If you’re a passionate creative writer who has no idea what to do next, welcome to the club. Most creative writing majors are truly misunderstood and often underrated. If you were to walk on the street and ask ten random people about the nature and applications of a creative writing degree, probably 9 out of 10 will have no clue what it consists of.
Nevertheless, the fact that creative writing isn’t such a popular business, that can represent a career advantage for you.
If you’re a passionate writer, you’d probably enjoy a career in which you can create art every day. A career in arts is one thing; a successful career in arts is another thing. Many creative writers forget about their passions the moment they stumble upon the first challenges and setbacks.
The keys to becoming a successful writer (of any kind) are knowledge, skills, and connections. All of these resources can be acquired through consistency and perseverance.
In simple words, if you want to become a successful woman, you have to put up the work and try as many possible things until you figure it out. You have to be driven, dedicated, and take risks that many other people wouldn’t.
Excellent results don’t come easy. If you’re willing to hustle, your efforts will eventually offer you the lifestyle you desire.
But before that, let’s see what type of jobs and careers you can tackle as a creative writer.
Strategic Communications
It sounds like a complicated job, right?
It isn’t. What you have to do is write all day. The greatest perk of all is that your responsibilities are very diverse.
A strategic communications employee is responsible for managing communications for organisations and institutions. If a company has more than 20 employees, a strategic communicator is likely to be present.
Here are some of the things you’ll have to do as a strategic communicator:
- Writing
- Managing writing projects
- Strategic thinking about how to properly position your company/institution
- Storytelling
- Crisis communications
- Marketing
- Media placements
- Fundraising
- Speech writing
Simply put, companies need communication experts that can add various types of value propositions. It truly depends on the company or the institution, but generally, you’ll do great if you’re passionate about words.
Copywriting
Copywriting is the art of selling through words. If content writing or business writing are helping brands improve brand awareness, increase their customer loyalty, and position themselves in the marketplace, copywriting is the last piece of the puzzle that helps brands close sales.
All advertisements (online or offline) are created by copywriters. When you end up on a landing page that presents a product, you’re reading the work of a copywriter.
Nowadays, since the digital marketing environment experiences a big boom, there are a lot of companies that are seeking talented creative writers who can add unique spins to their marketing campaigns. If you’re passionate about sales and marketing, this is definitely a great career path for you.
Academic Writing
One of the perks of being a creative writing graduate is that you can tackle many academic writing jobs. For example, you can provide assignment help online. Or you can write dissertations. Or, you can tutor students who have big trouble dealing with their academic duties.
You can find these types of jobs by Googling “academic writing [your country].” If you’re an Aussie writer, you should write for Australian companies. If you live in the US, go for US companies. Also, make sure you check the best paper writing service reviews before deciding the job you want to apply to.
Ghostwriting
Ghostwriting is one of the best activities you can find if you hate the traditional 9-to-5 work schedule. To ghostwrite means to create and sell content to clients, blogs, and businesses. It’s a simple yet intriguing job that allows you to diversify your portfolio and make a really fine income.
As the name suggests, ghostwriting involves selling the copyrights of your unique content to other entities. Nowadays, every business needs fresh and unique content on a consistent basis. The freelancing platforms are full of ghostwriting gigs that you can tackle right away!
Social Media Marketing
Once again, you can use your creative writing skills to curate, modify, or create content that will later be published on social media. Companies are seeking social media marketing experts who understand their brand’s values. Not just that, they’re looking for excellent writers who can properly communicate with social followers.
Proofreading/Editing
You can leverage your writing expertise to land proofreading and editing jobs. You can work full-time, or you can choose the freelancing path. Each option comes with PROs and CONs. If you work full-time, you’ll have consistent work no matter what. However, the salary might be fixed and limited.
If you choose to proofread and edit content as a freelancer, you’ll be able to scale your activities, find various interrelated opportunities, and have a lot of flexibility (work from home, beach, terrace, etc.) The downside is that you’ll have to keep looking for clients up until you establish a long-term collaboration.
Self-Publishing
Lastly, if you have the mindset of an entrepreneur, you should consider launching a blog, writing a book, or publishing a course.
This route is the most challenging yet the most rewarding.
As Jane Grigg, the CEO of Australian Writings suggests, “If you create your own products, you’ll be able to sell them over and over again. Informational products are the best business right now, especially because the digital environment is never going to fall.”
That means that everything you create today will be able to be monetized forever!
Final Word
Making a living from your art is tough. However, tough doesn’t mean impossible. It truly depends on your mindset and attitude. If you think you’re a winner, then you are a winner. If you never want to settle for less than you deserve, you never will. It’s all about perspective.
My advice would be to start working. Pick something and pave the path. If you choose a job, do your research properly, craft a hundred applications, and you’ll have plenty of options to choose from.
If you want to work on your own, create more profiles on freelancing websites, develop your LinkedIn presence, and start applying to freelance gigs every day.
If you want to become an author right away, start educating yourself. Read books of authors that inspire you, fix your biggest writing mistakes, create your outline, and start making art!