When you first start out as a writer, you may be driven to share a story or a message, and you might not immediately focus on earning an income. Once you gain experience and build an audience for your work, however, you may begin to wonder: Can I get paid to do this?

There are many roadblocks to earning an income as a writer. Some are practical, but these perceived challenges often live inside our heads. If you want to start making money from your writing, don’t let your mindset be the obstacle that stops you!

Author Jordan Lee Dooley believes writers can and should make money from their craft. She says, “Own the opportunities that are available to you. When you have a creative brain, and you have the ability to put words to feelings that people don’t know how to describe, there’s so much power in that. Own it unapologetically.”

Jordan offers 

Writers invest talent, time, and energy. 

Many of us write privately for years before going...

Nonfiction writers are often encouraged to write from a place of expertise or knowledge to establish their niche and build trust with their readers. This often applies to writers who work in a particular field, such as therapists or educators, or those who write about a particular topic that requires training or education to explore fully. 

However, many of us write from our own experiences in the form of memoirs, personal essays, or self-help books. Do we need to be experts on a particular topic too? Author and therapist Aundi Kolber believes we already have all the expertise we need to write our personal stories. Aundi says, “It’s important for writers to know that ultimately you are the expert on your experience.”

What does it mean to be an expert on your experience? Let’s dive in!

You are an expert on what to share.

No one else is an expert on your experience. Your story is yours alone, and you get to decide how much or how little you share...