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  1. 05jess

    05jess New Member

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    Looking for advice

    Discussion in 'New Member Introductions' started by 05jess, Jun 7, 2020.

    Hello all, I am very passionate about writing and have been for a while now. At the moment, I have been researching career paths as I will need to decide next year what career I would like to do. It is quite a challenge finding careers that not only appeal to me, but suit my personality. I am quite an introvert, but I am creative and enjoy writing. My heart is set on writing, but I was wondering if there are any tips or advice anyone could give to an aspiring writer such as myself, or even some careers in writing that could interest me.

    Thank you :)
     
  2. Dogberry's Watch

    Dogberry's Watch Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023 Contest Winner 2022

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    What part of writing interests you? If the actual writing is something you like, you can always do freelance copy writing. That's easy for you to set your own schedule. Something else might require a degree, like an editor/publisher type thing, and if you want to go into teaching about writing, then you'll definitely need a degree. I'm not sure what all advice I can give you past that, but I hope you find what you're looking for.

    Good luck and welcome.
     
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  3. Homer Potvin

    Homer Potvin A tombstone hand and a graveyard mind Staff Supporter Contributor

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    One that is hiring and pays money. Or barring that, I decent enough day job that pays the bills while you explore writing on the side.
     
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  4. 05jess

    05jess New Member

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    Hi, thanks for the feedback. Just recently, I have enjoyed writing fiction, but I am also interested in the analytical side of writing. I will look into freelance copy writing as it seems something that could appeal to me.

    Thank you for the suggestion! :)
     
  5. 05jess

    05jess New Member

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    Hi, thanks and I appreciate the suggestion. I'm currently looking into careers in writing, but I am open to the idea of like you say, getting a job and exploring writing as a hobby and see where it takes me.

    Thanks for the help! :)
     
  6. Heydonz

    Heydonz Member

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    Another freelance area you might want to look into is writing book reviews. There are plenty of websites where you can submit your reviews to - and if they use them you are paid. Sure it is not a lot of money - but if you enjoy analytical writing this could be a potential area for you. Also if you have experience some websites may even hire you are as a reviewer - and this provides some stable income. I have never done it myself - but I had a friend who wrote reviews and enjoyed it.
     
  7. 05jess

    05jess New Member

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    Hi and thank you for the feedback. This is such a great idea! I will make sure to look into it :)
     
  8. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    Hello 05jess

    I’m one of the forum moderators, and I want to welcome you to the forum.

    It sounds as if you have a very open-minded approach to making a career from writing, which bodes well for success. Many people DO make a career from writing. It's not easy to make a living writing fiction (it's possible, but luck has a lot to do with it) but it's certainly possible to make a living with writing in other contexts. I know this for a fact, because my husband was a journalist for all his working life. Not a reporter either, but somebody who proofread, edited, researched and fitted what other people wrote into the various newspapers he worked for. His title was News Sub, and he made a good living at this. He was lucky enough to land his first job without any real training, and he worked for that paper for nearly 25 years, before moving on to other papers and also to teaching journalism for a while, before he retired. There are lots of career paths, if you're willing to look around and not expect miracle fame and fortune.

    Anyway....

    In order to help you get oriented and get settled into the forum, here are a couple of links I strongly recommend that you read at the start, if you haven’t already. They will give you a good idea of how we operate :

    New Member Quick Start

    Forum Rules

    You will notice in the New Member Quick Start that in order to post your work in the Workshop area—the only area of the forum where you are allowed to post your work and ask for feedback—you will need to do at least two critiques for other people, in exchange for receiving feedback on one of your own pieces of work.

    This site is designed around the concept of members helping each other out by ‘paying it forward’—through our two-for-one critique system. So do two critiques, THEN you can post something of your own. This advance 2:1 ratio lasts as long as your membership here—although it is your own responsibility to keep track of your own ratio. The software doesn't keep track of it for you, beyond your first two critiques.

    In order to help you get started doing critiques, here is a link to a good article written by one of our former moderators: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/constructive-critiques.20627/

    One of the popular areas of our forum is our contest section. There is a monthly contest running for Short Stories, Flash Fiction and Poetry. You can enter these ongoing contests, even as a new member. And we really encourage you to visit the site, read the current entries, and vote for your favourite when the voting period starts. This means a lot to the people who have written these entries. And it will also give you a good idea of what our members are capable of writing.
    https://www.writingforums.org/writing-contests/

    While the Role Playing Game section is not new, it’s being given a revamp. So if you are interested in playing and writing Role Playing Games, you might want to visit this section and get in on the fun. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/resurrecting-the-dead-rpg-section-rebuild.165055/

    I hope you have fun getting to know us and let us get to know you, via the posts you make. Please feel free to explore the forum. There is a lot under the hood. This site map might help you find your way around more quickly than the menu bars do, so feel free to use it. https://www.writingforums.org/faq/

    If you encounter any difficulties, don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the other moderators, whose names appear in yellow at the bottom of the Community page. We will be glad to help.

    Again, welcome!

    Cheers for now,
    Jan
     

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