Careers in Writing: Industry Opportunities

When people think of a career in writing, they think of writing a book. While this is one of the more obvious choices for a career in writing, there are a lot more choices available than you may think. 

Writing is one of the ways of how we communicate. When studying for a career in writing, a student can develop communication, grammar, and reading comprehension skills. By learning to think critically and analytically, they can learn to better express themselves using the written word in detail. Discover the options from this list in which you can pursue a career in creative writing.

Novelist

When people think of careers in writing, this is often one of the first that comes to mind. If you like creating characters that will draw in readers to want to know more about them and a storyline that will keep a reader interested from beginning to end, then you could have the makings of a great novelist. A novelist develops a story with a strong outline, plot points, dialog styles, and character arcs. Traditionally, novelists work with publishing companies to market and sell their books; however, in recent years, self-publishing has become a popular option.

See Publishing a Book Online and Other Options from TCS.

Book Editor

A book editor is responsible for shaping and developing a manuscript from an author to get it ready to be published. This requires some tact and good editing skills. Working with the author, you bring a fresh eye to the manuscript to help strengthen the structure of the story that is being written. As an editor, you could work for a publishing house, but there is also the possibility of being on your own as a freelancer.

Copy Editor

Copy editors read through a piece of written material to find spelling errors, grammar problems, and style inconsistencies. A copy editor gets down to the finite details and ensures that everything is in line with the editorial guidelines. In some cases, copy editors could also be responsible for fact checking. If you love attention to fine details, then this one's for you.

Journalist

A journalist searches for newsworthy information and puts this information in the form of articles, scripts, and/or podcasts. You can work in the fields of TV, radio, print, or the web. Usually, journalists start out as general reporters with the potential to get into niches like sports, business, science, or the arts.

Columnist

Columnists are like journalists who give reports, but more specifically they give a subjective opinion on current events. As a columnist, you share persuasive opinions and perspectives on current events, whether locally or globally.  You could even work towards becoming an expert advisor for talk shows, radio, or even write a book.

Translator 

With many Canadians being bilingual, you may not have to look very hard for this opportunity. You can explore the option of becoming a translator if you can write fluently in more than one language. Law, healthcare, publishing, and education are all areas that use translating services. Attention to detail is key in this line of work.

Social Media Specialist 

Maintaining a social media presence is a definite need for businesses now. This means there are lots of opportunities for writers who know how to tweak messages to match the demographics, text limits, and content styles of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Since this is a job in a wide market, you could find yourself writing on just about anything while analyzing the data of audiences and views. 

Advertising

In the realm of advertising, you use your writing skills to make a catchy advertisement for print, online, television, or radio. The goal is to write something convincing enough to make people want to buy a particular product or service while making sure they are concise. You could be writing slogans, radio jingles, or social media ads.

Web Content Writer 

Many companies need skilled writers for researching and writing digital content for blogs, articles, and landing pages. Learning about SEO strategies is beneficial training for a job like this.

Speechwriter

The president is not the only one who needs a speechwriter! Business executives, celebrities, or public relations firms all look to hire speechwriters. This can be challenging because this type of persuasive writing can be on policies or principles that you may not agree with. If you are studying journalism or political science, this type of job may be of interest to you.

Technical Writer

A technical writer’s job is to take complicated explanations and make it understandable to the everyday person. These writers work with companies to create software manuals, user guides, technical specifications, and other complex documentation. 

Medical Transcriptionist

Medical transcriptionists create written reports from audio recordings made by physicians and other healthcare professionals. It is their job to interpret and transcribe dictated information, edit, and submit transcripts for approval by physicians.

Ghostwriter

Sometimes someone may have a great idea for a book, blog, or social media report but has trouble getting thoughts on paper. In this case, they would look to hire a ghostwriter. As a  ghostwriter, you write the piece and your client claims the credit for it. Opportunities include  writing corporate blogs, social media updates for a celebrity, or transforming a client's ideas, research, or life stories into a book. If you are good at writing and want to work behind the scenes, then this job might be for you.

While this list is not a complete one, you can now see that there are many opportunities out there to pursue a writing career. If you have a love of writing, it is worthwhile to look into some of these options and set your goals to achieve what is necessary.

Try your hand at writing for The Canadian Schoolhouse!

If you want to pursue a career in writing, why not consider writing for The Canadian Schoolhouse to gain experience? Not only will you practice your writing skills, but you can also be a big part of encouraging others who are considering homeschooling right now. Sharing your personal experiences of how a parent-led education has impacted your family can be the deciding factor for someone else on the verge of making the important decision to educate their children at home.

These are some of the things you can write about:

• Activities you do as a family
• Learning adventures you’ve done with your kids
• How you’ve overcome challenges (or are working through them)
• Many other topics that are a part of your learning life

You don’t have to be a professional writer to share your story. You just need to tell it! We’ll take care of the rest.

You and your teens can write and be published. Read more details through the link below or email smorrison@theoldschoolhouse.com.