Do you love the English language? Have you ever had a dream of becoming a popular writer but don’t know how? If so, this article is for you. We give you tips on how to become a writer and where to begin in this article. So kindly read on.
How do I start a career as a writer and which platform to use for writing and marketing articles?
To start a career as a writer of some sort, complete the following basic tasks. It will give you a good head start.
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Complete a high school degree
This step is not absolutely mandatory but preferable. Most of the writing jobs, be it in any niche, demand that you complete at least a high school degree. It gives you dignity and commands respect. The University of Missouri is the best college in the US to do a degree in journalism.
Writing for your high school magazine or your high school yearbook will help improve your English and writing skills. It will also give you recognition and add weight to your resume when you apply for various writing jobs.
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Decide on your niche
Content writing is a vast field. There are many niches in content writing. Decide which niche interests you the most and pursue a career in that niche. After all, if you love what you do, your work will be a pleasure.
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Complete an internship in any niche
Doing an internship in any company in any niche will give students practical exposure to the real world. It will enhance their knowledge and give them an opportunity to apply what they have learned in high school and see how it works out.
Students who have done an internship are usually preferred by recruiters to students who are freshers.
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Do an MA or an MFA
After doing an internship at a media company for a while. You should consider doing an MA (Master of Arts) or an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in journalism. It will enhance your knowledge, hone your writing skills further, and add weight to your resume.
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Submit reviews for books
Read popular books related to your niche and give reviews for them in popular magazines, newspapers, and blogs. They may not pay you well but it gets your name in print and will make you popular if your review is good. After all, websites and media have a global reach.
WordPress and Blogger are the best blogging platforms in the world as they have stood the test of time, provide many features and SEO optimization techniques but there are other blogging platforms also worthy of mention. They are:
Medium
Provides easy to use content management system, password-free login and post analytics tools. You can use them to get more website traffic and conversion rates. These features make it a handy platform. Medium also has a wide readership and user base so that you can reach a wide audience.
Jekyll
This platform is only for people who are familiar with the Ruby programming language. If you know Ruby, this platform becomes highly customizable, and you can post on GitHub without incurring any hosting fees.
Jekyll can paste your text in a predefined template and create a website, that is ready for uploading. Unlike WordPress or Blogger, Jekyll gives you control over every aspect of your website. You can customize almost all aspects of your website.
Tumblr
This blogging platform has a user base of over 23 million users. This blogging platform will be apt for you if your posts are too short for traditional posting (less than 300 words) but too long for Instagram posts (more than 100 words).
This blogging platform has a simple but feature-rich interface. It enables you to switch between different accounts quickly. Readers can leave their comments on your posts, or reblog it with their own comments attached, similar to the ‘Share’ button on Facebook.
Ghost
It has a robust GUI like WordPress for creating websites and blog posts. Ghost’s GUI is even more robust than WordPress’s. It enables you to download and install a vast amount of plugins, themes, custom domains, and widgets.
Unlike WordPress, you can even create and upload your own themes and plugins. The self-hosted CMS is free, but hosting on Ghost’s network currently costs $29 per month if you have the basic subscription plan.
Wix
This platform is for people who have no knowledge of websites or coding whatsoever. Wix has a robust GUI and is driven by AI. All you have to do is write content, select the appropriate pictures for your blog post, select the theme you like for your website, answer a few simple questions and let Wix’s AI do the work for you. Then you’ll get a website that is tailor-made to your requirements.
Both free and paid versions are available in Wix. The paid version costs the US $14 per month and has a lot more features than the free version.
Can anyone become a writer or are there any special qualities required?
I’m sure you’re all keen to know this fact. So let’s get to it. It was believed that you had to be born with the talent to become a writer. This is absolutely false. While talent does play some part in helping you become a great writer, it is not everything.
In fact, becoming a great writer has more to do with hard work and discipline and less to do with talent. To become a great writer, you must practice the following things:
Practice every day
A great writer does not just write when he feels inspired but rather writes every day to hone his writing skills. You need not write a doctrine or a novel every day to hone your writing skills. Even a letter to a friend or an essay about whatever comes to your mind will do.
English is a very vibrant language. The more you write, the more you will fall in love with the English language and the more you will feel like writing. Writing every day will hone your grammar, vocabulary and writing skills. It may also give you new ideas to improve your writing.
Originality
If you want your writing to become popular, do not copy the ideas of popular books but rather write your own ideas. If you write based on your own ideas, you’ll be all the more inspired to write. You’ll be all the more motivated to convey your message to other people. You’ll be ever more conscious about your mistakes and write well.
Edit your first draft: No attempt can come without mistakes. To edit your first draft as many times as is necessary to achieve perfection. Only a revised and edited article/story will convey your message or idea effectively.
Why start a career as a writer? Is there anything lucrative in the writing career?
Many people have pondered upon this question. Let me tell you why. Content writer jobs are the most widely available jobs in the world. It will pay you peanuts until you establish yourself. Once you establish yourself, it can pay you richly. Some niches in content writing pay better than others and are very lucrative. They are:
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Business writing
Make sure to read the content writer’s job description before you take up this kind of job. In this type of writing, you write business reports, prepared speeches, articles on businesses, advertising for businesses, etc.
Business content writers earn an average of US $20 per hour. Business writing also expands one’s relationship with businesses apart from paying well.
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Copy-writing
This is the most profitable niche in content writing. Established copywriters earn well over the US $60,000 annually. Copy-writing involves writing content to promote websites, e-books or any other product.
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Technical writing
This is quite a profitable niche in content writing. It is also the one with the most demand. Freshers in technical writing are paid an average of US $20 per hour while established technical writers are paid an average of US $60 an hour. Technical writing involves writing about any technology.
There are many more niches in content writing apart from the ones mentioned above but the above-mentioned niches are the highest paying ones. Once you establish yourself, content writing can be a very rewarding career.
You’ll be in demand for a lot of people and firms and they will, of course, pay you well. Fame is another byproduct of good writing in any niche.
What are the skills required to become a writer? How to develop that skill?
There are quite a few skills you need to become a great writer. Please implement them for your own good. They are:
Effective communication skills
As a writer, you need to be able to express your thoughts, ideas, and opinions clearly to your audience. You must write in a way that’s appropriate for your audience. They must understand your message clearly. All this will come easily with writing practice.
You must also be a good listener and listen to their opinions and feedback. Some of their opinions and feedback may help you become a better writer.
Observation
It is not enough just to write your thoughts and ideas clearly. As a writer, you must observe the mindset of people and understand what they really want to know. If there is more in common between what they want to hear and what you want to say, your books will be a grand success. A writer is partly a researcher, psychologist, and an observer.
Reasoning and problem-solving ability
As a writer, you must be able to think of new solutions to old and new problems. You must be able to apply sound logic to your ideas and implement them well.
You must be able to identify flaws in your writing and improve upon it. You must be able to analyze your books’ sales figures and connect the dots quickly to improve their content and sales.
You must constantly improve
You must constantly improve your grammar, vocabulary, spelling, your content and the way in which it is presented. Spelling mistakes or poor English will dent your reputation and professional prospects badly.
Be bold in expressing yourself
Being a writer takes courage and determination. Express your ideas or opinions fearlessly. You might be opposed or rejected but embrace it boldly and look for ways to improve yourself. Always be open to constructive criticism.
Adaptability
You must adjust the tone in your writings depending on what you want to convey or what niche you’re writing about. For example, if you’re writing reviews on anime’s, your tone must be joyful and enthusiastic. If you’re writing about infrastructure woes, your tone must be serious and concerned and so on.
You must also write in a way that engages the audience. Using a monotonous tone for every kind of topic will spell disaster for your readership.
In-depth research
You must research every topic deeply before you start writing on it. This will make the information you provide trustworthy and interesting. It will also enhance your credibility and reputation.
If you write without doing in-depth research, you may end up providing obsolete information that will tarnish your reputation and credibility severely. So please be careful.
Being up to date with SEO rules
The purpose of writing a blog is to be visible to everyone online (to rank on the first page of Google). If you write wonderful content but you don’t follow the SEO rules then your blog will not be visible on the first page of Google and your content will not be visible to people. If there is no one to read your content then it will be rendered useless.
Google keeps changing its ranking criteria (SEO rules) frequently. So kindly be updated to be visible.
What kind of writer do you want to be? How many types of writers and how many niches in writing are there?
There are many niches in content writing and there are many types of writers. Find out which niche you like the best and begin your career in that. The various niches in content writing are:
Book Ghostwriting
In this niche, you give the idea and content for the book but your client publishes it in his name. Since your name is hidden or does not come to light, it is known as ghostwriting.
Ghostwriters are paid very well. They get around the US $30,000 per book they give the idea for. Cool isn’t it? In this niche, your clients will collaborate continuously with you to ensure that your ideas and their content match.
White paper writing
In this niche, you offer a solution to the business problems of your clients in a way that makes them implement it quickly. Your clients must see clearly how your solution will become a money turner for them.
In order to provide such a solution, you must gather in-depth information about your client’s business and their position in it. This is usually done via interviews with your client. This is hard work but to compensate for that, White Paper writers get paid at least US $3000 per project. Each project will contain 5 to 12 pages of content.
Long-form content
In this niche, you write at least 2000 words for every topic that is assigned to you. Your content will be published in your client’s business blog (not in your name) after reviewing it. B2B freelance writers get paid handsomely.
Long-form content writers need to have knowledge of SEO optimization techniques to make their content rank in Google. Long-form content writers, especially in the B2B niche, get paid at least one dollar per word. Good pay, isn’t it?
E-book writing
As monetizing blogs become increasingly difficult, e-books are becoming increasingly popular. Just last year, the sale value of e-books in the US exceeded the US $4 billion!
As the demand for e-books increases, the amount paid to a writer for writing an e-book will also increase. Currently, e-book writers in the US are earning an average of US $2000 per e-book they write. Lucrative, isn’t it?
Case studies writing
In this niche, you write the success stories of successful people in your client’s industry to attract more customers to your clients and to improve the sale of their products or services.
In this niche, writers get paid at least US $5000 per project. Needless to say, in-depth research is required before undertaking a project in this niche.
SEO optimized writing
In this niche, you write content for your clients in such a way that it ranks on the first page of Google. Your content should satisfy all the ranking criteria of Google.
If your client’s website ranks on the first page of Google consistently, it will be viewed by a large number of people and will be profitable for your client (they can earn via ad revenue). It will also augment your client’s reputation and credibility.
SEO optimized writing is a trust and reputation based job. Freshers in this field get paid minimally as they are yet to prove themselves and must deliver results to their clients. However, once they prove themselves, they get paid so much that they can afford an estate in Silicon Valley!
The ball is in your court. If you want to become Uber-rich via the content writing domain, perfecting SEO optimization techniques is one of the ways.
Financial writing
This niche is perhaps the most in-demand in the content writing field. As the statutory and trade laws of a country change frequently, financial writers are required to guide the accountants in a company or the government properly.
Financial writers are paid handsomely throughout the globe. In the US, they earn at least US $80,000 per month.
Landing page writing
This is another niche in content writing that’s in high demand. It pays the writer handsomely. The content on the landing page should compel the reader to take the desired action like buying something or subscribing, etc. This is also known as sales page writing.
The content on the landing page should be highly attractive and compelling. It should put across the benefits of the client’s products or services clearly and in a highly attractive manner. One might say that the landing page is a kind of e-shop. Landing page writers in the US earn the US $1,500 to the US $2,500 per page.
Technical Writing
This niche of content writing is in constant demand as tech companies need technical writers to advertise their high-tech products. It drives the sale of its high-tech products. Technical writers get paid decently at the US $2 per word.
Press Release Writing
In this niche, you write about a company’s new launches or its recent business deals or some important event pertaining to its business. The article should be concise but of high quality. The article is usually published in the company’s magazines and in the leading newspapers. This niche of content writing has wider coverage than blog writing.
What are the habits you must cultivate for becoming a successful writer? Are they easy to implement?
To become a successful writer, you must follow these simple guidelines. I guarantee you that they will work. Many established writers these days have become successful by following these principles. They are:
Take pride in what you are
Everyone need not become engineers and doctors. There are many successful writers in the world. Call yourself a writer and take pride in it. Good self-esteem leads to better writing.
Be regular in your job
You must be sincere to your clients even as a freelance writer. You must complete their assignments on time and give them good results. If you are lax in your job and shoddy in your work, you stand to lose not only your clients but also your career prospects and credibility.
Learn additional skills
Apart from writing, if you learn additional skills like SEO optimization or e-book making, it could come in handy when you’re out of assignments or clients. They could be ways to make some additional income apart from your job.
Have a give and take policy
Share the articles written by freshers and promote their e-books or blogs. Use encouraging words so that they come up in life. Your kindness and compassion will not go unnoticed.
When you really need them, they will help you get more subscribers, customers or clients. You may even form a network with freshers so that they refer some of their clients/customers to you and you can refer some of your clients/customers to them. This way, everyone can be successful. You need not view your competitors as your enemies.
Never postpone things
When an assignment is given to you, be proactive and complete it as early as possible. Never postpone your work unnecessarily. Finishing your task before the deadline will leave a good impression of you on your clients.
It could be a stepping stone for getting more assignments or extending the freelance contract. Your work should also be of quality. Never rush and submit a substandard assignment. Understand their requirements clearly before you begin your assignment. This will satisfy them and will also save you a lot of time and effort (as no rework will be needed).
How to increase your creativity and imagination through writing? Are there any techniques that one should follow?
I’m sure that you’re all eager to know this. So let’s get to the point. Creativity is like a metaphorical muscle. The more you use it, the more it develops. Here are ways to boost your creativity:
Be open to different ideas
If you have an idea, you must never cling on to it. Be open to suggestions and new ideas. Validate them and implement them if they have merit. Just remember that constructive criticisms and suggestions will only make you better. New ideas and suggestions may enhance your creativity and make your approach better.
Write every day on some interesting topic
Once you have decided on your niche, keep yourself updated on it. Whether you have an assignment or not, write something on your niche (not officially) every day so that you are in touch with writing and can improve your writing skills better. Both iron and a man’s brain rust if they are kept idle.
Keep a record of your ideas
You may get a brilliant idea once but may forget it in the future. By keeping a record of your ideas (no matter how unimportant they may seem at that moment), you can review them later and possibly even better them.
Reviewing your old ideas may lead to new and more effective ideas emerging. The new ideas may better you as a writer.
Change your environment
Don’t always work in an office cubicle. If you can, go outside to a park or a lake and try to write an assignment from there. A change of environment can make you think unconventionally and come up with new ideas.
Read fairy tales or other storybooks
Read stories and let your imagination fly free. Put yourself in the shoes of the character you like and think about what you would do in his or her situation. Thinking like this may cause you to come up with better solutions to old problems.
Meditate
Whenever you are faced with a problem, do meditation and calm your mind down. Once you get totally relaxed, you’ll be able to see old problems from a better perspective and find a solution to them.
Travel to new places and learn about new cultures
By traveling to new places, you get a change of environment that will refresh you physically. You also get to learn about new cultures. Seeing how different kinds of people deal with their daily struggle, may give you new ideas to solve your current problems.
Observe nature
Go to a park sometime. Observe how the trees and shrubs there change according to the seasons. It may give you an idea of how to change your writing tone according to the different topics assigned.
Write from a coffee shop
Coffee does uplift people’s moods and gives them energy. So try to write an article or a novel after drinking coffee in a coffee shop. It will stimulate your imagination and give you the energy needed to complete your novel.
How to provide value to the life of readers through writing? How to make them feel special and worthy?
This is very important as it will boost your credibility. People will value your writing if it provides them one of these things. They are:
- Entertainment or Comedy.
- Introduces them to people from different parts of the world and new cultures.
- Has suspense throughout the story.
- Has a character they can relate to.
- It helps them understand a deep truth, they never thought about before.
- When you write entirely from your perspective and do not try to copy others (originality of character and content).
- When there is the truth (facts) in your writing and you are not afraid to express it.
- When it inspires them to do something great or good.
What are the content writing tools which you can use to improve your writing?
As a writer, I’m sure all of you would want your writing/content to look great but what tools do I use to make my writing look the best? I’m sure that all of you will be wondering about this. Don’t worry, we have made life easy for you and listed out the tools. They are:
Ideaflip
It provides users with a visual and interactive environment so that they can write down (enter) and improve their ideas. This software also enables you to turn off the visual simulator in case it’s a hindrance to you while writing.
Using Ideaflip, you can develop the best ideas in the first trial itself. There is no need to do a lot of rework.
HubSpot’s blog topic generator
If in the middle of your article, you run out of fresh topics/ideas to write about, HubSpot’s blog topic generator will help you immensely.
If you enter just three keywords, it will give you a long list of topics you can immediately use or which will help you find a related topic. You can make your article as interesting as possible using Hubspot.
Portent’s Content Idea Generator
If you have trouble finding a catchy headline for your article, all you have to do is enter your topic in Portent’s search bar and it will give you a list of catchy headlines that you can use.
Grammarly
Apart from correcting your spelling mistakes, Grammarly also improves your sentence construction and eliminates unnecessary words. It is a tool required for every writer.
Copyscape
In content writing, maintaining originality is the most important thing. If you intentionally or coincidentally copy someone else’s work, you will be penalized by Google and your website will stop ranking.
Paste your work in Copyscape to check its originality and modify it to make it original if you have to. This software is so important that it can be considered a skin saver for content writers.
What are my opportunities as a writer? Are there many opportunities or very little?
A job is the most important aspect of a person’s life, so please read carefully. As a content writer, you can earn well in the following niches:
Technical writer
You need a college degree in any technology to take up a career as a content writer. Technical writers write about a wide array of new technologies. They must have the skill to explain complex technologies in simple English. They usually write instruction manuals, how-to guides, documentation, FAQs, and new technologies.
Editor
This profession is highly sought after. Good writers are usually good editors. Instead of thinking and writing good content themselves, they check for flaws in other people’s articles and rectify or edit them.
Editors for newspapers and magazines are the most common type of editors but there are other types of editors like an editor for a SaaS company or a developmental editor.
Magazine writer
Magazines are available in almost every niche. They are also widely read by the youth and middle-aged people. Just decide upon your niche, choose the best magazine in that niche and write for it.
It will give you a lot of popularity and income. Just ensure that your writing is free of errors and up to date to be popular among your readers.
News Reporter
If you love to travel, meet new people, ask interesting questions and give reports in an interesting manner, this job is for you. You may even get to travel around the world if you are a news reporter. This is a dynamic job for dynamic people.
This job has its downsides, however. They are:
- You don’t get paid in proportion to the amount of work you do.
- Sometimes, you may face threats from hooligans and politicians for trying to tell the truth.
- This is not a 9 to 5 job and sometimes, you may need to work late or work on weekends.
- As the popularity of media grows, the demand for print journalism is on the decline. Therefore the demand for news reporters is on the decline too.
Social Media Manager
Social Media has become an effective way (since 2009) for firms to advertise and market their products or services. Hence, Social Media Managers are in high demand.
Social Media Managers create Infographics, tweet on Twitter and advertise on LinkedIn. They are paid well since they enhance the profits of the company.
Blogging
There are numerous popular, independent bloggers right now, which means starting your own blog, getting popular, and getting it monetized is very difficult. However, you can write to somebody else’s blog and get paid a salary or per assignment pay. There are quite a few jobs available in this niche of content writing.
How developing skills in writing can make you famous? How to create an impact in the minds of the readers?
You all want to be renowned in your field of work, don’t you? If so, follow these tips. There are quite a few principles you should follow to become a famous and proficient writer. They are:
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Make sure that you really want to become a writer
You must have an undying passion for the English language and for writing to become a successful writer. Do not just join the writing profession to earn money or to get your name published.
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Read many books
Read many books related to your niche to gain knowledge, new ideas, and to improve your vocabulary. The more you improve yourself in all aspects, the more credible and renowned you become in your niche.
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Write every day
Write every day on one topic or another. It could be about something you love or about something that has caught your attention recently or your opinion about something. Whatever just keep writing every day to hone your writing skills and to maintain your fluency in the English language.
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Publish and promote
You could maintain your own blog and promote your writings on social media platforms to grab people’s attention and to gain popularity. After all, you are writing so that others may read it.
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Be open to criticism
Yes, there are people out there who absolutely hate you and will do anything to bog you down. Ignore those people but take constructive criticism given by some people with the right attitude.
Use constructive criticism to better yourself in all aspects. The better you become, the more your credibility and reputation will be.
These are great writers who became famous and earned in the millions.
These people are an inspiration to writers all around the globe. They have proved that writing can be a profession that gives success. The most famous writers of all time are:
Oscar Wilde
He is an Irish playwright and poet. He was born on 16th October in 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. His most famous plays include ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’. He was married to Constance Lloyd and died in the early 1900s. Use this image for Oscar Wilde.
James Joyce
Was born on 2nd February 1882. He was an Irish Novelist and poet. Some of his most famous novels include Ulysses, Dubliners, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Finnegans Wake. You can find a statue of James Joyce on North Earl Street in Dublin, Ireland.
Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky
He was a Russian novelist and was born on 11th November in 1821. He also used to write short stories and essays apart from novels. He mainly wrote novels on human psychology and political turmoils in Russia.
His most famous works are Notes from Underground, Crime, and Punishment, The Idiot, Demons and The Brothers and Karamazov.
William Faulkner
Was born on 25th September of 1897. He is a Nobel laureate from Oxford, Mississippi. He is an American writer and has written many novels, short stories, essays, and plays.
Most of his novels and short stories are set in the fictitious Yoknapatawpha County. His most famous works are The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom. He was married to Estelle Oldham and he died on the 6th of July 1962.
Ernest Miller Hemmingway
He was born on 21st July of 1899. He was an American novelist and journalist. He mainly wrote on the fiction genre. He won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1954. He has published around seven novels and six short stories. He has had multiple marriages and died on the 2nd of July 1961.
Some of his most famous works include The Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, To Have and Have Not, and Death in the afternoon.
Conclusion
Everyone does not have to be engineers and doctors. The writing profession can give you success too. You only need to have passion, dedication and do the hard work. The writing profession is one of the few professions in the world that can change the lives of other people for the better.
Once you become popular and well settled, the hard work and commitment you put into it will seem worthwhile and rewarding. So pull up your socks and start writing!
FAQs
1. Are content writers in demand right now?
Yes, the content writing industry is booming right now due to the fact that a lot of firms have been launched throughout the world. Firms need content writers to write on their technology or to advertise their products or to write for their blogs. Content writing is set to be a 300 billion dollar industry by 2020.
2. How much are freelancers in the US paid?
The fee for freelancers varies a lot in the US. It can be as little as one dollar per hour to as much as 100 dollars per hour. It all depends on your credibility and reputation.
3. How much should content writers in the US charge per word?
It all depends on your popularity and credibility. Beginners charge 10 cents per word whereas very popular writers in the field charge one dollar per word.
4. How much salary does Popsugar pay its writers?
Popsugar pays its writers an average of US $40,200 annually!
