Writing and Finances

One thing people forget is that you need more than just you brilliant imagination and quick verbosity to write. You need equipment. The days of taking out a quill or fountain pen, writing on a paper, and sending it off to the printer for him to print it is gone. The editor wants to see your work typewritten or computer written. If you cannot do it yourself, you have to hire someone to do it for you. So either you get a typewriter or a computer. If you make many mistakes, and throw paper in the waste basket, you look for a computer and that is where the trouble begins.

You say you are a writer and then you get the suggestion that any computer, or rather the cheapest one will do, but you realize that if you decide to write speculative fiction or historical fiction, your computer has to do more than just words. You need graphics. If you write articles, you may need to draw diagrams. Your desk might get messy, so the computer needs a flat panel monitor, plus the desk with the bookcase, or the separate bookcase, the boxes where you store your information and magazines and so on.

You need paper, a printer and with that, cartridges, postage stamps, envelopes, etc. Now if you had a good paying job, a university education, or a trade, this is no worry. After all, you can save for the computer in no time, a year at the most, and still pay the mortgage, the car, go on a trip once a year, clothes, games, eating out once in a while, and all that stuff that life requires.

This is why if you have a low paying job, that it is essential to save. So put money aside, open a savings account, and put so much fort nightly for your writing equipment, allow so much for the stamps, and you will be on your way to financially support your writing career.