Want to Write for a Living? The 7 Things I Wish I'd Known - Scott H Young

Emulate the writing you enjoy reading. There are two reasons for this:

• First, it’s next-to-impossible to write well in a style you don’t enjoy. A good piece to write is something you would choose to read.
• Second, imitation can be a starting point for creative success.

Two factors influence this insecurity. 

• The first is that your taste inevitably outstrips your ability. You can always appreciate writing that is better, smarter, more thorough and incisive than your own. You get better as a writer—but improve even more as a reader. The confidence gap widens, even as your absolute abilities grow.
• The second factor is that there is no end to mastery. You can always learn more about a topic.

Success as a writer means navigating the ever-changing sea of systems, social media networks, and outlets people use to find success. 

While marketing alone won’t make you successful as a writer, it’s also true that an absence of this knowledge can be fatal.

Most writing will never be read by anyone. Of what remains, the vast majority will stay confined to the narrow corner of the internet they were birthed into.

But a few pieces will travel widely. It only takes a few such pieces to build a career.

It is rare to achieve success solely from writing.

However, writing can be a good tool for leveraging other opportunities. Sometimes that means landing a more prestigious job, getting on a cool start-up, or just meeting cool people. Being an engineer, accountant, or manager who also writes well is a powerful combo.