Business Books for Poets

Does this sound familiar? Equipped with a newly minted MFA in creative writing, you head off into the world with absolutely no idea how to make a living as a writer. Even though you’re amazing in workshops, can critique others’ poems and stories until they sing, won a bunch of prizes sponsored by your university, got heaps of praise from your professors, you haven’t the foggiest clue what to do after graduation.

Reader, I hear you. This is exactly what happened to me back in 2007. I had a vague idea that writers sent work to magazines and that those magazines would pay them. I also understood that many MFA graduates went on to be professors, and although I did teach a few sections of composition, I knew that path wasn’t for me.

In spite of this, I ended up teaching at two schools, a public high school and our area’s Waldorf High School. But I soon realized that between these two jobs and my two children, I had little time for writing, which was what I got my MFA for in the first place. I flailed around for a few years while my kids grew, still teaching here and there, and sending my work out as much as possible. In 2013, I was honored with the title of Poet Laureate of Los Gatos, California. I greatly enjoyed that position for three years, but it took a toll on my writing.

So here I was, in my early fifties, and still had no idea how to be a professional writer. I freelanced for a local lifestyle magazine, but the pay per article was tiny. I won a few prizes, published my (mostly unpaid) work, and discovered blogging. And then I was browsing in Bookshop Santa Cruz, when I noticed a little black square of a book, titled Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. I picked it up and turned it over to read the following list:

1. Steal like an artist.
2. Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started.
3. Write the book you want to read.
4. Use your hands.
5. Side projects and hobbies are important.
6. The Secret: do good work and share it with people.
7. Geography is no longer our master.
8. Be nice. (The world is a small town.)
9. Be boring. (It’s the only way to get work done.)
10. Creativity is subtraction.

I bought that book, took it home, and read it in an hour. From Steal Like an Artist I moved on to How to Make a Living as a Poet by Gary Mex Glazner, Making a Literary Life by Carolyn See, Company of One by Paul Jarvis, and Jane Friedman’s The Business of Being a Writer. As I read these books, I began to see, dimly at first, that I had a very narrow definition of what it takes to be a successful writer. A truly successful writer is many things: a poet, essayist, blogger, writer of articles about various topics such as food and pets, and, yes, a teacher. 

Which brings me back to teaching, the profession I thought I didn’t want when I earned my MFA. Once I realized that I didn’t have to work at a university, I also realized how much I liked teaching. I’ve since held workshops, online writing courses, and worked as a writing coach. Teaching is one of the most enjoyable things I do, because my students constantly astound me, and because I get to create the classes I want to teach. It’s part of the other thing I didn’t know about when I graduated: writing should not be a lonely craft. Writers need community, just like all artists. Teaching helps build that much-needed base of fellow writers. 

The items from Austin Kleon’s list that have stayed with me over the years are “Don’t wait until you know who you are to get started,” “Do good work and share it with people,” and “Creativity is subtraction.” In other words, you must start somewhere, build a community, and you can’t do everything. Focus on what you love and get as good as you can at those things. For me, it’s poetry, essays, memoir, my newsletter Sticks & Stones, blogging, and teaching. 

Did you feel lost after getting a writing degree? Do you wish you’d known more about making a life as a writer? If so, please share in the comments below. Thank you!

Tenth anniversary sale! Vibrant Words: Ideas and Inspirations for Poets.