Guest Blog by Rachel Summers

Being a writer is an excellent choice of  career, as long as you are good at it. This allows you to set your own working hours, write from anywhere you want, share your story and inspire others with it. If you turn your writing into a bestseller, it makes you popular and known by many, which is fulfilling and rewarding at the same time.

But, while this is clearly a very beneficial profession, writing can also be a real challenge. The beginning stages of writing often come with financial burden, since there is rarely a writer that becomes famous after their first written piece. Furthermore, there are the challenges of getting your writings published and fighting the dreaded writer's block.

Of course, there are ways to overcome your barriers and become the best writer you can be.

1. Read Read Read!

According to Stephen King, there are two things a writer must do: ''read a lot and write a lot''.

In order to have a rich vocabulary and the ability to express yourself in a story people will like, you simply must be well read. Read everything you get your hands on. The more you know, the better you can write.

It is that simple – those who do not read, cannot be good writers!

2. Have a Plan B

Find another passion besides writing and keep working on both simultaneously. This way, when you are fighting off a lengthy writers' block, you can turn to Plan B!

''My dream has always been to become a bestselling author. I spent years spending my parents' money and working on my bestseller, but I still haven't finished it. At some point, I understood that I need a backup plan. I got a job as a writer, and now I am actually enjoying both.'' – says Jeremiah Peete, content writer at EssayGeek service in UK.

3. Improve

You may be an excellent writer who has made billions from your writing, but the truth is – there is always room for more.

People learn and improve throughout their entire life. Accept this and never stop working on yourself.

4. Keep on writing

Stop torturing yourself with rules and organisation, and simply just write. If you burden yourself with the rules, vocabulary and things like formatting and punctuation from the beginning, your ideas will be lost. Just get writing and perfect it after!

5. Tell your story

Some will tell you your story is not good enough, or that you can do better. If you believe that that's the best you can do and your story has meaning, believe in it. Your words will come to the people who need them.

6. Carry your notepad with you!

Ideas often come when we do not expect them, so make sure to always have a pen and notepad with you to write these down. If you don't, the ideas can easily fade by the time you get to writing them!

7. Keep on writing…

The most important tip of all – don't give up on writing. You may fail your first and hundredth attempt, but you should never accept failure and give in.

If you give writing time, it will give back.

View Rachel Summers' blog: Writing Populist​