How Can I Quit My Job and Become a Full-Time Writer on Substack and Medium?

Practical advice that isn’t just selling you a bunch of lies

Hello Everyone,

Recently I saw a comment from

Maria Nazos

in which she expressed her desire to be a full-time writer on Substack and Medium.

My first thought was “oof!”

My second thought was to loosen up my fingers in preparation for what was to be a lengthy response. Then I came to my senses and realized I needed to answer in the form of an article.

Now that you’re familiar with the backstory, let’s begin.

Is it possible to be a full time writer?

The short answer is, “Yes!” A more accurate answer is, “Uhhhh, yes... I guess...”

The problem is that the internet is filled with articles about how easy it is. All those articles are lies. It’s not easy. It can be done, but it’s not easy.

Many of the obstacles standing in the way of you becoming a full-time writer are social problems that confront everybody. If the United States had universal healthcare, universal education, and universal basic income, it would be much... much... easier for EVERYBODY to be a full time writer.

Imagine that, a world where every human being had the freedom and the opportunity to comment on their life experience in pursuit of a better world for everyone. Why can’t we have that?

Well, we SHOULD have that. Achieving that is the point of everything I do. But right now we’re in a smaller circle within the Venn diagram, so let’s keep going.

Writing is a revenue insecure pursuit

From my days of only having one car—I was happy to pick up the girls from school on my bike

“Revenue insecure” is a term I invented. It means you don’t know how much you’re going to paid or when (if ever). This is probably the most succinct way to express the difficulty in making the jump to becoming a full time writer.

How are you going to make sure your needs are met, specifically:

• Food

• Rent

• Health care (which is an obscene cost in the USA)

As for me, I’m very fortunate. My wife is employed as a teacher. The pay isn’t what she deserves, but it keeps us off the street. As far as I’m concerned, teachers will be underpaid until they make more than NFL Qbs (remember 97% of professional Qbs fail to meet their work expectations every season—and they play in taxpayer funded stadiums).

We also get our healthcare through her work. For self-employed writers, your best bet might be to go to Healthcare.gov. I support the Affordable Care Act, but I’ve never used it. If people have used it, some testimonials to its effectiveness would be welcome (with the understanding that private health insurance is AWFUL).

Get your expenses as low as possible

I’ve done the same things in my career as a writer as I did when I was the co-owner of a small bicycle shop: keep expenses down.

To use a sports analogy, keeping expenses down is like playing defense. Offense is revenue. It takes the pressure off your offense if you play strong defense and keep the score down. Heck, even if your offense goes completely cold, it doesn’t mean you’re going bankrupt.

For example, as a full-time writer, you won’t need a car. You’ll be sitting your butt down in front of your computer all day long writing. When you remove a car, you remove the expenses of:

• Car payment

• Repairs

• Oil changes

• Gas

• Insurance

Back in 2001 I moved to Peru. One eye-opening thing about that decision was that it allowed me to end all my reoccurring payments. Oh my god people, you don’t know how much money you are wasting until you do this.

It’s probably a good idea to clean house once a year and cancel all subscriptions. Then wait two weeks and decide which ones you want to start up again. In my backpacking days, I made ZERO payments. I didn’t even carry health insurance (which was reckless, but I got away with it—of course, if you’re living abroad you don’t go bankrupt over the treatment for a sprained ankle).

Actually, if you really want to be a full-time writer on Medium and Substack, I suggest you move to Peru. Get out of the US. Go somewhere that has a low cost of living.

Eliminate debt and build some savings

I know, I know, this one is really hard. But the thing is, the regular payments to things like credit card debt and student loans are going to cause you a lot of stress if you’re trying to make a living on Substack and Medium.

That stress is going to creep into your content and it’s going to drive your readers away. When that happens, your revenue will go down. It’s a sad spiral that only gets worse.

The good news is that if you make a commitment to eliminating debt, you’ll have a good indication as to whether becoming a writer means enough to you to make the necessary sacrifices. Again, cancel all your subscriptions. Live with your parents. Sell your car. Follow any and all prudent strategies for saving money and working towards financial independence.

I know that some people are really struggling and getting out of debt doesn’t seem possible, but there’s no way around this. Adopting sound financial strategies will have a positive impact on your life even if it ends up taking you to a different final destination.

Start establishing yourself today

I’ve been kind of hitting you with a bunch of depressing reality bombs, so let me throw in a bit of a silver lining: you can get started now!

The biggest single factor that will allow you to quit your job and become a full-time writer on Substack and Medium is your ability to write. What stops most people is that they don’t write enough.

You’ve got to be writing ALL THE TIME!

• Don’t let inspiration get away

• Scribble down notes

• Commit to writing a page a day

• Set up a publication schedule

• Turn off the television and write!

If you can start establishing yourself in the writing sphere even as you are working a full-time job, you can use your writing funds to work towards your critical financial freedom.

Ultimately, it comes down to whether you can consistently provide for the cost of food, rent, and healthcare expenses.

You have to accept that you might not be able to live with the same creature comforts you enjoy now if you are a full-time writer. The trade-off is that YOU WILL BE A FULL-TIME WRITER!

As for me, I am perfectly content to live in a closet beneath the stairs. As long as I have a computer and access to the internet, my physical realities disappear anyway. I retreat into my mind and create universes. From the outside looking in, it doesn’t seem like much. From the inside looking out, it’s marvelous!

You’ve really got to want it

Can you be a full-time writer on Substack and Medium?

Sure.

But you don’t get to drive a new car, you don’t get to live in a fancy house, you don’t get to go out to eat, you’re going to have to cut back on expensive trips, you’re going to have to cut out needless expenses... the list goes on and on.

Honestly, you’re probably going to have to quit drinking too.

What you get in return is the freedom to explore your life experience and do the hard work of processing what you’ve learned. Then you put your knowledge into articles of 1,500 words or less and send them out into the internet like a message inside a bottle.

Hopefully this advice gives you the kind of perspective that will prevent you from getting caught in rough waters. Good luck!

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