If you recently completed, or are about to complete, a bachelor’s or master’s degree in creative writing, you may be wondering what your job prospects might look like. Although a creative writing degree may not come with a built-in career path in the same way that an accounting or an engineering degree might, there are still plenty of potentially fascinating, fulfilling, and even lucrative careers you could pursue while using your specialized education. Whether you’re interested in becoming a professional writer on staff, going it alone as a freelancer, or applying your skills in creative ways to professions such as marketing or journalism, there are numerous options you may not have thought of. Before you start browsing through job posting websites or submitting applications, make sure you take these top practical career options into serious consideration.
1. Freelance Writing or Staff Writing
For many creative writing majors, becoming a full-time, professional writer is likely a top choice. If you want to go this route, you have two major options to choose from: joining a company as a staff writer or going solo. Consider whether you’d like to:
- Go freelance and offer your article writing services to a variety of clients
- Become an independent contract writer with one or two main writing clients
- Join the staff at a content company, such as an online magazine, a newsletter, or a local paper and other similar publications
2. Marketing and Advertising Copywriting
If you have a creative streak but you’d like to expand your skill set, consider applying to jobs with marketing and advertising departments. The marketing world is often in need of strong copywriters, and your educational background could provide the ideal foundation for this line of work. As a copywriter, you would:
- Create posts and content for social media advertising campaigns
- Draft email marketing pieces for company listservs
- Write short and long copy for print and digital marketing campaigns
3. Journalism and Newsroom Work
If you’re interested in investigative work that still involves a lot of writing on a daily basis, you may be interested in becoming a journalist. In this profession, you could:
Advancing Your Education: From College Degrees To Exciting Hobbies- Work as a news correspondent and write up breaking news blurbs for small or major outlets
- Work behind the scenes in the newsroom putting together news monologues and finalizing teleprompter texts
- Work as a staff journalist for a news site and write short- and long-form news articles and/or opinion pieces
4. Proofreading and Editing
If your favorite part of your degree was learning about grammar, you might be interested in pursuing a career in editing and proofreading. In this line or work, you would:
- Proofread others’ writing for grammatical errors, typos, and major stylistic issues
- Provide helpful, constructive feedback to help the writers improve their work
- Offer developmental, big-picture input to help writers develop their vision, clarify their ideas, and express their thoughts
- Put the finishing touch on written products to ensure they’re polished prior to publication
5. Ghostwriter or Screenwriter
Finally, you may want to look into becoming a ghostwriter or a screenwriter. These options could allow you to:
- Ghostwrite short articles and longer pieces, including books, for a range of clients, potentially including celebrities
- Work as a screenwriter on television shows and major movie scripts
- Write scripts and blurbs for local television channels and other small broadcasts, such as audio podcasts or YouTube shows
As a creative writing major, you may have developed strong writing skills but not yet considered your potential job options after graduation. Fortunately, there are several lines of work that can allow you to make use of your unique creative skills and strengths. Whether you’re interested in freelance or staff writing, proofreading and editing, screenwriting, ghostwriting, marketing and advertising, or journalism, learning more about the most practical and potentially lucrative career paths available to you can help you make an informed and fulfilling choice.
