Starting out as a writer

I have been writing since I was eight years old, and submitted my first short story for publication at nine. I'm still waiting to hear back about that article. In my years of learning how to write and get paid for my writing, I have racked up a few tips to help starting out as a writer.
First, If you are the type of person who gets cranky and moody unless you have written something, every day, than writing should be in your blood. This is the first essential to starting out as a writer. So many people want to write books but say they don't have the time, or do start and then stop soon after. This must be a passion that consumes you, in order to get good at it and make money from your scribbles. I know, I have been there and now can support myself completely off my writing alone.
Second, you need to write. Then you need to read. Then you need to write a lot more and then you need to read even more. This is the training grounds for any writer. You must write a lot of words in order to find your voice and learn the craft. (Don't ever think that the learning stops either. The more you write, the more you will learn that the learning never stops.)
In the next post I will add onto this topic. Please comment on these topics if you like. I check my blog often and will try to write back with answers to questions.