Hi! My name is Sara, and I'm a ninth grade student living in ********. I'm doing a research paper for my English class about a career I'm interested in. If you could please answer the following questions and e-mail them back to me, it would help me in ways you could not imagine. Your assistance is greatly needed and appreciated!
How much education do you need to become an author?
How much is your salary?
How often do you get paid?
Do you work at home?
How often do you work with other people?
Where do you go to work with them?
Do you enjoy your job?
What are your hours usually like?
On average, how many hours do you spend working a week?
How does this career impact your life?
Do you need any kind of special training or license?
How much experience is needed to get hired?
What type of person is generally good at this kind of job?
What personality traits does an author generally have?
Do you get any special benefits?
How did you get started in this field?
Thank You!
Hi Sara:
I decided to publish my answers to your excellent questions as others may enjoy this exchange of information. If you really want to know more about authors, all you have to do is look in a mirror where you will find the face of an author. You have already written something that has had an impact on the life of another and that is what an author does. My desire to write developed well after my fiftieth birthday and long after my educational opportunities to prepare for this field of endeavor became naught but distant memories.
When I decided to write what I now call Sastrugi, I purchased a computer, quit my job, and began to write while relying on my Navy pension and the income of my wife, Kathy. I began with an outline of my plot, developed and named my characters, and spent a lot of time at the library developing the elements of science required to make my story work. I also read several books on the art of writing which in some cases were quite useful.
Finally, I organized my notes and began to write. Disaster!!! My Word Perfect grammar checker (Grammatik) quickly let me know that the quality of my writing was poor. Even worse, I didn't know what "passive voice" meant and what a "split infinitive" was. Only then did I finally understand the costly price of failing to take a serious interest in the educational opportunities of my early years. Consumers spend their hard-earned income on the acquisition of goods and services while students spend a substantial portion of their lives on the acquisition of an education. Why did I and many of today's students do less than their best at school thus ensuring a minimal return on their costly investment while most consumers insist on a maximum return for their expenditures? I just finished another day of work washing, cleaning, and repairing expensive recreational vehicles that will be purchased by people who have earned and enjoy a higher station in life than I have achieved. I should have done better, but it is too late for me!
Well, I began a self-study program to deal with the grammar problem and managed to write my novel. For me, this was an extremely difficult task that took the best part of two years. I only use one finger on the keyboard which is fine as my typing speed is still a bit faster than my thinking speed. :-) I then set about to find a publisher and now have a large stack of rejection notices in return for my efforts. I can only take comfort in the words of Rob Cohen who said "Publishing your work is a bonus - Writing it is the achievement."
It takes a lot of preparation to become a successful writer although anyone who has a story to tell can write. Now is the time for you to begin to establish your goals in life. Something I failed to consider at your age. Many young people succumb to the insistent desire to prematurely enjoy the prerogatives of adulthood and fail to fully prepare for the responsibilities of an adult. When facing this challenge, it is best to ask the question, am I the same person now that I was a year ago? In this youthful period of rapid change the answer will usually be, no. Then, it should follow that most young people will also be different in many respects a year into their future. This way of looking at things can warn the astute against making decisions in their youth that the adult they are destined to become may not appreciate. Another error I made in my teen years was to limit my social contacts to those with a view of life that coincided with mine thereby establishing a negative feedback circle that obscured the true reality of life. It took awhile to break the chains of this illusionary view and finally see that life in its full spectrum offers everything to those who strive to be the very best they can be.
I have noticed that some successful fiction writers have followed a parallel course of study such as journalism thereby providing a way to pay their bills while pursuing their ultimate goal. There is also a strong market for "How To" books on a wide variety of subjects. It is clear that most people prefer watching TV over reading for their entertainment choice but still turn to books for practical information. You can ask your parents, teachers, and people like me for the answers you seek as you plan your future but, please be careful when you seek information on the Internet. This time you reached a happily married, 58-year-old man who is very proud of his three, wonderful granddaughters. You can also reach others who will offer only self-serving deceit and treachery!
And finally, I want to thank you for the pleasing compliment of asking me for answers to your questions. I am offering my novel on the Internet as an exercise of ego gratification and your interest and the interest of others makes this effort worthwhile. I can see that my vantage point of age-related experience unfortunately turned portions of my response into a lecture. As I grow older, it becomes increasingly difficult for me to remember that the young will inevitably learn about life as I did, by making their own series of mistakes. I hope that you will find some of what I wrote useful and I wish you a long, happy, and successful life!
Alan