I decided to research the life of a writer as a college career. I enjoy English Literature which is why I chose this career. I have a very creative mind which makes writing so natural for me. The first time I started creatively writing stories was in the eighth grade. Once I realized how well I can write, I decided to make writing a lifetime goal and pursue my talent as a career.

According to Wikipedia.com, the art of writing began in 3200B.C. in Egypt with Egyptian scriptures. Back then, literature and writing was anonymous, before anyone wanted to take credit for their work. Back in 3200B.C., there were Egyptian hieroglyphs, Indus scriptures, and Elemis scriptures. Also, according to Wikipedia, Cretan and Greek scriptures were the first scriptures ever written. In the late 1500’s, the writings of William Shakespeare became well known, and following the poetry and plays came the first modern novel, Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, in 1605. Since 1605, many great books like Pride and Prejudice, The Red and Black, and Madame Bovary are still very popular for readers and have been remade into movies.

Writing can be fun, but also hard to stay employed in the field. Student Scholarships.org said that only 21.8% of writers are currently employed. So for me, looking to become a writer, and my chances of being successful are low. Most authors, like JK Rowling and Suzanne Collins have been very successful in writing great novels
that have launched into a great series. But there are some authors, like Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill A Mockingbird, wrote only the one book, and has never written another story. If writing a book is too complicated, there are other jobs that I could take. According to Careers.gov, jobs like a copy writer, journalist, librarian, newspaper or magazine editor, a press secretary, publishing editor, a reviewer or critic, a sub editor, or a technical communicator are all jobs that involve some sort of writing that could be another possible job for me if I can’t be a novelist full time.

The duties of a writer aren’t as typical as those of a doctor or a teacher. The general duties of a writer tend to be: choosing a subject, decide whether to write fiction or nonfiction, conduct research on the subject, advertise the book, present drafts to editors and work to get the book published. Once a person becomes a writer, his or her specific duties are just as similar. To have his or her subject, find an agent who will help publisize the book, find a publishing company to publish the book, draft the book, and edit it to sell. Overall, the process of a writer is very time consuming and takes a lot of patience. Along with the grueling work to write and publish a book is a very flexible schedule. Writers plan their own schedule so they can work part time, or on weekends, which helps them get work done.

To be a writer though, he or she has to have experience working for high school or college newspaper, radio stations and television stations. To be a professional writer as well, he or she would need a college degree like a Bachelor of Arts in English,
Journalism and Communication. If there is a specific field he or she wants to be their profession, experience and a degree is useful. A writer also needs to have the willingness to write and a way with play on words. I am planning to attend Western State College and earn a bachelor’s degree so I can have a proper career as a writer in any writing field I choose.

For my writing career, I have taken all four English classes all four years of high school as well as Creative Writing. I need scholarships to go to college, but this field requires no extra training beyond college. I have applied and received a scholarship from the Buddy Program.I have also submitted many local scholarships like the Aspen Realtors, CColorado500, Snowmass Rotary, Aspen Thrift, Erik Newbury, Taste of Basalt, Basalt Lions Club, Basalt Mid Valley Kiwanis, and Les ‘D Aspen. The school provides a packet of local scholarships to seniors and then the students pick the scholarships that apply to them. It’s a very grueling process filling most of the scholarships out because most of them require an essay of a certin prompt. The process is very time consuming but the counslors give the students a full month to complete the packet of scholarships. Some also require interviews, like the Aspen Realtors, when you have to dress nice and a group of the board members come and ask the student a number of questions about where they are going to college and how they will succeed in life going to that college.
If I cannot become a fiction writer, there are many other jobs that I could take on.
Jobs like: a copywriter, a journalist, a librarian, a newspaper editor, a press secretary,or a editor or reviewer. Copywriters are part of a creative team for advertising and works with the art directors. They help with the verbal and text content, telling a story and creating it to produce an emotional response. A journalist is a reporter and writer who collects research and reports the findings in a newspaper or digital media. A librarian is a person in charge of a library who helps people find books, magazines and online sources for research or pleasure. A librarian can also help with technical and computer assistance. A newspaper editor helps with all aspects of the news operation. Helping with the day to day duties like working with a group of editors edit the paper. Each editor gets a specific part of the paper like the sports section, breaking news, or cover stories. An editor edits articles, books, and papers so they can be published. A reviewer is like a critic who writes about the good and bad content of a book or movie. All these jobs could be other potentials and they all contain writing within the job. A press secretary gives advice on how to deal with the news media for celebrities. A press secretary also helps with the news management to manage the positive publicity and negative media.A reviewer is like a critic who writes about the good and bad content of a book or movie. All these jobs could be other potentials and they all contain writing within the job. There are many job options. Just get out and search!
Writers get money from the percentage of the type of book they sell. If a writer sells a paperback book,he or she gets 8% of the sales. If the book is a hardcover, the
author gets 12% of the sales. The ebook gives the author the most of the sales with 17-25%. But along with the money the author earns, there is more than just freedom with that money. An author has to pay their living expenses as well as their agent who gets 10% of the authors salary. Writers don’t always make a lot, but it’s enough to get them by.
There are both benefits and disadvantages to being a writer. The first benefit is having flexible hours means I can write whenever I want and I don’t have to follow anyone else’s schedule. I can also work anywhere, meaning I don’t just have to work in an office. I can take my work on vacation with me if I want to, being a writer can be a mobile job as well as working in an office. A writer can also create their own world. They don’t have to put up with a lot of people, except when they are getting their book edited or in the press. Writers really live in their own world and being able to create it can make the job even more enjoyable. But there are some downsides to being a writer as well. The first disadvantage is writers can write a perfect story in a blink of an eye. The time it takes to write such a great story is time consuming, and without patience to make the story perfect, being a writer could be hard. A lack of income can also make being a writer a hard career. A writer get their income from the percentage of their book salary, which sometimes isn’t a lot of money. It can be enough to get by, but if a writer isn’t producing books quickly and selling well, they could be in trouble financially. A rejection from having a book published can also be a big problem. Publishers can be picky and have certain criteria to publish a book. So finding the right publisher is a difficulty in the industry of writing. The last trouble for writers is the competition for publishing. There are writers who want their book published but it’s hard with the competition for the best publishers, which is also part of the writing world.
There is no extra schooling needed or no extra way to get into a higher position for a fiction or nonfiction writer. It takes practice for a writer to finally write a good piece. Most writers suggest that if someone wants to become a published author, they must start out small first. It takes three years minimum or seven to ten years maximum of studying at a university. The more a person reads, the better a person writes. If a person takes time every day to write, and can commit to being a writer, he or she will become one. It’s because that person, eats, sleeps, and dreams of becoming a writer. The more he or she practices, the more experience and better writer he or she will become.
Studying this career has really been a worthwhile experience. Even though it can be challenging at times, writing is a passion of mine and I plan to study English writing in my upcomming year as a freshman in college. There is no better fit for me than writing, which is why I am so passionate for the career. It has been a joy to study this career so in depth and I can’t wait to start learning more about it in college next fall.