Many writers profess their desire to be novelists or poets, and sometimes even journalists, but very few--indeed, even those sitting with Creative Writing degrees, know what other options are out there for someone gifted with words. Your old Alma Mater wasn't lying when they said you could do "anything" with an English Literature degree, but they may have been leaving out much of the story.
For writers, especially those trying to break into the publishing business, the world is a daunting (and often depressing) place. Securing a literary agent is almost necessary in today's oversaturated market and, while many publishers are still looking for the 'next big thing' or a new revival of the ever-dying 'literary fiction', just as many are happy to continuing publishing texts that make money. Do not lose hope, however! Publishing the Great American Novel is not the only way to call yourself a writer, and sometimes you can slip in through the back door with successes in other areas of writing and editing.
So what other areas are there? What other jobs can you find?
Freelance: It's Not a Dirty Word
Believe it or not, there are a lot of people out there looking for writers. Some of them are even desperate! Writing, as you may have discovered, is a difficult thing for a wide segment of the population (just as, say, Calculus II is impossible for a good many people). Because it's a skill, it will always be in demand. And that's the first point I'd like to make: career writing is a skill as well as a talent. Freelance writers have to demonstrate this skill first, before anyone ever asks after their talent.
In Freelancing writing, the buyer simply wants something that is well-written. They are not necessarily looking for every overused literary device and the most amazing examples of sensory imagery, but they are looking for well-constructed sentences, correctly-spelled words, a good handle on common conventions and grammar, and an ability to take a small amount of information and organize it into an article or text. What you write will depend on who is hiring you and where your skills are, but successful freelancers will tell you that this can be a very lucrative business!
Some freelance offers are even more basic: they want someone who can decipher and type up meeting notes and organize them in a way that makes sense. Some want short blurbs they can post on their websites that make sense and aren't riddled with netspeak or the IT guy's version of Standard English. Still others would like you to try your hand at greeting cards or product response surveys--or hundreds of other inane (but paying!) jobs that they don't advertise in Comp 101. The possibilities in freelancing are almost endless, but remember: you must demonstrate skill before talent.
Also, and this is very important to keep in mind, be sure never to write a thing for anyone until you have a signed contract where pay is discussed. Many beginning freelancers tend to fall into internet scams because they do not research the 'company' they will be working for. As with all things, do not be afraid to ask questions and do not sign away your rights to anything until you have the whole story.
The Internet is Your Friend
Blogging
Blogging introduced an entirely new aspect to writing careers. If you have the 'gift for gab' and know how to be sophistic and persuasive, then there are companies and campaigns out there looking for you! Before, these columns equated to editorials in local or national papers--something that was often hit-or-miss and relied on a friendly editor to accomplish. Now, information from any and all sources can be posted with lightning speed on these great interwebs. However, much like freelancing, getting a real, paying job in blogging comes down to skill before talent. Persuasion and sophistry are skills--that tenth grade English teacher wasn't lying when she tried to teach you all the steps to persuasive writing. If you cannot manipulate words to persuade others to your side, and if you do not have a good grasp of common writing and grammar conventions, then blogging will never be lucrative for you. In other words, pay attention during those grammar and style lessons. You will need those skills in the future!
Web Content Developer
This is a bit like freelancing, only with more direction and a wider berth. Web Content Developers are writers who go out and, again, look for content-specific information that can help improve a website. Strong organizational and research skills are an absolute must for this type of writing, and an ability to be succinct and to-the-point is definitely a plus. Some content developers write and develop entire columns while others, recognized for their wit and brevity, are hired simply to focus on improving captions. There can also be a bit of technical writing involved, depending on what your content is, and that brings us to our next career area.
Auction Writer
It's true: some people just can't write. Scroll through eBay for half an hour and you'll see some of the worst writing to be found on the internet--and this by people who are trying to sell a product, sometimes professionally! Ah, but some folks get smart. Some people, realizing that their basic writing skills are so poor that they will never sell a damn thing, will look for persuasive, peppy writers to write product descriptions and auction details to increase revenue. Indeed, it's a rather low-profile job, but there is a lot of money to be had spending two or three hours a day rewriting someone's auction information. Often times these jobs come about through freelancing, but sometimes people advertise on job sites or through word of mouth--and still more times writers will seek out poorly-written product auctions and provide a "teaser" to the seller, showcasing one way to make the auction more desirable, and begin discussions that way. Again, this is skill writing. You will have to be able to be succinct, grammatically correct, and persuasive. Indeed, I'd even say a bit of creativity should come into play here. Either way, you have to be able to write well.
Technical Writing
When I was in college, I watched three young ladies--very talented writers in their own right--quickly begin taking technical writing courses. When I asked them why, they all responded similarly: "I don't want to be poor!" Admittedly, it was a smart move on their parts. The world of technical writing has proven to be rather lucrative, and good technical writers are in high demand. Moreso than freelancing or blogging or content-developing, technical writing is a true skill--both learned and acquired--that must be mastered to be successful in this field.
So what is Technical Writing?
Technical writing takes very technical, complex, hard-to-decipher ideas and breaks it down for both an audience who will understand the technical jargon and an audience who, unfortunately, will not. It's often used in the computer and science industries, as well as finance, though it is not limited to these areas. The technical writer will read a highly-specialized document full of very technical, jargon-riddled information and will then determine what the most important points are for the desired audience. Sometimes that audience is a layman--someone with very little background or knowledge of the subject; sometimes that audience is an expert--someone with quite a bit of background in the subject. Most times, however, the audience is someone in the middle.
This, again, is a great skill. It requires having to decode the original material, organize the most important information, and construct an article that is both informative and comprehensive for the intended audience. It does not call upon one's creativity, but it does demand perfection in regards to conventions and other important writing skills. Sometimes you will be responsible for writing an article; sometimes you will be responsible for writing user manuals and guides and other things. The true skill is in writing about incredible technical and difficult subjects in a way that everybody can understand. Indeed, good technical writers can write well about any topic, regardless of their personal knowledge in that area--and it really pays off. Technical writing is one of the most lucrative writing careers on the market today.
Other Careers
Of course, there are many, many other careers out there for writers. There's something called an Indexer--which is a person who reads nonfiction texts and helps to accurately create the back-of-the-book index. There are jobs for people who can write a decent resume (as many people cannot), jobs for people who can write grants (especially for businesses and educational institutions), jobs for people who can write copy (a copywriter is someone who writes advertising and product descriptions--a very in-demand field), and even jobs for people who'd like to be a ghostwriter (someone who writes a book for someone else and lets them have the credit for it). Indeed, the number of skill-related writing jobs keeps growing and will continue to grow as long as we remain in the Information Age. As with many careers, it's all a matter of supply and demand, and right now highly-skilled writers are in high demand.
So What Does this Mean to You?
If there's one thing that most of these writing careers have in common, it's that a person have the skills necessary to write well. Notice that talent and imagination hardly come into play (although I'd happily argue you need a bit of both to do well in advertising and most other areas); they are situated behind the number one priority of people looking for writers, and that's, "Can you write well?" Grammar, spelling, and punctuation may be boring now--and it's true that all of your favorite authors make 'mistakes' all the time--but those are authors (novelists and poets), who have lucked into a career--not in writing, but in publishing. The first step to becoming a successful writer, and making writing a successful career, is to pay attention when your teacher tells you what the rules are and to learn, as quickly as you can, how to proofread and edit your work and others'. Indeed, most skilled technical writers will make more money than your average novelist--and the same is true for many freelance writers as well. Sure it would be nice to see your name on the cover of a book, but it's nice to pay bills and drive a decent car, too.
Aim for that Great Novel or best-selling book of poetry, but don't box yourself into one small corner of a very large world. For those of you with the skills necessary, writing can take you farther and give you more freedom than many of the careers out there, but you have to remember this very important thing: there's only one Harry Potter every generation or so, and chances are it's not going to be you.
Learn to write, and write well, and those college advisors won't look like liars. |
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