Last week, I was invited to participate in a small panel discussion. At the scene, someone asked: I am a traditional writer, I want to transform into commercial writing, I don't know what difficulties and advantages are?
It's an interesting question, and one that I'm often asked. Because of my work, I have come into contact with no less than 500 traditional writers over the years, and most of them have had a very unsatisfactory life. The key reason is that it is too difficult to make money from literary works, so many people want to switch to business writing.
Although it is difficult to give a precise definition of traditional writers. But it can generally be assumed that this type of writer mainly writes pure literary works such as poetry, prose, and novels. A business writer, on the other hand, is that his writing is mainly oriented towards commercial interests. Both are writing, but the difference is still quite big.
So, what are the difficulties faced by traditional writers in transforming into commercial writing, and what are the advantages? Below, let's analyze them one by one.
1. Facing four major difficulties:
1. New market environment: Generally speaking, the writing of traditional writers is a one-way output, as long as they feel comfortable, they don't have to think too much about the reader's feelings, and rarely take the reader's opinion into the work. In the era of the explosion of self-media, the market environment has changed dramatically. Traditional writers who want to transition to business writers have to adapt to a new and rapidly changing environment, which can take time and learning.
2. Pay attention to content innovation: The literary works created by traditional writers are more prominent, ideological, artistic and personal, while commercial writing often requires the content to be attractive, interesting and practical, so traditional writers need to adjust their writing style and pay attention to content innovation to meet the needs of the market and readers.
3. Fierce market competition: Traditional writers need to publish books, and there is competition, but its intensity is not the same as that of commercial writing. After all, there are mature works, and the number of writers who can be called writers is not too many, and the number of commercial writers is calculated in the tens of millions, and traditional writers need to stand out from many competitors and need a certain business thinking.
4. Changes in income model: For traditional writers, their income is mainly from newspapers, magazines, and publishing houses, while the income model of commercial writing is more diversified, including advertising income, customized writing, rewards, etc., but it is also more unstable, so it needs to have a certain risk tolerance.
Second, it has four major advantages:
1. Rich writing experience: Compared with business writers, traditional writers have solid literary skills and rich writing experience, which is the core advantage of transforming business writing.
2. Brand effect: When traditional writers who have a certain degree of popularity and influence transform into commercial writing, they have accumulated a certain number of fans and contacts, and some have even produced a brand effect, which is easier to gain recognition and success in the field of commercial writing.
3. More cross-border opportunities: In terms of recognition and authority, traditional writers have natural advantages, and it is easier to win cross-border cooperation opportunities with enterprises and advertising companies, and it is easy to expand their income sources.
4. Flexible working style: Commercial writing works in more flexible ways and hours, and traditional writers can choose the right writing style and content according to their own time and interests to achieve a work-life balance.
In short, there are both challenges and advantages for traditional writers to transform into commercial writing, if you are ready, you might as well try it boldly, as long as you persevere, you will reap the rewards.