I want to be a writer and I have a way with words. What kind of career should I look at?

Question

I one day hope to have published a book, but I know that's a tough business to break into. But I love writing, I write so much and I think it would be great if I could find a career where that was a focus. I'm currently at a community college working in a generic associate in arts degree (university transfer) and I looked through the catalog...and they don't really have anything that caters to writing besides two creative writings courses with no attachments to a specific degree. I plan to take them both, but I'm just in limbo taking random classes. I've thought about journalism, what kind of career is that and stuff? (well what it is is obvious haha.). Any thoughts would be great :)

Answer 1

Journalism would be ideal if you can relay the facts in the fewest words possible, keep yourself to a strict word count, and deal mostly with non-fiction. Magazines and newspapers are the primary employers.
If you're very skillful at determing how best to compose a sentence, correct spelling and punctuation, and determine at a glance what would be the best way to lay out a paragraph, then an editorial job would be ideal.
If you have a story you want to tell, and the time to write it, a novel might be good.
And if you can make the connections and have the sales technique, book agents are always needed. In fact, that is the one area where jobs go unfilled.
I can't tell you what courses to take because it's a field that doesn't always demand a degree, just experience, but taking writing courses wouldn't hurt.
Good luck.

Answer 2

You really don't have to make it your career, start working on it, get a couple chapters done, ask a professional their opinion. Books aren't written in a night, week or years. I would take a humanities class, and yes sounds like it would be beneficial to take an English class, you'll be surprised how much you gain. I love the way Shakespeare writes and the fact that you also write poetry you might enjoy the way he writes and get your own feeling and gain confidence. He has some great stories, Richard the III, a true story, the chilling rise to glory written beautifully. Take a history class too, if nothing else your electives are out of the way, giving you time to decide. Maybe start with a local newspaper, submit articles on current ' happenings '.

Answer 3

i majored in journalism and i'm a web editor, meaning i maintain and write all copy for a university web site. i really enjoy it. i just want you to know that there are jobs out there you can get with a journalism degree that don't involve running around to break the top story in the morning paper. in addition to the web i also write alumni magazine articles and i do all in-house graphic design. but on a bigger level, you really can do a lot of jobs if you are a good writer.

Answer 4

Journalism would be a good path. Writing for newspapers is always a challenging option. You can also take other writing jobs on the side (e.g contributing writer for magazines, etc). Background in creative writing would come in handy.

Answer 5

Journalism is an excellent career to look into. I'm not exactly sure how to break into the business, I'm having the same problem about breaking into something.I'm into music,I'm a lyricist and I have a band. Kind of confusing.Follow your dreams, I hope everything works out for you :)