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• Writer

School and Career Surprises: Tips From People on the Job

Career: "I was extremely surprised that I could write from home and earn a reasonable income. I thought I would have to work in a newspaper office or for a publishing company to have a career as a writer. Perhaps a decade ago that would have been the case."

Career: "What surprised me, and those who know me, about this career was that I was actually able to make a living at it. I started writing as a hobby while I held down a real job but when I managed to publish several books, I was able to quit my regular job and devote my life to what I really wanted, which was to write for a living. Things are not great right now, due to the economy and the changing publishing marketplace, but I do not regret my decision."

Career: "I was surprised at the recent and rapid demise of old media, such as printed newspapers and evening television news. Traditionally, these are the business models that have paid for investigative journalism efforts and afforded those in the industry a decent wage. Today's young journalists are afforded the new frontier opportunity that electronic publishing and the Internet provide, but probably at substantially and permanently reduced pay rates."

Career: "I worked many years at the top of my profession in New York City. I was surprised at the back stabbing and back biting that occurred in this huge company. Journalists seemed to be willing to sacrifice their journalism principles for advancement in their careers. I competed many years. I was good at my job but I was never an insider. Employees had to be insiders, favorites of top management to advance. Social status in New York was important to careers. I made great money. But, in the end, accomplishment was more about who you knew than what you knew."

Career: "I was surprised to find being a writer requires a lot more skills in today's world than just writing. You also need to be knowledgeable in using a computer and marketing yourself."

Career: "Others would be surprised that I am still in this career; but what surprises me is the enormous new opportunities for writers that have opened in recent years. These include writing online, for new media, etc. Most surprising however, was those situations wherein I was asked to write by a supervisor who had no idea what good writing was and then proceeded to edit/change my writing as though they had a clue."

Career: "I was surprised that writing is time intensive, hard work and doesn't pay particularly well. To make money I not only need to write, I need to properly market myself."

Career: "I am surprised that I am able to make a living completely from home. I had considered using my degree to teach, but I make more money writing at home for online clients."

Career: "Being a writer is not something you can just technically learn about and then be happy with it afterwards. You have to have that original drive to love to write. It's like second nature to you and THEN you learn about it to better perfect your natural talent. If you go into a writing career thinking that is when you are going to learn how to do it and everyone will just teach you everything and you will be all set, that is not correct. You have to love what you do because writing is taxing mentally and if you don't love it you will be in for a big surprise. Don't get me wrong, it's important to be technical and to learn all the grammatical and punctuation rules and the many rules that go into correct writing but a lot that is involved is a natural instinct when it comes to writing, being able to think on your feet and be spontaneous, creative and imaginative."

School: "I was expecting college to be much more challenging. Being an older student, I was afraid that I had been out of school too long and be unable to perform at the level of the younger students. I was very surprised to learn that the opposite was the case. It seemed that the majority of the students fresh out of high school were not prepared for the demands of college - academically and emotionally."

Career: "I was surprised at how routine much of the writing is. What I have discovered is that many of the stories I now have to write are little more than fill in the blank. I believe this will change as I work my way up and get access to more interesting and complex leads and stories."

School: "I was surprised that Ithaca College was very ahead of their times and I was able to adjust to changes in the newspaper industry. I am also surprised to find that my connections from Ithaca College would be still be very active in my life nearly 20 years later."

Career: "I was surprised to find that being a newspaper writer required so much more than just being a good writer. The industry has changed so rapidly and there is an immense focus of changing technologies such as blogging and being able to capture live video as well."

Best & Worst Things About This Career

"The absolute best part of my job is working from home. I am my own boss, but I do have to answer to the company I work for. I am gaining incredible amounts of knowledge. The worst part of my job is when I write an epic essay that is not satisfactory to the customer. For this reason, I do not write about Philosophy because if the customer's philosophy differs from mine, they are unsatisfied. The pay could be better, but working from home is priceless, especially with gas prices as high as they are."

"The best part of my job is that I set my own hours. If I want to sleep until ten or ten-thirty, I sleep until ten or ten-thirty. However, this is also the worst part of my job. If I sleep in until after ten, I still want to write for at least eight hours, so my workday sometimes goes until six or seven at night. The hours work for me, however, since I tend to write more if I let my body wake up when it's ready to."

"The best part of being a freelance writer or copywriter is the flexibility and the creativity (within limits, of course). I really enjoy working from home and making my own hours. It is always interesting to learn about new topics, even if they may be technical. Also, although it's not always easy to receive criticism, it can be helpful and may improve your writing. The downside of freelancing is the lack of benefits, but this seems to increasingly be par for the course even in full-time work. Another downside can be the lack of social contact that you have when working in an office."

"The best part of being a freelance writer is the flexibility. I am free to travel anywhere I please for as long as I like, so long as I can afford the trip, and so long as my destination can afford me access to the internet. Not being saddled with any of the responsibilities that come from being regularly accountable to the same individual is incredibly freeing. The worst part of my job is never knowing if I will have work, or whether or not it will pay well enough to put food on my table."

"The best part of writing for a living is that it can be done at home, on one's own schedule, according to the interest and focus of the day. It's a gift to be able to use one's imagination, invent entire worlds, and be paid for the privilege. The worst part of the job is the lack of control over the work's publication or sales; and the uncertainty attending publication in the future."

"Honestly, the hardest part is remaining physically comfortable while I work. It's easy to forget my body when all my actions involve a keyboard and a screen, and I can stand up only to detect many aches and pains. I've had to learn to take breaks and to have a period of stretching afterwards, especially for my back. The best part is the freedom: Freedom from rush hour traffic, bosses, etc. And the job is pretty green, since I'm not burning all those fossil fuels going to and from work. The effort required far outweighs the feeling of just being another hamster running in a wheel."

Tips for Succeeding in This Career

"The best advice I could give to someone wanting to be an essay writer is to get a well rounded education. I have found that a quiet place is needed for this job because it takes concentration that must not be broken. Once that happens, it is really hard to get back into the groove. This final piece of advice is imperative: you must have command of the english language. A dictionary and thesaurus are important parts of an essay writer's tool box."

"The best three tips I can give anyone pursuing a career in writing is persistence, persistence, persistence. Your writing will get rejected, and it will not feel good, but after you've taken a little time to get over the rejection and realize it isn't personal, the best thing you can do is use it as a learning experience. If the person rejecting your work tells you your characters are not strong enough, consider his/her comment and try to figure out why he/she said this. Write, rewrite, and submit work often."

"1. Buy a copy of <i>The Elements of Style</i> by Strunk & White. Optimize your grammar and spelling. 2. Figure out where your writing interests lie. Are you a music critic? A restaurant expert? Or a financial whiz? 3. Don't be afraid to tackle subject matter that you're unfamiliar with. 4. Sign up with Websites like Mediabistro to network and to search for jobs and freelance work. You'd be surprised at how much work is out there. 5. Learn about SEO (search engine optimization). This is essential for Web writing."

"Write every day. Once you get the amount of work you will need to make a living, you will be writing every day anyway, and this is great practice. Enjoy the freedom you have as a writer without work; you get to write what you like! Once you find yourself with 50 pages of ad-copy to write, you'll long for a few hours to yourself to write that science fiction novel. Don't get discouraged if it takes awhile to get your name out there. Consider a part time job, at least when you're starting out. That way you won't starve."

"Be ruthless in editing your own work--attachment to your words is not helpful if those words don't contribute to a coherent and well-paced story. Before sending your work to an agent or editor, be certain you've applied the previous advice--and that your book cannot possibly be improved by yourself any further. DO attempt to secure an agent prior to submitting your work to a publishing house--you are far more likely to have your work read by an editor. Reputable agents will list their submission guidelines, recent sales, and represented authors on their web sites; and reputable agents never demand a fee for reading your work. Follow their guidelines for submission, and if your work is rejected, persist."

"All I can tell you is that you have to be motivated and dedicated. You've got to stick with it. When you work at home, it's easy for your personal life and your work to mix, so you've got to be comfortable with what you're doing. If you find that what you've chosen comes easily, that you're actually getting so involved in a project that you lose track of time, it's not just work any more. That's the sort of thing worth pursuing."