Essay writing is a mixed bag. Some people love writing essays, whereas others despise writing them. For those who adore the written word, especially in an academic setting, finding work as an essay writer can be rewarding. There are different ways you can work as an essay writer: writing for a custom-writing company, writing essays for publications, and writing as a demonstration.
We will explore each of these facets, and also discuss what it takes to become an essay writer.
Essay writer for a custom-writing company
There are thousands of companies on the Internet you can work for that involve this type of service. You have to wary of certain companies, though. Many are out there to scam writers and naive Internet users. For instance, they might try to gather your personal information, incur fees, or simply pay you much lower than you are afforded. So, there are certain criteria you must weigh when choosing such services for essay writing jobs:
- Do they have good ratings on review sites?
- Are the sites on any scam listings?
- Do they mention the payment you will get for your work?
- Does their website have grammatical and/or technical errors?
Besides these, you can also use your intuition to see if something feels sketchy or not. And in the same vein, you must realize that often custom writing for people is referred to as cheating if it is for students. Custom writing is common in the adult world, but in the student world, custom writing used instead of a student’s writing is usually considered unethical. However, there are many explanations why using custom-writing services are warranted:
- Someone is a foreign student, and paid tons of money for his or her education, and he or she is failing
- A single parent is working, taking care of children, and getting an education
- The person is rich and is only getting an education as a token rather than a necessity
- …and several more reasons
It is up to you to decide if essay writing jobs of this nature aligns with your ethics or not.
Writing essays for publications
This is the most respected option for essay writers. If you can get your essays in top-tier publications like Time or National Geographic, you can say that you made it as a famous essay writer. However, not every essay writer can get their work in such publications. More often than not, essay writing jobs that involve writing for publications are staff positions for a newspaper, journal, or magazine. Even if you become a staff essay writer for a mid-range publication, you can earn a decent living. The position’s workload could range from writing one essay per week, or an essay per day. This position is also called a columnist.
But as a columnist, you will most likely write not only essays, but articles, and other smaller documents. Therefore, you should be versed in multiple forms of writing in order to be employed by these agencies. You should also study journalism and regularly be up to date on news.
If you are not a staff writer for a publication, you can still earn a living by sending your essays to various journals, magazines, newspapers, and books. However, the competition is stiff, and commonly well-known professors and other scholarly individuals make the cut rather than career essayists. Thus, you should have some work on the side with other essay writing jobs, or work related to writing.
Writing as a demonstration
This is also a respected profession in terms of essay writing jobs. There are many avenues where essay samples would be needed. For instance, essay samples are needed in textbooks, on educational websites, or ordered by students in order to have an example of their future essay on a particular topic.
In textbooks, there are often many samples of essays in order for students to learn how to write them. In light of this, you can become a textbook writer, or textbook contributor. Also, there are many chances for writers to get published on academic websites which showcase how to write essays properly. An example of such a website is AcademicHelp. It can be rewarding to help students understand how to write essays. This type of writing usually is accompanied by guides on how to write essays. So, you should not only be competent in writing essays, but also in explaining how to write them step by step. Another way that essay demonstrations can be employed is that if students order such samples from custom-writing sites. They act as templates for future essays on the same or similar topics. Sometimes the best way to learn something is to use a template or to copy a format/style that has been used before.
What it takes to become an essay writer?
1. Get an education
Essay writing is commonly seen as an academic activity, so getting a degree is necessary to land essay writing jobs. Clients and companies would not consider an uneducated person a suitable candidate for this position. So, getting a degree in writing or a related field is essential. It does not have to be a degree from a high-end university. Obtaining a degree from a reasonably-respected institution is enough to satisfy employers. Your grades do not matter much on your resume, unless you were a star student. But most of the time, employers are not interested in your grades, and frankly, they do not have the time to check your educational marks.
2. Have prior experience
Experience in essay writing jobs is often more substantial than your education. A degree is more of a certificate that shows you are smart enough to handle work, whereas experience demonstrates you can do the work properly. Even if all you have on your resume are internships, it will be a fine example of what you are capable of. Ideally, though, clients prefer writers who have had several years doing professional writing. Sometimes employers will require a certain amount of years of professional writing. Usually, these numbers are between 5-10 years for high positions, and lower positions require 1-3 years. There are some entry-level essay writing jobs that can be found. But still in these instances, you should at least have one internship or volunteer position on your resume related to writing.
3. A portfolio
Every writer needs a professional portfolio which shows the work he or she is able to do. The portfolio should be compiled with many positions in mind. In light of this, the portfolio should be vast in its range and should be edited well. It is a good idea to hand over your portfolio to different writers for them to supply feedback. A writer cannot always catch all the errors he or she may commit. Therefore, feedback is essential to have content properly edited and ready for professional viewing.
4. Daily practice
A writer cannot be successful without daily practice. And essay writing jobs require a strong set of skills in writing that need to be nurtured by practice. Essay writing is a highly demanding genre, and therefore, if you do not practice it often, your skills will diminish quickly. Even on the weekends, you can write at least one page of something. Even if you don’t write essays every day, it is important to write something. It is also a good idea to study more vocabulary and technical information to write essays with more ease.
5. Understand what teachers want (for custom writing)
Most of essay writing is figuring out what teachers want and implementing that when dealing with custom writing. This is because essay writing for students requires knowing what criteria is important and how to deal with that criteria. It helps to study teaching in order to comprehend what teachers view as a fine essay.
6. Understand what employers/clients want
When you are writing for a client or employer, you are doing your best to meet their expectations. There is no room for flashy, overly-creative, or rebellious writing. In essay writing jobs, you rarely write simply for your own pleasure. That is not to say that essay writing cannot be pleasurable when done for money, however one should keep his or her head straight when working for a client or an employer. You should keep a tab open of the instructions you need to adhere to. It is good to refer to the instructions throughout the writing process in order to ensure you are completing the work properly.
7. Determination
In general, essay writing jobs requires determination. Why? Not only is it difficult to find these types of jobs, but also when you get one, you have to delve through technical information, you sometimes have to write on topics that are not interesting to you, and you have to write on a constant basis (and some days you don’t feel like writing). Day in, day out, the pressure and stress of essay writing can take its toll. However, with the right amount of willpower and perseverance, you can make it as an essay writer in various types of positions.
