(First read Ageless Wisdom–Part 1)

We hear endlessly about how much easier it was to get published and make a living as a writer years ago. Is that a misconception too? Jim wrote, “Were I starting over, I’d know that, before I could hope to earn a living writing, I’d have to serve a long apprenticeship.” Even so, it was simpler then, right? There were quiet, well behaved “Leave It to Beaver” families that made writing so much easier. Maybe. Maybe not. Jim’s experience sounded very familiar: “I would set aside some time each day for writing and adhere rigorously to my schedule,” he said. “I’d make sure of privacy; I’d go into the garage, a shed, or out under a tree. When I decided that writing was the only career that would ever satisfy me, I was working full time in a factory. But I allotted two hours every night for writing.”

Hmmm. Those “good old days” don’t sound much different than the present days. Of course, the “odds of making it as a writer” were certainly much better back then. Writers in the ‘50’s weren’t discouraged (like we are today) by being warned that only 5% of the authors in America make a living at writing. Or were they? Kjelgaard wrote that if he had it to do all over again, “I would not fear competition as such. The very loose statement that there are millions of aspiring writers in the United States means merely that there are millions who write an hour a week, an hour a month, or even an hour a year. But only a very few work hard enough to become professionals.” I would venture to say that it’s just as true today.

One Shocking Difference
By and large, the advice in that 1956 Writer’ Digest is just as applicable today as it was then. I think we can stop harking back to the good old days.

Not everything was the same in 1956 however. In “letters to the editor,” I found a lengthy apology. A magazine had folded without paying for all the articles it had accepted. The editor (who had quit) apologized profusely to writers who were cheated out of their money and offered to do whatever he could to help them collect! Oh, and the name of the magazine that cheated the writers? Honest to Pete, it was called Frauds & Rackets!