Writer

• Attention to detail
• Initiative
• Persistence/Endurance
• Integrity
• Writing
• Time management
• Resourcefulness

Staff Writer
Staff writers collect and analyze facts about newsworthy events by interview, investigation, or observation. Some of their tasks include:

• Review and evaluate notes taken about event aspects in order to isolate pertinent facts and details.
• Determine a story's emphasis, length, and format, and organize material accordingly.
• Arrange interviews with people who can provide information about a story.
• Research and analyze background information related to stories in order to be able to provide complete and accurate information.
• Check reference materials, such as books, news files, or public records, to obtain relevant facts.

Staff writers usually work for the following organizations:

• Magazine
• Website
• Newspaper

Copywriter
Copywriters are generally hired to produce written promotional content. They write text for:

• Direct mail pieces
• E-mail newsletters
• Marketing media campaigns
• Billboards
• Speeches
• Catalogs
• Sales letters and bulletins
• Advertisements
• Packaging copy: For example) the text on your shampoo bottle.
• Website copy

Copywriters usually work for the following organizations:

• Marketing agency
• Advertising agency
• In-house company (especially consumer products)

Copywriters may work with creative directors, art directors, account staff, marketing managers, and other members of a creative team. They may also work on a freelance basis directly for a client. Copywriters are also often responsible for rewriting, proofreading, and editing their work.

Freelance Writers
Freelance writers are self-employed and make their living by selling their written content to book and magazine publishers; news organizations; advertising agencies; and movie, theater, and television producers. Many freelance writers are hired to complete specific short-term or recurring assignments, such as writing a newspaper column, contributing to a series of articles in a magazine, or producing an organization’s newsletter.

They write for:

• Blogs and websites
• Traditional Magazines: Very competitive.  Examples) Fashion (Vogue), Business (Forbes)…etc.
• Company magazines: Pay is good, not as competitive. Examples) AAA magazine, Credit card company magazine
• Non-profits: journals (pay is good, not as worried about clips and tier of the publications)
• University alumni magazines: Pay is good. They are not as worried about clips and prestige.
• Ghostwriting: Write for a high-profile person’s blog (you interview them and they tell you what they want to write and you write for them). Pay is good.
• Marketing/Advertising Agency: Copywriters can also be freelance writers.

Other (covered in separate career profiles)

• Technical Writer: User manuals (might not be as exciting but very in demand and pays well)
• Screenwriters (TV, film): Create scripts for movies and television. They may produce original stories, characters, and dialogue or turn a book into a movie or television script. Some may produce content for radio broadcasts and other types of performance.
• Playwrights: Write scripts for theatrical productions. They produce lines for actors to say, stage direction for actors to follow, and ideas for theatrical set design.
• Songwriters: Compose music and lyrics for songs. They may write and perform their own songs or sell their work to a music publisher. They sometimes work with a client to produce advertising themes, jingles, and slogans and may be involved in marketing the product or service.
• Novelist/Biographer: Novelists write books of fiction, creating characters and plots that may be imaginary or may be based on real events. Biographers write a thorough account of a person’s life. They gather information from interviews and research about the person to accurately portray important events in that person's life.
• Publicist/Public Relations: Write press releases and liaise with the press.  
• Journalist: Writes for newspaper, news shows.

Staff Writer

• Very competitive: it is even difficult to get an un-paid internship at a prestigious magazine.
• "I don’t think you only need to get an internship at “Vogue” or a huge NY magazine. Sometimes it’s better to work a smaller establishment and get more responsibilities, write more so you can get more clips. Really figure out your focus. If you want to work in the big magazine world for your whole career, then it’s nice to intern and work your way up. But if you want to be a writer and write for various publications, there’s a lot of other ways to enter, survive and thrive.” Amy Westervelt, Freelance Writer
• You will start off at a magazine as an intern or editorial assistant or social media coordinator, meaning you will not, off the bat, write the feature articles. Know your place. Learn the etiquette of the magazine you are working for but strike a good balance between being humble/”no entitlement complex” and being proactive.

Freelance

• Gradual rise: You don’t start off the bat pitching to Esquire magazine unless you work for that magazine (Esquire) as an editorial assistant. There are different tiers of publications.
• You start off working for very little for first year or 2, til you have clips.
• Must be willing to work nights and weekends to produce something acceptable to an editor or client and meet the deadline.
• Although many freelance writers enjoy running their own business and the advantages of working flexible hours, most routinely face the pressures of juggling multiple projects or continually looking for new work.

To stay competitive, companies are now looking for a content specialist. Not just writing, sometimes creating charts and infographics. What is the story and what’s the best way to tell it which is not always through words. Maybe video?

• Was extremely curious
• Liked hearing people’s stories – genuinely interested in people and their story and interests.
• Writing!