Penn Foster School

Freelance Writing Program
This program hones student’s writing skills and teaches them how to put up their own writing business at home.

Writing Career and Training Information

As times change, so do kinds of writing.  There are medical writing programs, which comprise of summarizing medical notes and writing articles on them.  Perhaps you would want to become a technical writer, who deals primarily with writing about technology and computer-related industries or the typical mode of creative writing, which is usually separated between fiction and non-fiction.

An associate’s degree in writing will give you the opportunity to follow a two-year accredited program which will entail the following curriculum:

• Survey of Western Literature
• Multicultural Literature
• Specific Topics in Literature
• Modern and Classical Poetry
• African-American Literature and Poetry
• Writing for Publication
• Editing and Proofreading
• Technical Writing
• Writing for the World Wide Web
• Survey of Technical Documentation

An associate’s degree in writing will usually take two years.  If after that time, you feel that you want to continue your studies and pursue a Bachelor’s degree, make sure that you are following a track that includes a certified curriculum and transferable courses.  Most courses in a writing program are transferable so you will have no trouble finding that post-graduate course of study.

Writing is also a personal study – you may find yourself choosing to write creatively.  In order to do so, you must read classical and modern literature, be detail-oriented and have a great deal of patience.  Writers often have blocks that will prevent them from writing.  Keeping a journal is usually a wonderful tool in order to write continuously.

You may also find that you will want to work in another field while you are writing.  Many writers are teachers, government workers or others who just enjoy the art of writing something that another person will love reading some day.  Choose your education in writing wisely but do not stop writing – it is an essential part of everyday communication and has been a primary source of historical recording.  Without writers, we would not know about certain eras or historical events.  Find a program in writing that suits your needs and then … write!