7. Creative Writing

Copywriting does not provide, as such, a route into creative writing. However, if you are keen to write novels, movie scripts and the like, there can be distinct advantages to starting out as a copywriter. To begin with, you will already be working with words and so will have had to grapple with many of the minutiae of the writer’s trade, from managing your own time to learning what you can and cannot offset against tax. You will also be accustomed to pitching your written work, which can be a great help when submitting your first manuscript. You will be used to writing quickly and meeting deadlines. Importantly, too, the fact that you are already a professional writer might count in your favour when contacting editors. The only drawback in working as a copywriter is that you might find you are heartily sick of the keyboard by the time you sit down to bash out your opus.

Unless you are churning out best-seller material, however, beware that it could be some time before your income from creative writing matches what you get from commercial copywriting. Do not give up your day job!