Getting Started as a Professional Writer
I recently did a workshop for an amazing group of motivated and talented young people who are currently enrolled on the government’s Kickstarter Scheme and I had a few youngsters hang back at the end of the session to ask about the best route into becoming a professional writer.
As I explained to them, my own route into the job has been a pretty winding one, taking in a stint in an ad agency, some time on the ground as a secondary English teacher and then starting my own online business… and then another, another and another. But over the years I’ve been writing and working with and around language pretty consistently, in one guise or another and never tired of its possibilities. And so my advice to anyone who’s keen to start writing professionally is an extension of that - just keep writing.
It can be really intimidating in the beginning, when you first start putting your voice and your work out there into the public domain, your imposter syndrome is setting in and your sensitivity to criticism is running at an all time high. But once you brave the water, you find it’s not as cold as you think. Just as long as you keep on swimming. Keep on working at developing your technical expertise, reading a lot, writing even more and always looking for opportunities to write things for other people.
In the spirit of providing as much insight as I can, I thought I’d ask a couple of other professional writers I know about their experiences and advice too and here’s what Lucy Whyld, professional magazine editor, journalist and copywriter had to impart:
“There really is no magic formula to getting work in publishing / editing / journalism sadly! You have to really want it as it’s just so competitive - so making yourself stand out amongst the competition is key.
Get as much work experience as you can and don’t expect it to be paid. Look for local companies that offer work experience placements (newspapers, magazines, media websites, content editing companies, book publishers, radio stations) and get as much of it as you can. This will also help you to find out your area of interest - digital, print, broadcast etc. Work experience placements can be tricky to come by so be persistent and keep applying. Pick up the phone, send emails, write letters - even set up a website to house your own portfolio and CV and send out the link.
Show that you’re serious and committed. Join or launch a student or local newspaper/magazine/website in your area, volunteer for hospital radio (I did this for 2 years whilst at Sixth Form) or start your own blog or website on an area of interest to you.
Try contacting smaller media / marketing companies that may take on people ad hoc to help with content editing at busy times of year. Or any other companies in your local area who are producing written content - maybe for their website, leaflets or other publications they’re producing. Anything you can do that related to your chosen area of interest will help - while backpacking around the world I wrote features for a travel website - it showed prospective employers that I was serious about a career in journalism.
Get a relevant qualification (depending on your specialism this would ideally be from an industry accredited course like the NCTJ). You may have to take on another job to fund it, but it’s really important to get some professional training.
Be realistic and manage your expectations - but also persevere. It can be a tough industry to break into and your first role might not be your dream job (mine was as a journalist on a printing trade magazine), but getting that first bit of official professional experience is often the hardest bit, so do everything you can to set yourself up to succeed and stand out from the competition.”
One other thing that I would add to Lucy’s wise insights is that once you get that first little foothold, and you work hard to prove your worth, you’ll find that you’ll other opportunities soon come knocking.
When I was a student I badgered the team at IPC Media ( a large magazine publishing house) constantly, until they finally relented and let me come and tidy up the fashion cupboard at Cosmopolitan Magazine for the summer… it was real drudge work for the first 3 weeks, but I kept showing up, smiling and bearing coffee for the journalists, and then finally in my last three days I was asked to write a couple of paragraphs for the magazine. I still have that paragraph in a scrapbook somewhere.
I was asked back to assist with the Christmas shoots later that year, where I met a couple of lovely stylists who recruited me over to Ideal Home magazine, where I spent the next summer as an office assistant. Still pretty menial but once again, I was at the heart of the action, writing bits and bobs and soaking it all in.
I know it’s not always the most practical solution to work for free for any length of time - and things are certainly a little different now with the changes to the workplace that Covid has brought with it. But I would still stand by the fact that being bold, resilient, asking for as much experience as you can, and taking the initiative when it comes to finding ways to set yourself apart and prove your commitment to writing are the mainstays of life as a professional writer.
If you have any questions then please do just give me a shout - otherwise, best of luck with your written endeavours.
Emily
P.S. A few people asked me for the details of some blogs and websites concerning writing and these are some of my favourites…
Copywrite - you can ask you join the Copywriter’s Network to receive emails about copywriting jobs. You’ll need to have a portfolio at the ready!
Freelance Writing Jobs - you can subscribe for free to this newsletter to see the kinds of jobs that are on the circuit - and apply for one if it piques your interest.