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My younger sister’s college roommate started her own business a few years ago. She created a website that included her biography. Though a talented photographer, she wasn’t the most brilliant wordsmith. Lucky for her, I had just decided to start a writing career, so I agreed to edit her website. She didn’t pay me anything, but that’s not why I did it. It was all about the opportunity.


O is for Opportunities


There’s more to writing than books and articles. Some people want to maintain blogs, but they don’t want to write them. Talents accountants, realtors, and chefs may want to let the world know what they’re doing, but writing a press release gives them migraines. Your church needs a weekly bulletin or monthly newsletter.  A friend has to create a cover letter and resume.


Opportunities, opportunities, opportunities.

It really isn’t that difficult to find ways to practice writing. The hard part is convincing a major newspaper to print the thoughts of an unpublished, unproven writer. It doesn’t have to be that way. You need to gauge every opportunity and decide if it’s something that can help build your career.

Even though I’m working as an Accounting Assistant, I’m still finding opportunities to write. The Marketing Director heard about my work with the newspapers and asked if I’d be willing to write some of the marketing copy (blog posts, a couple of interviews, and press releases). I absolutely agreed. I have plenty of experience with the interviews and blogs, but press releases are new to me. I won’t get paid nearly as much as if I were working as a private contractor, but the experience will be worth it. Having a few press releases in my portfolio will open the door for more writing gigs in the future.

So keep your eyes and ears open – you never know when someone will say something about needing some help writing. It may only be a flier for the elementary school talent show, but take the opportunity and keep a copy for your records. Every step will help you build your writing credentials.

QUESTION: Have you discovered any surprise writing opportunities?