In-Demand Writing Careers for 2023

Long gone are days when a writing career was considered something unattainable and reckless. Today, a writer can have a decent steady income while enjoying the freedom of a remote or freelance job. Also, we now have tons of amazing writing careers—everyone can find a field that works best for them.

Grant Writer

Salary: $40,000-45,000

A grant writing career is a fantastic choice for someone interested in working at a non-profit or for different non-profits (depending on the type of employment you prefer). A grant writer has to write proposals to secure funding for their organization. If they’re a freelance professional, they might be hired for a specific project and then jump to the next non-profit. Some organizations also expect grant writers to search for funding sources, but that’s not always the case.

There are no overly specific requirements for building a successful grant writing career. Normally, a Bachelor’s degree in English or Communications is what employers expect to see on a good CV that belongs to a grant writing applicant. But one can secure a position even with a different degree if they have relevant work experience and skills. So, if you’d like your writing to serve a good purpose, consider submitting a job application to become a grant writer. It’s a very rewarding job!

Copywriter

Salary: $40,000-$70,000

Copywriting is a bit of an umbrella term—job requirements and the types of texts one is expected to write depending on the organization they’re working at. That’s one of the things that make a copywriting career so appealing. A skilled copywriter can jump employers and projects as much as they want. The topics and genres keep changing, so they never get bored. But read the job description carefully before applying to avoid surprises.

As you can see, the salary range is quite large for copywriters. That’s because their income depends on various factors, including the types of content they produce, how much they’re willing to write, whether they are in-house or a freelance worker, and so on. A degree in English, Communication, or Journalism is certainly a big plus for a copywriting career, but it’s unnecessary.

Technical Writer

Salary: $50,000-$80,000

A technical writing career is unlike any other writing career out there. If you appreciate writing for its creative potential and love to express yourself through words, forget about technical writing. A technical writer creates tech-related content, such as digital operating instructions and manuals for different devices. So if the extent of your technical skills is a blog post about “Must Have Gadgets in 2023,” your prospective boss or recruiter won’t be impressed.

As the name of the technical writing career suggests, a tech background is what most employers would love to see in candidates’ applications. If you’re a rare double major with both technical and English or Communication education, you’ll get more interviews than you know what to do with. None of those is mandatory, though. If you’re a great writer with enough work experience in tech or a tech professional with outstanding writing skills, you’ll likely still get hired for your dream technical writing job.

Translation Writer

Salary: $70,000-$90,000

A translation writing career is a perfect opportunity for skilled writers to utilize and monetize their knowledge of languages. As it requires a different skill (translation), it is also one of the higher-paid writing careers. The responsibilities of a translation writer include both writing and translation. However, the specific ways how the two are combined vary. For example, some professionals are expected to translate content from a different language and edit it merely; others both translate and produce original content.

Foreign language proficiency is the number one requirement for a successful translation writing career. By the way, if you have yet to choose the language to learn, research first. You’ll quickly learn that some languages (say, Chinese) are way better-paid and in demand than others (like French). So making an inquiry before entering the writing business is always a good idea.

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Article Writer

Salary: $35,000-$40,000

Unlike technical writing, an article writing career is a chance to put your creativity to good use. The best thing about it is that, no matter what you’re interested in, you can find a job that’ll allow you to write about it. Of course, freelance article writing is always an option if you’d like to cover different topics. But in most cases, article writers have no problem finding a full-time job,  especially if they have a well-written bot-beating resume that gives all of their accomplishments justice.

As to the requirements, there’s nothing unexpected here. A hiring manager tasked with finding a perfect article writer might prefer a candidate with a relevant Bachelor’s degree, but that’s not the first thing they look at. An impressive portfolio with various texts is much more important for a thriving article writing career. Use all the career resources you can to make sure that yours stands out.

Content Writer

Salary: $45,000-$55,000

A content writing career is similar to copywriting because it means different things to different employers. Some want a writer to create long-form content for their company’s blog. Others want a jack of all trades to write marketing case studies, emails, social media posts, and everything in between. Of course, every content writer gets to choose what they want to focus on. But it never hurts to expand the types of content you’re good at.

To make a decent living as a content writer, invest in your career and diversify your portfolio to beat other job seekers. As with most other writing careers, a perfect content writer has a relevant degree (for example, in Communications or Marketing) and impressive experience reflected in a portfolio. But the latter is a priority in hiring decisions, especially if you’ve successfully applied SEO and SMM strategies.

Business Plan Writer

Salary: $60,000-$70,000

A business plan writing career is different from most writing careers because, on top of writing, it requires skills and education that have nothing to do with writing. Business writers write proposals and plans for business ideas to secure investments (among other things). Unless a writer has a background in entrepreneurship and, ideally, finance, they can’t do this competently.

Ask any career advice expert—and they’ll confirm that the first thing you need to build a successful business plan writing career is to have enough experience with business plans. Sure, you can work together with entrepreneurs to put their ideas into a coherent plan. But few writers succeed at this unless they are or have been entrepreneurs. So a Business or Finance degree on your resume will surely catch the recruiter’s eye.

Ghostwriter

Salary: $50,000-$60,000

It’s hard to estimate the average salary of a ghostwriter because of how much it depends on what you ghostwrite. A ghostwriter is a professional who writes texts that are later published under another person’s name. What they write (and, therefore, how much they earn) is up to them. A ghostwriting career may be more than lucrative if you’re confident enough to ghostwrite books. Celebrity memoirs are particularly hot these days.

Starting a writing career in ghostwriting couldn’t be easier. For example, student papers are always in demand. But if you’d like to get into the upper league, you must be ready to enter the publishing world. Publishing houses are where all those celebrities get professional help when they want to monetize their stories yet don’t know how to write. So to become a super successful ghostwriter with a high salary, consider getting a degree in English or Publishing.

Social Media Manager

Salary: $50,000-$60,000

A Social Media Manager is the best choice for writers who prefer short form and aren’t intimidated by numbers. The thing is, SMM professionals have to not only create social media content (Instagram captions, scenarios for stories, and so on) but also analyze how well their content performs. No matter how good of a writer, you won’t stay employed as an SMM manager unless your texts increase engagement and help build customer loyalty.

A Marketing degree is typically expected from an SMM manager. But if you’ve only completed an online course, don’t worry. A well-written cover letter can do wonders. Also, social media writing is one of those industries where your skills and experience matter much more to recruiting firms than your education. Just make sure to have a decent portfolio. It’s what will land an interview for you.

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Travel Writer

Salary: $60,000-$80,000

Finally, few writers haven’t considered a travel writing career at least once. It’s the epitome of the digital nomad’s dream, at least in the eyes of people who have never tried creating travel content for a living. Of course, traveling as a travel writer has little in common with taking a vacation because of how much research and “putting yourself out there” it implies. But it’s still exciting.

One doesn’t need any specific education to become a travel writer. Having great writing skills and wanderlust is all it takes. But competence in photography and videography does help. Without them, a travel writer can’t be self-sufficient because they’ll always need to travel with someone capable of taking a pretty picture. So if you’re applying for a job as a travel writer, consider taking a photography course and putting it on your resume.

Key Takeaways

Overall, all writing careers may seem the same to an outsider, but that’s not the case. Depending on their skills, top interests, and preferences regarding income and lifestyle, writers have many options. And almost any writing job can be a freelance job if the writer doesn’t want to be tied to a single company. Technical or business plan writing is great for someone who’d like to write yet also utilize their degree. Content writing and copywriting work well for writers who appreciate variety. If you’re at the very beginning of your freelance writing career, choice overload is near-guaranteed.