Strong writing skill is a significant asset that many people ignore. Writing has been weaning during the 20th century after telephone connection became ubiquitous and communication has been increasingly spoken.
However, since the beginning of the digital revolution, writing as a primary means of communication is reliving its renaissance. We write on social media, even if it’s a short caption on Instagram, we write text messages to our family, we write publicly and privately. Unprecedentedly, we write more than we talk! Yet the quality of our texts is far from exemplary.
Therefore, if you think that you need good writing skills for your career to write reports, analytics, business proposals or you need to be as good as to make writing into a career as a journalist, essayist, and author, you need to hone your skills through practice. Below is a list of temporary jobs that will help you in polishing up your style.
Academic writer
An academic writer is a person that composes academic papers as an example for students who struggle with their written assignments. A student may need this help for a variety of reasons. Some of them aren’t familiar with requirements and formats for each particular type of paper, some may struggle with the peculiar style that academia is notorious for; for other English is their second language, so they are not as confident in writing as their peers. Helping them with academic writing is teaching by example. Think of it as remote tutoring.
If you excel academically and would like to share your skills but you don’t like the idea of face-to-face interactions or teaching in a class, this is a great option for you.
Freelance copywriter
Freelance writing gives you more space for creativity but you must be comfortable with constant changes in topics and formats. One day you write an ad copy for organic juice, the next – it’s a long-form article on gun control. However, these challenges make this job a good training ground for your writing skills. You will develop flexibility, resourcefulness, a nimble mind, and a variety of styles.
The initial requirements are good time-management and planning skills in order to keep up with various assignments and deadlines.
Blogger
This one gives you the most freedom, while doesn’t guarantee immediate income. However, if your primary goal isn’t supplementing your budget but developing writing skills and showcasing your texts, starting a blog is an excellent option. The main requirement for this is knowing your niche. This should be a sweet spot on the intersection of your passions and interests of the audience. However, there are bloggers whose success in overcrowded niches was due to their unique style, wit, and personality that shone through their texts, so it’s not always about supply and demand. Sometimes it’s about charisma.
Additionally, blogging will inevitably lead you to dabbling in some SEO and marketing basics, since you will want to cater to your audience and ensure that your blog is discoverable.
Editor
Producing content is 50% of research and fact-checking. If you won’t be bothered with that but you know your spelling and grammar – maybe you should try yourself as an editor. Good editors usually come from the numbers of avid readers that know a great piece of writing when they see one. However, editing is not that passive – sometimes you will have to rephrase and rewrite some passages for clarity and style and that is a good practice for future authors. Editing will teach you to cut everything unnecessary and make texts clear and concise.
With the background in editing, all you need to become a writer is an idea for your first book.
Translator
If you know at least one foreign language, translation can be a perfect way to hone your writing skills. The thing about translation is that you have all the facts and ideas but you need to retell them anew in another language – so it’s more about your eloquence and prowess as a writer than it is about understanding two languages. Many people speak several languages fluently but it doesn’t mean they all can be good translators. The ability to produce the new text that preserves the style and flavor of the source, on the other hand, does.
Many successful authors started off as literary translators, which allowed them to explore the toolkit of their native language until they had their own stories to tell.
