Warning: This is one of my 'are you sure you really want that' posts :-)

Making a full time living as a 'pro' is a goal that many of us will have one time or another. Surely this is the best way to achieve validation of being a 'real writer'. The road is long, the people who will make it are few and those that do are rightly justified in feeling just a little bit good about themselves.

I am nowhere near it and I don't mind because I am not under any illusions about the reality of being a professional writer. The reality of being a pro is that you are almost certainly writing for TV and mostly likely for the usual suspects (Doctors, Hollyoaks et al), and the point is that you must buy in to the professional and cultural frameworks that these shows espouse. You will have to believe that what you are doing is good and good for you.

Some writers get this absolutely right - they end up writing for the brand name shows that they watched in their youth or spin offs like Dr Who and Torchwood. Some writers have watched Eastenders since they were knee-high and so writing for it is an important goal. Then there are those of us who have never seen a full episode of Eastenders nor can make it past the first ep in a series like Dr Who or Torchwood.

The inverse of this: if you approach the whole process of becoming a professional writer with an attitude of 'selling out' you will get nowhere. Or if you are phenomenally talented you could get in - but then you will be absolutely miserable writing stuff you don't believe in. Actually 'selling out' just doesn't exist in the workplace anymore. In my parents generation you could sell out but now almost every job of any worth requires a commitment beyond 9-5. Which is why the 'Mc Job' is still a good way to go if you can afford it.

The other way to feel a bit shit is to convince yourself that you would like writing these shows because you will be improving your craft. The reality is that the craft that you will be improving is that of being a TV writer of XXXXXX. This may or may not make you a better writer of XXXXX. I am really not sure that being a better writer of Doctors will make you a better writer of Sci-fi movies. It will work if you write Doctors because you want to go on and write over serialised drama.

So this all bears thinking about now, well before you start the long process of getting in. If you are embarking on an Adrian Meade style journey you really need to want to be on those shows before you start writing the three scripts and treatments needed.

If you are not going to enjoy writing those shows, have never watched most of them nor are prepared to put your energy into shows that you feel are, well, shit, then there is no point at all beginning that particular path no matter how much you want to be a 'pro'.

I am well aware that I fall into the latter category - there is absolutely no point in me wanting to be a full-time TV writer. The only shows I actively like are long form HBO style shows that I will never get to be on. Reality. This doesn't worry me particularly, I worked out many years ago that I wouldn't be making the majority of my living as a writer and have a whole set of other 'non Meade' strategies to take forward and earn my money in a completely non-related field.

You really do need to buy in. And you need to be really comfortable with what you are buying into. I am comfortable with film, I am very comfortable with plays and I am prepared to earn most of my money doing something else. While I disagree with much of Julian Friedmann's recent post 'Gissa Job', I do think he's on the money when he suggests that jobs 'close to' your writing dream are a good idea, particularly for those of us who know that they are not going to be TV writers on the big shows.

That's my 'success mix'. Your mix might be radio, children's TV and features. Or indie style plays and nothing else. There are an many patterns of success as there are writers - but do make sure you define what success looks like for you before you pour many years of effort and sweat into it - what are you prepared to buy into?