Ultimate List of Writing Careers 📝

Looking for a writing-focused career, but not sure where to start? Here's a list of writing-heavy career choices to consider!

Over the past few weeks, I’ve chatted with many Substack subscribers and followers who are trying to figure out whether ghostwriting is for them. Some of these conversations have revealed to me that writers worry that ghostwriting is one of only a few writing-focused career options. Some are considering a career switch into ghostwriting even if that’s not actually what they want to do, simply because they love writing (and ghostwriting, unsurprisingly, is a writing-heavy career choice). Perhaps this is you: maybe you want a more structured work environment, a consistent paycheck, or to be a part of a bigger organization or cause than you’re able to participate in as a freelance ghostwriter. This post is dedicated to lovers of writing who aren’t sure which writing career is right for them or who’d like to see some writing-heavy career options besides ghostwriting.

📝 Here are some writing-heavy/writing-focused career options to consider:

• 📰 Journalist: One option is working for a magazine, newspaper, or online journal as a staff journalist! “Journalism” encompasses a ton of writing topics/genres, so you can certainly find a subject to write about that really interests you. There are journalists in news, politics, healthcare, beauty and wellness, nature/climate, arts/culture, travel… You name it!

• 🎥 News producer: As a news producer, you’ll likely have many different tasks within your job description. While your day-to-day will be mainly determined by the outlet you work for, general tasks assigned to news producers include preparing content for publication, deepening content, curating issues, and keeping things running smoothly/on time. If you enjoy schedule management, grouping written content together in meaningful ways, and working with people, this might be the right job for you.

• ✍ Magazine/newspaper staff writer or editor: A similar job to journalism is that of a “staff writer” for a particular publication. With this career, you’re able to focus in on a niche that you love. You may write articles for the publication that you work for, or, if you prefer editing, you may also serve as a staff editor. As an editor, you’ll edit articles/stories written by your coworkers or submitted by freelancers/outside writers. Your job will be to ensure articles/stories are error-free, developmentally sound, and ready for publication.

• 🖨️ Publishing company editor: Another option for editors is to become a publishing company staff editor! When manuscripts are accepted by the company you work for, they’ll typically be handed over to editors for proofreading and line/copy/developmental editing. If you love fascinating stories or books in a particular niche, this may be the perfect role for you. You’ll get to read - and be a part of preparing - soon-to-be-published works!

  
  

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• 💡 Curriculum designer: Every course you’ve taken, whether in elementary school, college, or online, was based on some kind of curriculum. If you enjoy structure and getting really deep in the study of a particular subject, designing curriculum might be the right path for you. Curriculum designers are needed in countless subjects, from foreign languages to history to mathematics, and everywhere in between!

• 📖 Textbook/workbook writer: A similar job to designing curriculum is textbook/workbook writing and development. You may be really good at taking information and making it digestible for students, or creating practice activities that help people learn and recall information. Consider becoming a textbook and/or workbook writer in a subject that you’re passionate about.

• 📑 Proposal/grant writer: While you can be a proposal/grant writer as a freelancer, which I’ve written more about here, you can also be a staff proposal/grant writer for a company that requires frequent proposal and grant development. This is an especially popular (and typically high-paying) writing career in the defense sector and the medical/healthcare sector. If you prefer technical writing and winning contracts or grants with your words, this is a great option for you.

• 🏥 Medical writer: There are countless ways to work as a medical writer (besides just proposal/grant writing). Medical writers work on newsletters/blogs for healthcare companies, draft instructions/labels for prescription drugs and medical technology (somebody had to write those frustratingly long warranty descriptions!), prepare informational bulletins/pamphlets to prepare families for a particular treatment, surgery, program, etc., create thought leadership articles for medical professionals… The list goes on!

• 👥 Public relations manager/specialist: If you’re a fan of marketing, chatting with others, and curating social media profiles, this may be the right role for you. PR managers/specialists write the copy in companies’ social media posts, create pamphlets/bulletins, prepare marketing materials, and develop strategic marketing growth plans.

• 👨‍💻 Researcher: Perhaps you love learning new information and taking detailed notes, or maybe you enjoy writing research papers, articles, and books. Most sectors need dedicated researchers, so you can choose a subject you love and specialize!

• 👩‍🏫 Writing teacher/tutor: If your favorite part of writing is teaching others how to write well, this may be the perfect path for you! You can pursue a writing teacher career either locally or abroad, or you could become a private tutor in English, creative writing, technical writing, and/or editing. This is a super versatile option, and can be done on a freelance basis or through an agency/educational institution.

• 📚 Novelist: Do you love writing books (like me!)? If it’s financially viable for you, you can commit to novel writing full-time. Many authors with a popular book series or success in book sales transition to full-time novel writing. While this may not be possible for you right now (or maybe it is!), I’d encourage you to keep novel writing in mind for down the road. Perhaps one of your books will be wildly successful and you can make enough to support yourself off of novel writing alone!

There are of course so many more writing careers to choose from, but this is the list I came up with when I prepared today’s post! Let me know if there are any writing jobs that you feel should be added to the list and I’ll certainly update it. The goal of today’s post is to help other writers find their home in the world of career writing. I hope you found today’s post inspiring as you consider a writing-focused career or a job switch within the writing field!

As always, thanks for reading today's post!