There has been a huge upheaval of the working world since Covid-19 became a thing. With a year to two years off to contemplate what we value in life, many have taken a holistic look at what matters most to them and realized that their former career didn't serve their lifestyle as a whole. Either people were commuting too far to enjoy life at home or working too many hours. Maybe the work they were doing didn't align with their values anymore. Maybe the pay they received wasn't enough to provide for the life they realized they were missing out on.
I needed to redefine what it means to be a writer and work toward making smaller steps toward that reality.
I did this same soul-searching during the pandemic lockdowns. As a younger artist, I wanted to hold out for a career that was directly in line with my writing goals. I was prepared to live the life of a "starving artist" rather than compromise my career trajectory. In my year of reflection, though, I realized that I may need to adjust my goals if I want to have other things in my life. I got married during the pandemic. I got a puppy. I got a bigger apartment so that the possibility of working from home for both my wife and I would be a little more (bearable) comfortable. Now I needed to figure out how I was going to earn enough to pay for these new changes to my lifestyle. I needed to redefine what it means to be a writer and work toward making smaller steps toward that reality.
While screenwriting is my passion, I started to look for other ways that I could make money as a writer. It turns out if you know how to hustle there are many ways to be a professional writer that don't require going back to school for another 4 years. The most obvious gigs available are copywriting, ghostwriting, script reading for competitions. Script reading is known for its low pay and long hours, and while it does give the writer a great sense of what others are writing and the various levels of writing skill out there, it works more as a side gig than a career. Ghostwriting depends on finding clients who are willing to pay good money to tell their story. It also involves spending a lot of time with someone who may or may not agree with your creative vision for the project. The most tangible shift for me was to look for copywriting work.
If you're thinking cinematically as a copywriter, you're probably already a step ahead of the competition.
For a screenwriter, copywriting may not seem like the most logical step toward your screenwriting goals but it helps writers stay sharp in many ways. After all, all writing is persuasive and emotional. Screenwriters are persuading audiences to feel something for characters and go on an emotional journey. Copywriting, good copywriting, accomplishes the same thing. Whether you're writing website copy, social media ads, blog posts, or B2B (business to business) emails, your goal is to elicit a response from the reader that prompts an action. If you're thinking cinematically as a copywriter, you're probably already a step ahead of the competition. In fact, as I started applying for copywriting positions I noticed that companies were looking for the exact same qualities that make a good screenwriter. I kept coming across keywords like engaging, entertaining, eliciting an emotional response. Brands and companies are looking for writers that understand story arcs and can adapt them into short-form content.
It's a minor adjustment from writing scene descriptions and headings to writing catchy slogans and product descriptions, but the same result is there. When you make that connection, the world opens up to you. Marketing is a huge industry and getting larger every day. Most copywriting falls into the marketing basket in one form or another, so it's helpful to learn a little about marketing along the way.
You may have to put in a little work first and you may have to write for free, but if you hustle, you can get those gigs.
I'm not one to take two years off to get a new degree, so I decided to research marketing myself and found a world of free or nearly free lessons available on the subject. Indeed and LinkedIn were two valuable resources when it came to learning marketing and copywriting basics. I took their skills courses on marketing and SEO (search engine optimization). I studied Google Analytics from Google itself to understand how marketers use data to track the results of their campaigns. I put those lessons into practice by creating and updating my own website and the website of a company that I started years before. Then I started creating my own copy to build a portfolio of work. Most companies want to see what you've worked on, which is why having a portfolio is crucial to working as a copywriter. You may have to put in a little work first and you may have to write for free, but if you hustle, you can get those gigs.
I wanted a well-rounded portfolio, so I created everything from advertisements to blog posts to product descriptions. I used free graphic design platforms like Canva to design short ads with catchy messages. I used free image sites like Unsplash to upload high-quality images that fit my copy. And as I started getting actual copywriting gigs, I replaced the old copy with new stuff. I'm now making money at writing and still have time to work on screenwriting between freelance gigs. I've updated my resume to include my copywriting skills and experience, and I've tailored the screenwriting section to be more relevant to the marketing and copywriting world. While I rarely see screenwriting jobs posted online, there are dozens of new copywriting jobs posted daily from around the country. And now that I understand that the creative side of copywriting isn't that different from screenwriting I'm actually excited to jump into new jobs and challenge myself to find the emotional aspect of writing copy. Will I continue to write screenplays and teleplays? Sure. As long as the muses keep speaking and the ideas keep coming. In fact, writing anything for a few minutes a day gets me into the writing mood more than just sitting down to blank pages. Call it a writing appetizer, if you will.
If you're looking for ways to support yourself as a writer, consider shifting your thinking just a little and redefining what it is you can do as a writer. How else can putting words on a page bring you income? Do some research and if you have other ideas or questions feel free to reach out to me!
Holly Holstein is a Los Angeles-based writer with over ten years creating content. She writes independent reviews and articles and is not compensated for her posts. If you enjoy her articles, please sign up to become a member!
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