How should a person prepare for a career as an author?
By acquiring other skills with which to earn a living. You can’t plan to support yourself by writing novels; very few authors earn enough to do so, and in all but rare cases it happens only after they’ve had many years of experience. The vast majority have some other means of support, either a job or the income of a spouse. This is not a bad thing, because a writer needs to gain experience in living, in active involvement with the world; otherwise he or she would have little to say to readers. Of course, you can prepare for a related profession, like journalism, in college. But if you intend to write regularly, you may prefer to take some kind of job that will leave your evenings and weekends — and your creative energy — free for writing. On the other hand, if you choose a demanding profession, you can still write in what free time you do have, and switch careers later if your books are successful. Your first career may even give you material to write about; for example, several well
