a vocation for writing, effectively means that you have the will to write, and a desire to write to be read.

To become a writer takes a mammoth amount of discipline and hard practice. Like any other craft you have to constantly practice, this improves your skills and helps you master your chosen means of communicating with the external world.

Feedback from peers is one useful means of improving your skills, another is comparing your work with others in the field of writing you admire, or wish to get into. This applies equally to writing ‘literature’ as it does to ‘hack’ writing.

However, be warned, writing is seldom glamorous, except for the elite. It is frequently very hard work, with very little to show, finically, at the end.

If it is your desire, eventually, to write for newspaper or magazines, be warned that there is very little money in taking that particular course.

Newspapers either hire a writer onto the staff, or hire freelance writers. A staff writer is a dogsbody, paid a poor basic wage and gets very little credit for their work. The highest achievement a staff writer can attain is the ‘by-line’, that is having your name added to the work you have had published with your newspaper/magazine. To improve your lot you have to consider becoming a ‘sub’ (sub-editor) or indeed an editor.

Freelance writing for newspapers and magazines is poorly paid, and risky. Risky in the sense that, without a definitive contract which guarantees your work to be published the publication can decide, at a whim, whether to publish your hard work or not.

Even with a contract, the contractual wording can be such that the publication is favoured, not you. Some contracts will include a clause whereby they, your paymasters, can drop you from their ranks anytime they feel like.

Working for magazines and newspapers, on a freelance basis, often means not being paid for all the hard work – research, writing and editing, you have done. Therefore, despite being arduous, stressful, and frequently hard-pressed work, it is not a stable income.

In Malaysia, the fees for freelance articles vary from a mere RM100 up to RM1,000 an article, dependent upon the journal, the length of the article and the generosity of the publication you are writing for.

Newspapers in Malaysia pay between RM200 for 1,000 words, to RM250 for 600 words. Some newspapers pay per article, others by column centimetre/inch. Some magazines pay per word, some a set fee for an article and this can vary largely. One Malaysian magazine pays 50c per word, meaning a 2,000 word article pays RM1,000 while another will only pay RM250 for a set 600 word article.

Literary writing, in Malaysia, is even worse, financially. For short stories, the work is normally longer than for articles, anywhere between 3,000 to 6,000 words, with the research and writing taking days and weeks, rather than the hours spent for newspaper/magazine articles.

Placement for short stories is scarce in Malaysia, with very few publications, outside of anthologies, taking them. So competition is fierce, and publisher’s editors picky.

Financially, writing short stories, for publication in Malaysia, is a disaster. Some editors expect your work free, offering only one copy of the printed anthology in return for 3,000 – 6,000 words and many weeks, if not months, of work undertaken. Others can offer between RM100 – RM500 for a short story.

In Malaysia, it seems to be the case that payment is a one off, for a written story. Few, if any, publishers offer a percentage deal, or royalties on short stories. Once paid, the writer will get nothing extra even if the anthology their work is in is a best seller, or not. Therefore, there is little incentive for the writer to promote the book in which their work is featured.

The writer does all book signings, readings at popular events, radio /TV promotion and newspaper interviews - free, for nothing, with no other incentives offered by publishers, in Malaysia. Unfortunately, travel to such events as readings, and other promotional activities, comes out of the writer’s pocket too. A short story writer may be seriously out of pocket by having their work published.

If you feel, after reading the above, that you still want to be a writer then maybe, just maybe you have what it takes.

What does it take – a lot of hard work, dedication, perseverance, practice, the ability to take and use constructive criticism, and the energy not only to write but to engage in all that which associated with writing too.

A writer, who respects themselves, and their work, will not let it go lightly. However, it is frequently the case while working commercially, that you are at the mercy of unscrupulous publishers or editors - who habitually want something for nothing. This is something that all writers will have to consider, and deal with in their own way.