What should I be?

Question

I have been in college (part time) for almost 2 years and I have a strong interest in being a writer. What are some good jobs for people with this interest? Are there any? I know that the field of writing is very competitive. And no one I have talked to seems to think it is realistic for me to pursue it. Any one have any suggestions of decent paying jobs for writers?

Answer 1

People have thought the same thing about me being a writer, even if I have a LD. Don't let other people get in your way. I'm still writing. It depends on what kind of writing you want to do; there's journalism for online and print newspapers and magazines, public relations, and then poetry, short stories and novels. You need to decide to do that first. There's many different fields of writing. You've got to have at least experience to be a journalism, esp. to break into nonfiction freelancing. Yes writing is competitive. Talk to your counselor at college or your dean, and visit the career center. I'm sure there's plenty of good jobs for writers, experienced for sure, novice some. You can join the Writer's Digest Book Club and subscribe to Writer's Digest. I have since 1999.

This is from a booklet I get when I joined the WDBC is 2000, abridged version: 101 ways to make money writing.

Jobs for writers
1. Advertising copywriting
2. Book publishing
3. Writing/Editing for local government
4. Critical writing
5. Fund Raising
6. Audiovisual writing/editing
7. Magazine writing/editing
8. Newspaper and Wire services work
9. Writing for tabloid papers
10. Public relations
11. Writing for Radio and TV
12. Science writing
13. Syndicates and news features services
14. Techinical writing
15. U.S. Government work
16. Writing for business and industry

Freelance writing
17. Magazine article market
18. Fiction market
19. Book publishing (again)
20. TV market
21. Play publishing and producing
22. Poetry market
23. Contests and awards
24. Fillers and clippers
25. Gag and comedy writing
26. Ghostwriting
27. Greeting card market
28. New product releases
29. Puzzles
30. Radio commercial writing
31. Resumes
32. Syndicates (again)
33. Tabloids (again)
34. Book reviews
35. Anthologies
36. Trivia
37. Investigative journalism
38. Suburban presses
39. Role-playing games
40. Stringing
41. Technical writing
42. Catalog copywriting
43. Encyclopedia publishing
44. Songwriting
45. Personal advertisements and response letters
46. Reunion booklets

Business writing
47. Acceptance-of-new-job letters
48. Announcement of client's move to new quarters
49. Annual Reports
50. Answering-complaint letter
51. Answering-job applicant letter
52. Article placement
53. Audiovisual or video script
54. Audiovisual show
55. Brochure
56. Business card writing
57. Company history
58. Complaint letter
59. Cover letter
60. Direct mail
61. Directions to the client's office
62. Employee manual
63. Even-though-we-lost letter
64. Faxable statement of credentials or capabilities
65. Fund-raising letters
66. Ghostwriting a book
67. Ghostwriting a cassette
68. Ghostwriting a sales trainer's booklet
69. Ghostwriting articles
70. Glad-to-have-met-you letter
71. Letter of introduction to the press
72. Letter to the editor
73. Media backgrounder
74. Newsletter
75. Newspaper ad
76. Order form
77. Personality profile
78. Press release
79. Profile of company's products or services
80. Proposal
81. Public relations (again)
82. Radio ad (again)
83. Renewal letter
84. Reply Card writing
85. Resignation letter
86. Resume writing (again)
87. Sales flyer
88. Sales letter
89. Seminar teaser copy
90. Software instruction manual
91. Speaker's introduction
92. Speech
93. Thank-you letter
94. Thanks-for-coming-to-our-trade-show letter
95. Trade-show booth material
96. Training manuals
97. TV ads
98. Warranty-is-expiring letter
99. We-would-appreciate your-referrals letter
100. Why-haven't-you-paid-us letter
101. Yellow Pages Ad

Hope this helps. Don't give up your dreams. If you want more info on these jobs, email me which ones. I'll get back to you.

Answer 2

Contact your local Red Cross or some other agency that helps people and ask if you can help them with their newsletter, web page, etc.
How about the college you are attending right now? They must have a journalism club of sorts or something to that effect.

Find a cause you are passionate about and contact someone doing work in that area. Volunteer and keep a journal of how it made you feel, what you did, how you helped further the cause. Then write about it and send it to the local editor of your newspaper. It just might get you into the door.

Every thought about writing a "how to" book? They are very popular as e-books right now and there are oodles of cheap publishing houses online....

What about starting your own e-company writing personalized stories for children. Grandparents go bonkers over things like that...

Answer 3

Ask your local papers if they have any entry level jobs (maybe obits or something?). Also, ANYONE can publish a book right now - you might as well write one! It might not be a bestseller right now but it could be in the future after you take off. Also, I have heard that there is a call for editors for all of the people who are writing their own books right now - a friend paid someone off the internet 90 cents a page to edit her 220 page novel. It would be a good way to sharpen your skills and get inspiration from others. Good luck!

Answer 4

Try journalism. If you are creative, start putting you ideas on paper. Do that while you have another job that pays the bills. If you are good, your writing will be able to support you. You can also look into ghost writing for other, Writing speeches for politicians and business people.

Answer 5

Check out this great website: http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/Students/CareerLibrary/links/header.cfm?FIELD=3&OCCUP=true When you get there, scroll down until you see "WRITING" under Language Arts. Click on it and it will give you info on all of the careers that are available for people who loves to write.

Answer 6

Honey, I am in the same boat. I love to write but chose a path towards Computers, changed my mind, chose a path towards radiography, changed my mind again, and now 3 years later and many wasted semesters I am wondering too. I will watch this for an answer, thanks for posting.

Answer 7

It depends. Being a novelist is easier than being a screenwriter...however, being a screenwriter pays more. ; ) You may want to do a little research on the average salary, and how easy is it to break into the industry...that might help.

Answer 8

Are you a freelance writer who would like to discover much more about how to earn wonderful cash doing what you enjoy? If you want to advance your creating occupation

Answer 9

Have you ever told a lie? The Bible says that sin cannot enter into heaven? Jesus provided a way for you to have your sins paid for in full.

Answer 10

u could write scripts for movies or plays or rite a book