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Title
How to become a writer
Category
graduate
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edf56ee5dff041b0bb27c0f430fc073f
Source URL
https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/careers/graduate-jobs/how-to-become/how-to-become...
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https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/careers/graduate-jobs/how-to-become
Crawl Time
2026-03-25T01:36:40+00:00
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How to become a writer

Source: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/careers/graduate-jobs/how-to-become/how-to-become-a-writer Parent: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/study/careers/graduate-jobs/how-to-become

Find out how to get into writing as a career in the UK, including how to become a copywriter, technical writer and creative writer.

Information is correct as at August 2025. Before deciding whether to pursue a career, you are advised to contact your college careers service for the most up-to-date guidance.

How to get into writing

If you're interested in becoming a writer, there's a range of different areas you can go into, including:

Whichever path you choose to take, you'll need excellent written communication skills with an awareness of your audience and the ability to come up with original ideas.

Already a Sussex student? See our publishing sector guide.

Qualifications required

There are no set requirements to become a writer.

But some employers may like to see you have five GCSEs (grades A* to C), A-levels and an undergraduate degree.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related-subject areas:

Some people go on to further study including Masters courses and PhD degrees.

Skills required

If you decide to go into writing as a career, you'll need the following skills:

Careers website Prospects has some good advice about becoming a writer.

Earning potential of a writer

The majority of writers are self-employed so earnings can fluctuate a lot and may not rise steadily. Starting salary from careers website Prospects and average salary from The Society of Authors.

How to get writing experience

As well as qualifications, employers may want to see that you have some experience of writing in your chosen area.

You could:

You could also try and get work experience at your local newspaper, a digital agency, in the scriptwriting department of a broadcaster, or a publishing house.

Specialist writer roles

You may decide you want to specialise in a particular type of writing. You can see some popular roles in writing below.

Copywriters write content that promotes a particular product or service and usually work in digital, marketing, advertising or public relations.

They also edit and proofread copy, come up with ideas for content, user test concepts with their target audience, and ensure content is on brand.

There are no set qualifications to become a copywriter and you may be able to take a qualification in any subject.

There are a range of different routes to becoming a copywriter. Some of these may include:

Route one: Some employers may want to see at least 5 GCSEs, A-levels and a degree in a related area such as English, Journalism, or Marketing. You may also need to demonstrate your related work experience and a portfolio of work to show a potential employer.

Route two: Other employers may prefer to see the above (route one) as well as a background in journalism. Find out how to become a journalist.

Route three: You may be considered for a position as a copywriter without experience or qualifications. Some employers may accept you if you can demonstrate expert writing skills and an in-depth knowledge of the subject area. You may also be asked to compile a portfolio of writing to show your employer.

Jobs website Reed has some good advice about becoming a copywriter.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

A user experience (UX) writer creates copy for digital products such as websites, apps and bots. They aim to optimise your experience with that product to guide you through a process and make it easy for you to navigate to the information you need. UX writers usually sit within a design team and are responsible for crafting copy for the product interface and any other touchpoints that make up the user experience.

If you want to become a UX writer, you’ll need:

To gain experience in UX writing, you could:

There are no set qualifications to become a UX writer and you may be able to take a qualification in any subject.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

Scriptwriters write the scripts for television, radio and theatre shows. As part of the role, they have to produce plots and characters, come up with ideas for stories and pitch them, develop the script and rewrite the script if necessary.

There are no set qualifications to become a screenwriter and you may be able to take a qualification in any subject.

Most screenwriters are self-employed and pitch for their work. You could try and pitch your own screenplays to producers and as you build up a reputation you may be approached to write scripts by people working in the industry.

However you choose to approach your screenwriting career, you may get noticed by producers by entering screenwriting competitions, submitting work to BBC writers room or creating your own productions on YouTube or for performances locally. \ \ The National Careers Service has some good advice about becoming a scriptwriter.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

Freelance writers can choose the area they want to write about. For example, some decide to pitch stories to newspapers or magazines, while others copywrite for corporations or ghostwrite for authors.

When you know the type of freelance writer you want to become, you can work out if you need to take any specific courses or training. You may be able to study a qualification in any subject.

There are a range of different routes to becoming a freelance writer. Some of these may include:

Route one:  Some employers may want to see at least 5 GCSEs, A-levels and a degree in a related area such as English, Journalism or Marketing. If you decide to become a freelance journalist, you may then need to go on to further study and take a NCTJ qualification (National Council for the training of journalists). Find out how to become a journalist. You may also need to demonstrate your related work experience and a portfolio of work to show a potential employer. Some people choose to have a career as a staff writer on a publication before going freelance, so they can build up their reputation and contacts in the industry.

Employers do not offer salaried, permanent positions but hire freelance writers as and when needed for specific commissions.

Route two:  Many freelance writers do not have any qualifications and many employers do not request to see their freelance writers educational backgrounds. Instead you may need to demonstrate expert writing skills, an in-depth knowledge of the subject area and a good pitch. To be commissioned for a piece, you may also need to supply a portfolio of work.

Whichever route you choose to take, freelance writing can be a challenging career. However, the more you get published, the more you can build up your reputation and may even get a regular spot writing a column or copywriting for an organisation.

You could also:

The Guardian has some good advice about becoming a freelance writer.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

Authors write fiction or non-fiction books. If you choose to write fiction you will need to produce plots and characters and come up with ideas for stories. If you choose to write non-fiction you will need to research your topic, ensure that your copy is accurate and cite references where needed.

There are no set qualifications to become an author and you may be able to take a qualification in any subject.

There are a range of routes into writing. Some of these may include:

Route one: Some people choose to take subjects related to creative writing at GCSE, A-level and degree level such as English, English Language and Linguistics and Journalism. They then may choose to go on to further study such as a Masters. Others may choose to go on to a PhD.

Route two: Many authors do not have any qualifications. Instead you may need excellent writing skills and an in-depth knowledge of the subject area you are writing about.

Whichever route you take, becoming a published author is challenging and you will need a full-time job to support you while you're writing. These steps may help you get started:

The BBC have a good interview with author Sophie Kinsella to help aspiring writers.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

Technical writers create specialist copy for range of industries including automotive, construction, education, engineering, government, medicine (and other sciences), and research. You may be asked to write reports, or put together user manuals for particular products or software.

You don't always need a degree to become a technical writer, but some employers may like to see subject specific skills.

There are a range of routes into becoming a technical writer. Some of these may include:

Route one: Some people choose to take subjects related to the industry they want to write for at GCSE, A-level and degree level such as business, computer sciences, economics, engineering, medicine and the sciences. Others take a degree in any subject and then specialise. You may also want to look at taking a Masters or PhD in technical communications or training courses specific to your industry. You may also need a good knowledge of some software packages.

Route two:Most trainee journalists start off as news reporters on local newspapers or at regional broadcasters before they specialise into more niche roles like technical writing. See our routes into journalism.

Route three:You may be considered for a position as a technical writer without qualifications. Some employers will accept you if you can demonstrate expert writing skills, an in depth knowledge of the subject area or several years of working in the industry. You may also be asked to compile a portfolio of writing to show your employer.

Whichever route you choose to take, it may be beneficial to try and get practical work experience, such as writing user manuals or technical reports. You should then compile a portfolio of your work to show to a potential employer.  \ \ Careers website Prospects has some good advice about becoming a technical writer.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

There are a range of routes to becoming a travel writer. Some of these may include:

Route one: If you have an interest in becoming a travel writer, you may decide to follow the route into journalism.

Route two: Some people decide they want to write travel books. They may decide to follow route one before trying to publish their book.

Route three:You may be considered for a position as a travel writer without qualifications. Some employers will accept you if you can demonstrate expert writing skills, an in depth knowledge of the subject area or several years of working in the travel industry. You may also be asked to compile a portfolio of writing to show your employer.

It may also help to:

Paid travel reporter roles are rare, and almost all published travel writers decide to become freelance and pitch travel features to editors. See The Guardian's advice for becoming a travel writer. - How to become a blogger

Whether you want to find out how to become a professional blogger for a company, or start up your own blog, you may need excellent written communication skills with an awareness of your audience and the ability to come up with original ideas.

There are a variety of professional roles in blogging. Some companies employ bloggers on a freelance basis, while others employ full-time social media officers, who work across several social platforms, as well as blog sites.

Alternatively, you may decide to set up your own blog. Although this can be successful for some, it is advised that you work in a full or part-time job alongside creating your blog, as blogging rarely provides a stable income.

If you're more confident in front of the camera, you may want to look at becoming a vlogger.

If you haven't studied a degree yet, and you're considering one, browse our related subject areas:

If you're interested in writing for newspapers or magazines find out how to become a journalist.

Studying at Sussex

If you choose to study your degree at Sussex, you'll benefit from:

What do you want to do next?