As we have just seen, corporate writing careers are characterized as much by the job of being an employee of a larger enterprise as they are by the actual writing work itself.

By comparison, writing jobs in the media typically put the writing work first. If you consider the creative writing process to be of prime importance in your career, this second type of work may prove more appealing, and satisfying to you.

You will also notice that this part is the biggest of this book. Writing for the media is by far the largest source of employment for professional writers— ranging from a blogger sitting at a computer in a spare bedroom and writing for a loyal audience of a few dozen readers, to writing the screenplay of blockbuster movie that costs a half- billion dollars to make and destined to be seen by 100 million viewers. Media writing careers also range from the most precise and formalized nonfiction to the most obscure experimental fiction.

In fact, there is almost no kind of media- oriented writing that has sparked your interest that does not present at least a small chance of your earning a living from pursuing it. What that means is that you should not just scrutinize one of these chapters to learn more about the tricks of your own current trade, but perhaps should look through the other chapters as well to see if another type of writing captures your imagination. It may be a side, or even second, career to which you can aspire.

Note that several of these chapters include additional sections that take a closer look at specialty careers within these professions. In those cases, such as investigative reporter in the news- reporting chapter, the main chapter is the typical gateway into the specialty career, while the added section is devoted to a top practitioner in the field.

Finally, personal experience has shown that while you may need to pay more dues— and get paid less money— to be successful in these careers than in corporate life, these kinds of jobs are uniquely emotionally rewarding. A creative life can be a very satisfying life.