Key Takeaways
- Becoming a writer doesn’t require a degree – identifying your niche, like content writing or journalism, is the first step;
- Online learning platforms such as Udemy, edX, and Coursera offer affordable, high-quality courses that make starting your writing career accessible from anywhere;
- Writers aren’t limited to novels – careers range from technical writing and copywriting to journalism and screenwriting, each with unique skills and opportunities.
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Have you ever felt that when it comes to writing, your thoughts and ideas are pouring freely to make their way to the minds of your readers? Or even the most boring emails unintentionally become short poems? If the answers are yes, it’s not surprising that you are here, searching for answers on how to become a writer.
Writing is one of the skills that we are taught from an early age as a tool to communicate with others through written text. From single letters to complex sentences, we learn to tell our stories and thoughts to the world. Some people are eager to let it go as soon as possible. However, others are connected with it and want to become professionals.
So, today we will look at the profession of a writer and different writings you can do. Moreover, we will explore the best options for becoming a writer, with the help of online learning platforms Udemy, edX, and Coursera.
I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, let’s just start from the beginning!
Table of Contents
- 1. What Does Becoming a Writer Entail?
- 2. How to Become a Writer: Types of Writer Occupations
- 2.1. Content Writer
- 2.2. Copywriter
- 2.3. Technical Writer
- 2.4. Journalist
- 2.5. Scriptwriter
- 3. Being a Writer Without a Professional Degree: Mission Possible!
- 4. Specific Courses for Knowledge in Different Fields of Writing
- 4.1. The Content Writing Course (Enroll HERE)
- 4.2. The Ultimate Copywriting Course - Write Copy that Sells 2023 (Enroll HERE)
- 4.3. The New Trainer’s Guide to Creating End User Documentation (Enroll HERE)
- 4.4. Become a Journalist: Report the News! Specialization (Enroll HERE)
- 4.5. Build your Screenplay (Enroll HERE)
- 5. Conclusions
What Does Becoming a Writer Entail?
How would you describe the occupation of a writer?
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Stereotypically, writers are seen as people who never lift their heads from computers. The authors, who work overnight to create a masterpiece in the format of a book, gain exceptional popularity and produce countless novels. While it is partially true, and there are some examples of it, there is way more to writers than binge-writing.
Writers are people who produce written text for various media needs. Having that in mind, even considering the corporate environment, you would be able to find at least one writer in a team. In particular, writers work with advertisements, public relations, news, cinema, and so on.
Usually, writers are self-employed or freelance. Essentially, it means that they create partnerships with various brands or companies to whom they sell their work. Mostly these partnerships are short-term, created to fulfill the most relevant needs of a client.
For writers, this work method allows them to choose their own collaborations and contribute to various projects that they truly believe in. However, although these are most common instances, more and more companies are choosing to have their own in-house writers as an alternative.
How to Become a Writer: Types of Writer Occupations
If someone says they are a writer, in a matter of seconds, you would ask ‘what do you write?’ or ‘what kind of a writer?’. Thus, you can see that the occupation of a writer cannot be separated from the content which is being created.
People who wonder how to become a writer usually choose one path or field of expertise. This not only narrows the concept of the writer but also gives direction to what tasks will be performed on an everyday basis.
So, how to become a writer for beginners? I suggest that you first identify your field of expertise. To help you out, in further sub-chapters, I will discuss the most popular writing occupations. I do hope that this will help you to choose the field of writing that you will be most thrilled to do.
Ready? Let’s get right into it!
Content Writer
Content writers are people who usually work in advertising agencies or marketing departments to write and publish various types of content for digital or print media. The written content usually combines writing articles, video scripts, blog posts, and product or category descriptions to meet the needs of the company.
The main goal of a content writer is to write engaging and informative content, which would provide educational information about existing products or services. Essentially, making the audience interested in your products.
Content writers on average earn around $64,500 a year. It is definitely possible to earn more, however.
Therefore, if you like writing different types of written content, consider becoming a writer in an advertising agency!
Copywriter
Copywriters are often mixed with previously mentioned content writers. Although their specifications are similar, copywriter focuses on attracting the audience with compelling promotional texts that will be used for slogans, email marketing, social media posts, or advertisements.
The main goal of a copywriter is to encourage the audience to take action. Usually, those actions are purchasing, donating, participating in an event, or simply clicking a link. Therefore, the writing must be inviting, engaging, and pleasant to read.
How much does a copywriter make? Copywriter on average makes around $53,400 per year. Is it worth it? You tell me.
Technical Writer
Have you ever thought about who is behind those long manuals or various guides that you find inside the box with different gadgets?
The answer is simple: behind each manual that you have at your house, there is a technical writer. On everyday occasions, technical writers research topics needed for their publications, write and edit their texts.
The most important goal of a technical writer is to present complex topics or ideas in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. Manuals and their writers become a helping hand for users to quickly find information needed to install and set up the products.
As with every writer's career, people can work in actual companies, as well as freelance to be technical writers. Technical writers on average $58,000 per year.
Do you want to help people to assemble or set up different items with your written text? Do you believe that you can present ideas simply and straightforwardly? If you answered yes, then you should definitely consider becoming a technical writer!
Journalist
When people think about writers and what they do, most of the time, there are a few stereotypical views. The most common view was mentioned at the beginning of this article: a novelist. The second one is a journalist who is determined to do anything to write an interesting story and publish it.
Journalists write interesting and informative articles about various topics, which are relevant to the general public. The most important task of journalists is to present factual information in interesting stories, being completely objective and without the interference of their own opinions.
The journalist career requires a few particular traits. Journalists should be ready to travel a lot, as the relevant stories could be in any part of the country. Moreover, journalists must be clever and collect the most valuable information from the front lines. You would need to conduct interviews, assemble the most relevant information, and create a valuable message.
Is it worth it? Journalists annually earn around $60,000. Compared to previously discussed fields of writing, this one is the most profitable.
Therefore, if you want to write relevant stories and be always on the go, the career path of a journalist may be for you!
Scriptwriter
As you probably have noticed by now, we are discussing different types of writers, whose work has a general impact on the public. Therefore, this list would not be complete without people behind movies, TV series, or shows, whose stories become a part of our daily leisure activities.
Screenwriters typically create original or book-based scripts for movies, TV series, TV shows, videos, or advertisements. Usually, screenwriters work as freelancers who adapt existing texts to the screen and sell them to producers or moviemakers.
It is hard to describe the annual salary of a scriptwriter. It all greatly depends on the success of your writing and how much potential a movie director or filmmaker can see in your story. However, a scriptwriter can make around $66,000 per year.
Looking for more in-depth information on related topics? We have gathered similar articles for you to spare your time. Take a look!
Being a Writer Without a Professional Degree: Mission Possible!
Now that you are aware of what writers do and the particular fields of their work, it is time to look at how to become a writer. You obviously want to know the easiest and most effective way to gain this skill. Therefore, I’m not going to bore you and will get straight to the point.
If you are wondering how to become a writer without a degree, you are in the right place. One of the best, if not the best, option is to join educational courses online. There are hundreds of different platforms, which offer a selection of courses on a variety of topics. Therefore, you would definitely find something that meets your needs.
Why should you consider becoming a writer through educational courses in the first place?
Firstly, it's cheaper. Usually, the full set of courses in university or college can cost you a few thousand dollars. Whereas online educational courses can be either completely free or, in the worst-case scenario, cost around $200 for lifelong access. Let me emphasize that on average, you can find courses for the cost of your lunch!
Another great feature of online education is the quality of the materials. The learning materials are relatively better, compared to traditional education. You can find educational courses, which have been compiled in the same year or even the same month you enroll in them. Therefore, the information is fresh, relevant, and ready to be used.
Why sit on a stiff chair in the classroom or travel miles to attend a single class? With online courses, you can learn in any part of the world, at any time you would like. Got an unexpected desire to learn at 3 AM? Not a problem, turn on your smart device and attend a course!
You can also learn how to become a writer by watching YouTube tutorials or reading books. Although both of these options are available, they are not cost-effective.
YouTube tutorials and books are very much a one-way road experience. You receive information, but cannot get feedback or ask questions. If you want more interactive learning, online educational courses are definitely the way to go!
Specific Courses for Knowledge in Different Fields of Writing
We have successfully identified that online courses are the most effective tool used to gain skills on how to become a writer for beginners. Therefore, I have selected a handful of courses, which will help you to launch a writing career in different fields, from content writing to screenplay scriptwriter.
Currently, some of the platforms are having various discounts for you to apply and join their courses. If you want to save quite a few dollars, definitely check them out.
Without further ado, let's look at the selection of courses, which will help you to start your journey on how to become a writer.
The Content Writing Course (Enroll HERE)
- Platform: Udemy
- Duration: 13 hours
- Price: €79,99 (pre-discount)
- Certificate: Yes
- Level: All levels
- Where to enroll? HERE
- Discount? Available
‘The Content Writing Course’ on Udemy will help you to write interesting, compelling content with no effort. Moreover, it will help you answer the question of how to become a writer in this field.
The content of the course is extremely broad and covers everything from the identification of the topics to tracking published content. Therefore, it is not a surprise that the course contains almost 5 hours of on-demand video.
Let’s look into the course material in great detail, shall we?
The course is divided into 18 sections, which cover every single step of writing a content piece. The content writing course starts with general information about content writing and then moves to tips on how to choose appropriate keywords.
The author of the course takes great consideration towards the outline of the content piece. They use some sections of the course to discuss different aspects you should consider when creating an outline of your content. The author discusses the nuances of editing, fact-checking, and plagiarism checks.
Then, the attention of the course switches to SEO. It provides information about publishing, structuring, formatting, tracking, indexing, and enhancing the content with the help of SEO.
So, how do you get into this in-depth course of content writing? Firstly, you need to join Udemy. Afterward, you need to enter the main page of the course and press [Buy Now]. Usually, the course is $79,99. However, Udemy often provides many discounts that can lower the price of the course.
Join the course now and become the best content writer on the market!
The Ultimate Copywriting Course - Write Copy that Sells 2023 (Enroll HERE)
- Platform: Udemy
- Duration: 6 hours
- Price: €79,99 (pre-discount)
- Certificate: Yes
- Level: All levels
- Where to enroll? HERE
- Discount? Available
Do you want to become a copywriter whose copy will influence the success of your company? If the answer is yes, I have great news for you. This course is exactly what you have been looking for in finding out how to become a writer in the marketing field!
One of the best courses about copywriting can be found on Udemy, ‘The Ultimate Copywriting Course - Write Copy That Sells 2025’. The course is great for beginners as it doesn’t require any previous knowledge of copywriting. Moreover, this in-depth course is not time-consuming, as it can be completed in only 6 hours.
But what exactly would you learn by attending this course? The course covers copywriting from beginning to end. You will look at different styles of writing for web copy, emails, and social media.
Here are a few key elements that you will learn in this course:
- Writing effective and dynamic sales copy;
- Writing social media posts that generate engagement;
- Writing irresistible headlines;
- Powerful copywriting techniques;
- Writing platform-specific copy.
Moreover, you will get access to free headline generator websites, as well as 14 downloadable resources and 13 articles. With the help of these materials, you will be able to create compelling and interesting copy that would make the reader desire your product or service.
This highly-rated course has already been a beneficial contribution to the careers of nearly 10,000 people. Want to become one of them? Join the course on Udemy for €79,99. If you are not keen on paying this amount of money, you can always grab a coupon code and save!
The New Trainer’s Guide to Creating End User Documentation (Enroll HERE)
- Platform: Udemy
- Duration: 3 hours
- Price: €54,99 (pre-discount)
- Certificate: Yes
- Level: Beginner
- Where to enroll? HERE
- Discount? Available
Have you noticed that sometimes even the most obvious instructions are written in extremely difficult and hardly understandable language? Fancy changing that? If the answer is yes, you are in good hands!
‘The New Trainer’s Guide to Creating End-User Documentation’ course is designed to provide knowledge about techniques and skills needed to write manuals. What is great about this course, is that it does not require any prior knowledge or experience.
The course is divided into 7 sections, containing 43 lectures. Don’t worry, it sounds overwhelming, but I promise it is not that crazy. The average lecture lasts for 4 minutes, so you'll finish it in no time!
The course will teach you how to write clear, concise, and simple documentation. It will give you guidelines for making texts that would tell users exactly what to do. If you are not a fan of theory, don’t worry. The course is full of real-life examples of instructional writing, which together with practical tasks will help to improve your skills.
Don’t rush to take hundreds of notes. The course provides you with the most relevant information in downloadable format. You will receive a style guide, covering software conventions and terminology. Another style guide is about documentation structure, instructional techniques, syntax, and key grammar techniques.
If you wish to learn more about creating technical documentation, you can enter this course for €54,99. You will receive full lifetime access to the course, certification of completion, and 23 downloadable resources.
Don’t feel like paying that much? That’s not a problem. Udemy likes to give its users frequent discounts. With the help of these discounts, you can save up to 93% of the course price. Sounds good, right?
Become a Journalist: Report the News! Specialization (Enroll HERE)
- Platform: Coursera
- Duration: 6 months (4 hours per week)
- Price: Free (to enroll)
- Certificate: Yes
- Level: Beginner
- Where to enroll? HERE
- Discount? Available
Being a journalist is one of the most exciting but also challenging careers out there. It requires great attention to detail and the ability to remain unbiased when covering the news. How to reach that? With the help of this course, you will cover exactly that and will receive tips on how to be a writer for various news portals.
Before covering the main topics of this program, it is worth mentioning that ‘Become a Journalist: Report the News!' is a Specialization course. These Specialization programs are designed to provide you with a full overview of knowledge towards a particular skill. From the overview of the field/career to practical implications.
The program is divided into 5 courses:
- What is news?;
- Gathering and Developing the News;
- Effectively delivering news to your audience;
- Journalism, the future, and you!;
- Capstone: create your own professional journalistic portfolio.
One of the greatest things about this program is that you can start it from any course you like. You don’t need to keep the order in which the courses are aligned. If you wish to start covering the journalist career from tips on how to effectively deliver the news, go for it!
Now that we have established that the program has 5 courses, let’s see what you will learn in them.
While completing all of the courses, you will get familiar with the best practices of news gathering, together with the importance of ethical standards. You will receive tips and tricks on how to process and compile news reports. The lecturers will inform you about work opportunities and guide you through the creation of your journalist portfolio.
Sounds good? Let’s look at the pricing.
New users can enroll in any course for free through a 7-day free trial. However, this trial is eligible only once. On the other hand, if you already have a Coursera account and have used your free trial for another course, you will have to pay a monthly subscription payment of $49 a month.
Don’t worry, if you can’t afford to pay as much for the subscription, you can always apply for financial aid. If you don’t want to do that either, but want to save some money, here's a great solution - check Coursera discount coupons and find the best deal for yourself!
Join the Coursera journalism program and, through a selection of courses, become a successful news reporter!
- Easy to use with a learn-by-doing approach
- Offers quality content
- Gamified in-browser coding experience
- Free certificates of completion
- Focused on data science skills
- Flexible learning timetable
- High-quality courses
- Nanodegree programs
- Student Career services
- Nanodegree programs
- Suitable for enterprises
- Paid certificates of completion
- A wide range of learning programs
- University-level courses
- Easy to navigate
- University-level courses
- Suitable for enterprises
- Verified certificates of completion
Build your Screenplay (Enroll HERE)
- Platform: edX
- Duration: 4 weeks (8-10 hours per week)
- Price: Free (to enroll)
- Certificate: Yes (after paying for verified track)
- Level: Intermediate
- Where to enroll? HERE
- Discount? Available
Want to learn how to write heartwarming stories that would become visual masterpieces? Or maybe you want to frighten someone and create a visual intensity that would keep them up at night. Either way, I have great news: this course will help you find out how to become a writer for screenplays!
edX is one of the greatest platforms to improve your knowledge in a variety of fields. Not only does it offer a great selection of courses on how to be a writer, but it discloses modules designed by the world’s best universities. In this particular case, a screenwriting course was created by the one and only, Cambridge University.
So, what will you learn in this course?
The screenwriting course will help you to gain skills in writing compelling screenplays with or without dialogue. Moreover, you will get familiar with how to write effective outlines or how the preparation of the script can be influenced depending on the genre of the film. Plain theory is not your cup of tea? Don’t worry, you will definitely have some practical tasks too.
During the course, you will compare different screenplays, search for your own method of writing and perform a critical analysis of socially relevant movies and TV series. Want a hands-on experience? You will get exactly that!
Throughout the course, you will complete several exercises, which essentially will become a number of scenes. If you wish, these scenes can later be used to create a thorough plan for your upcoming screenplay.
You will look thoroughly into the structure of screenplays, nuances of script writing and editing. Moreover, you will get knowledge about time management, creativity, risks, and many more things concerning your success in screenplay writing.
Now that I have discussed all of the knowledge you will receive after completing this course, the question of how much it costs inevitably arises. The price of the course largely depends on you and your desire to learn. What does that mean? Let me explain.
You can choose two options to enroll in the 'Build your Screenplay' course. Depending on your choice, the price will change accordingly.
The first option is to enroll in the course for free. edX calls it the audit track. By choosing this path to join the platform, you will have limited access to the course material. In some cases, it means that you will not have access to graded assignments, exams, or certain course material. If you are okay with that, then you can choose this option!
However, if you wish to retrieve all of the tasks and tests, you should choose a paid version, called a verified track. The paid version is $299, which includes unlimited access to the course, completion certificate, as well as, graded assignments, and exams.
In only four weeks, you can acquire the knowledge needed for you to start your career as a screenplay writer!
Did you know?
Have you ever wondered which online learning platforms are the best for your career?
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Conclusions
Throughout this article, we discussed different approaches to writing and, of course, how to become a writer for beginners. It is clear that to start your journey in writing, you need to choose your field of interest. Do you want to write copy, news, scripts, or manuals? It all depends on you and your interests.
Want to know how to become a writer without a degree? With the help of online learning platforms and their courses, you can learn writing skills from any part of the world, save money, and have high-quality, newest learning materials. Sounds good?
For the best online courses on how to become a writer, check Udemy, edX, and Coursera!
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