The act of writing, to most, is merely a means of communication, but to a rare few, it's a privilege to express one's self. The profession of being a writer is meant for deep thinkers, careful thought masters crafting their powers through the vessel of each word, bringing gentle awakening into our dormant lives.
There have been so many writers that have inspired the world. Even Barack Obama was a writer before he was a speaker. It is not just what he says, but the way he arranges the words he speaks that injects meaning and voice to the audience. We have Ernest Hemingway, a legendary novelist, and a journalist. In his wise words "The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places." Last but not least, we have JK Rowling in the character of Albus Dumbledore, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on the light."
A modern writer can help people write great copy, curate web content, report journalistic accounts, write scripts for movies, or even write stories for an organization's brand. These days, employers require a combination of skills from prospective writers, such as proficiency with editing software as well as knowledge in a particular industry. It is always good to consider doing something pro-bono at the start to show practical experience. The salary of a writer is, on average, $26 per hour.
Writer Overview
Writer Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a writer. For example, did you know that they make an average of $27.6 an hour? That's $57,413 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 0% and produce -100 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Writer Do
There are certain skills that many writers have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed social perceptiveness, creativity and writing skills.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a writer, we found that a lot of resumes listed 15.9% of writers included communication, while 14.2% of resumes included customer service, and 11.4% of resumes included topics. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the writer job title. But what industry to start with? Most writers actually find jobs in the media and education industries.
How To Become a Writer
If you're interested in becoming a writer, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 63.7% of writers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 17.1% of writers have master's degrees. Even though most writers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a writer. When we researched the most common majors for a writer, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on writer resumes include associate degree degrees or high school diploma degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a writer. In fact, many writer jobs require experience in a role such as internship. Meanwhile, many writers also have previous career experience in roles such as editor or writer and editor.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the right jobs to get there.
Writer Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of editor you might progress to a role such as consultant eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title marketing communications manager.
What is the right job for my career path?
Tell us your goals and we'll match you with the rights job to get there.
Average Salary for a Writer
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Whole Foods Market Bakery Order Writer Bakery Order Writer | Whole Foods Market Whole Foods Market | 03/29/2021 03/29/2021 | $32,34903/29/2021 $32,349 |
Randstad UX Writer UX Writer | Randstad Randstad | 03/26/2021 03/26/2021 | $135,65503/26/2021 $135,655 |
Randstad Digital Writer Digital Writer | Randstad Randstad | 03/26/2021 03/26/2021 | $87,65403/26/2021 $87,654 |
Aventure Staffing Order Writer Order Writer | Aventure Staffing Aventure Staffing | 03/25/2021 03/25/2021 | $29,21803/25/2021 $29,218 |
Randstad Report Writer Report Writer | Randstad Randstad | 03/17/2021 03/17/2021 | $60,00003/17/2021 $60,000 |
Calculate your salary
Use Zippia's Salary Calculator to see how your pay matches up.
Writer Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Writer. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Writer Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Writer resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Writers
1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA • Private
2. Harvard University
Cambridge, MA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Columbia University in the City of New York
New York, NY • Private
5. New York University
New York, NY • Private
6. Washington University in St Louis
Saint Louis, MO • Private
7. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
8. University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX • Public
9. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Public
10. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
Top Skills For a Writer
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 15.9% of writers listed communication on their resume, but soft skills such as social perceptiveness and creativity are important as well.
- Communication, 15.9%
- Customer Service, 14.2%
- Topics, 11.4%
- Web Content, 7.0%
- Online Publication, 6.1%
- Other Skills, 45.4% See All Writer Skills
Best States For a Writer
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a writer. The best states for people in this position are Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, and Washington. Writers make the most in Connecticut with an average salary of $79,387. Whereas in Rhode Island and New Hampshire, they would average $65,551 and $64,713, respectively. While writers would only make an average of $64,668 in Washington, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. Connecticut
$79,387
Avg. Salary
2. Rhode Island
$65,551
Avg. Salary
3. Washington
$64,668
Avg. Salary
How Do Writer Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
What do you like the most about working as Writer?
I learned to read and write at an early age and have avidly pursued it since. Beside school publications and assignments, I've sought out numerous outlets for my love of writing, from features and sports writer for my local weekly news paper, to AP stringer for election coverage, to a Pohlad family internship at one of southeastern Minnesota's most respected dailies. Show More5.0
5.0
Great writer you will love my writing! • April 2019What do you like the most about working as Writer?
Set your own schedule work from home. Determine your own salary. Dictate your hours. Choose the jobs you want. Show MoreTop Writer Employers
We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ writers and discovered their number of writer opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that CNN was the best, especially with an average salary of $60,894. Robert Half International follows up with an average salary of $64,053, and then comes Microsoft with an average of $93,125. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a writer. The employers include Activision Blizzard, CBS, and NerdWallet
Writer Videos
