First and foremost, says internationally-known poet Nikki Giovanni, forget about the money you’ll be making when you embark on your career. “If you mix success with money, you’re going to have a problem,” she warns. “Your career is something you can be proud of, but keep in mind that things change.  The worst that can happen is that you’re not successful at it.  It just so happens that the work I set out to do, I’ve been able to do.”

The 56-year-old writer, who not only maintains book and lecture tours but teaches creative writing full-time at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg, Virginia, says she decided upon her career while in college.  “I recognized that I enjoyed writing.  Once you decide upon something, it’s worth putting every bit of effort into it, your time and energy,” she says. 

Just as important is recognizing your talent, she adds.  “I think it’s a good idea if you have talent to use it.”  Giovanni shared her talent in an effort to become well known.  She introduced her first book of poems, Black Feeling, Black Talk, Black Judgement by reading at coffeehouses and selling her book for $1 to friends, family members, and other readers. “I gave my services away and used that as an opportunity to do better. You have to get out and let people know you’re there,” she says. As a result, Giovanni’s 30-year career has produced 22 books.          Giovanni adds that it’s no secret that there is risk associated with that tactic, but if you’re willing to keep a positive perspective, success can be yours. “Life has always been hard.  There’s not a whole lot of time to say ‘they won’t let me.’ Sometimes you have to take what you’re given.  I’m a tennis player, so you have to hit the ball that comes to you.  What you’re trying to do is just hang in and just live with whatever dignity life gives you, because life doesn’t give you much.”

Giovanni urges African Americans to “determine what is success to you.  It’s given that you have to earn a living.  We come from parents who made a way out of no way. You have to work with what you have and you can’t tell yourself that anything is beneath you.”

            Once you’re on the career track, Giovanni offers the following three tips:

·        “Do your job.  You’ll feel a lot better.  Work under the assumption that people wish you well.  Maybe they don’t, but you just keep smiling.”

·        “Always keep your memos.  Don’t let people steal your work, but don’t be afraid to share.”

·        “Have a positive attitude.  Nobody likes a grump, even when it’s deserved.  People with solutions are in demand.”

To the question of whether “giving back” is a part of her advice, Giovanni adds that the proverbial question of giving back is extremely subjective.  “Some people like to give back privately.”  Counted among her gifts is the writing workshop she has presented for the past 10 years at a local retirement center.

For those interested in writing, Giovanni suggests that you write about what makes you happy.  Writers must also be readers too, she says.  And for her, music plays a big part in her life, the blues and jazz in particular.  “Take what you’re feeling and find a way to bring it into your current world.  Earning a living by writing is not difficult.  It just depends on how you want to live,” she says. Giovanni says her life is fine with her.  A self-proclaimed thematic writer, she says she will “probably always be writing poetry.  As long as I have something to say, I’ll be trying to say it.”

Crystal Kimpson Roberts is a contributing writer based in Durham, N.C.