There are lots of people out there who think they have a way with words. Perhaps you are one of those people? At school, your teachers always enjoyed your creative writing skills, praised you on your spelling and your correct use of grammar. Or perhaps your presentation skills were often praised in other subjects; your writing style for explanations, instructions and directions.

Some of you reading this might be recent graduates, parents looking to get back into work on a part time basis – there are lots of types of writing jobs out there that could suit mums returning to work and, if you can work from home at least some of the time, you could cut back on childcare costs – or you might be someone who has always toyed with writing and you are now looking for ways to make money out of your hobby.

Making money from writing is not all about sitting down and penning the next best selling novel. Well, it could be that, of course, but there are lots of other ways you can put your writing skills to use. So, if you are looking for a part time job to suit your writing passion, take a look at these ideas below – there’s sure to be something that will match your skills and your writing style.

Author

Yes, we know we have just said that making money from writing is not just about being a best selling author…but if creative writing is your passion and you have a dream to write fiction, it could be an option for you. You could be the next best thing in crime writing, sci fi or thrillers.

You probably won’t be earning money straight away but penning your novel could be one of multiple part time jobs that you do. And the advantage is that you can fit your writing around your schedule. Once you have written your novel, you will need to decide whether you want to try and get published via a publishing house or if you want to self publish.

Web Content Provider

Writing used to be all about pen (or typewriter) and paper. In the digital age, many more opportunities for those with a gift for words have opened. A part time job idea for wordsmiths could be working as a content provider. Companies need their websites to be constantly updated with new content that concentrates on their area of business.

A good web content provider will research the sector and source content to add to the website. As well as making sure this is targeted at the right audience and well written, a web content provider will also need to have some knowledge of SEO and choose effective keywords so that the company website remains competitive in search results.

Part time web content provider jobs could suit those of you who might need to work from home occasionally or who need to work flexible hours due to circumstances. You could work on a freelance basis or for a single company. Working for one particular company will mean you can gain a deeper understanding of what the company do and this can help you with more original ideas for content. Freelance work will be more rewarding for those of you who are looking to cover a whole variety of topics.

Social Media Contributor

If you are someone who spends a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter and you think you could run social media accounts for other companies with your skills as a wordsmith, then why not consider part time social media contributor jobs?

Again, these types of roles could suit those of you looking to work flexible hours or looking for part time opportunities that can give you the option of working from home occasionally. As well as being able to create catchy social media posts that will get likes, shares and retweets, social media contributors will often also need to be able to understand and make use of the insights offered on business accounts. You will be able to analyse which posts perform better for particular audiences and then use this knowledge to creative more effective and targeted social media posts in the future.

Ghost Writer

Being a ghost writer might not be the ideal role for every part time wordsmith. After all, ‘ghost’ means you don’t get the glory for your hard work. However, for some of you, it can be a good way to make money from your passion for writing; it’s just that you don’t get to put your name to your words. Some people start out as ghost writers to build up a bit of experience before going on to write material under their own name.

Part Time Blogger

We’re back to the digital world with this part time job idea. There could be lots of opportunities out there for those wordsmiths looking to add articles and posts to blogs. You could work for a company as their part time blogger – being a part of a team of web content creators.

For others of you, you might like to do freelance work so that you can work flexible hours. If you have a bit more technical knowledge, more entrepreneurial wordsmiths could set up their own blog and try to make money from that.

The beauty of blogging, whether you are working for yourself or for a company, is that you can combine your passion for writing with a subject you are passionate about. Fashion blogging or food blogging, for example.

As well as a skill for words, part time blogging jobs will also require you to be able to negotiate particular themes and layouts used by companies. Often, you will also be required to source images and add these to your articles, too. A knowledge of SEO will also give you a better chance of landing blogging roles.

Part Time Technical Writer – Technical Communications

Have you ever sat down to read a set of instructions for assembling furniture in your home? Or perhaps you needed to read a highly technical text that explained to you about the workings of a heating system or a computer system. You might not know too much about this system but the text breaks everything down and helps you to understand the basic workings.

If you have a better knowledge of these workings after reading the text then a technical writer has done their job well. Do you think you could be good at technical communications? You need to keep your audience in mind at all times. You could be writing technical information for designers, manufacturers or customers.

As a part time technical writer, you will need knowledge of the subject you are writing about, including all the specialised technical language. As well as the words you choose for your writing, how you present your information – along with charts and diagrams – is also of great importance.

Speech Writer

People need to make speeches for lots of different reasons. It could be a political speech or a speech given by someone from a campaign group to try and rally support.

Working as a speech writer, you will need to work closely with your client who is giving the speech. If it is a speech on behalf of a company, for example, you will need to do some background research on that company so that facts are accurate and are relevant to the subject matter.

Speech writers have a slightly different remit to that of other types of writer. Although you are using your writing skills to get words on a page, those words must be designed for the spoken voice. Speech writers need to be able to write text that, when the person giving the speech is making their deliver, it needs to be engaging, to the point and keeping the attention of the audience.

You also need to be aware of how much to write in the speech and what style the delivery will be – whilst you might think you could write pages and pages for the speech, remember, the audience does not want to be sitting there for hours, listening to one person.

For part time speech writing jobs, you will often be asked for previous experience or qualifications such as a degree in English Language, Communications or similar.

Part Time Editor / Proofreader Jobs

The beauty of part time editor or proof reading jobs is that many of them can be done anywhere. Ideal for those of you who are looking to work from home or who need to be able to work flexible hours.

Depending on the company or person you are working for, some editing jobs can be be in a pressured environment where you need to get work published to a strict schedule. Your job as editor will be to make sure all the work to be published is brought together and checked, with any omissions to be added by yourself. Local and national newspapers employ editing staff, as do other publications such as magazines.

Other editing or proofreading jobs can be for public and private organisations, making sure their publications such as newsletters are written in an appropriate tone, spelling and grammar are correct and any other errors are corrected.

A good proofreader or editor needs to be able to concentrate on the text in hand and have a good eye for detail. Obviously, you will also have a sound knowledge of grammar and writing styles.

Part Time Marketing Communications Jobs

If you have ever read a flyer, a poster or listened to an advert for a product, these – and other promotional tools – have usually been created by a an organisation’s marketing communications team.

Marketing communications jobs are not just about the writing of promotional material. You could be also part of the social media team for a company and also responsible for funding of promotional events and advertising.

Depending on the size of the company you work for, marketing communications jobs can also involve the writing of newsletters and other communications for other staff within the company.

Public relations – including the writing of press releases – and copywriting can also be a part of your role in marketing communications.

Part Time Computer Games Script Writer Career

Are you someone who has a love of computer games – so much so that you get wrapped up in the story and the characters in the game? If that is you, then the person who wrote the story of that game did a great job.

If you are a wordsmith and you also have a love of computer games, why not become a computer games script writer? A computer games script writer needs a fantastic imagination. You will need to be able to develop characters so that games players can relate to them and you will need to develop relationships between the different characters.

You will also need to be able to create different scenarios for the choices on the game. This is where your imagination can run free but you also need to have an end result for the player. How will your story end and how does the game player go on to reach the next level? As well as writing the scripts, a computer game script writer also needs to be able to direct the designer on scenes and sounds. This is also often communicated in written form.

Journalist

All words are written for a reason and the words of a journalist can have a real impact locally, nationally and even internationally. Journalists can work in many fields so you could use your writing skills to share stories about a passion in your life.

This passion might be fashion journalism, travel journalism, environmental or sports journalism. You might have a passion for your locality and want to tell stories about that. And then there are those of you who really want to get to the bottom of things. Investigative journalism is not for everyone but the world relies on this type of writing in order to learn the truth about particular events.

As well as being a great wordsmith, as a journalist, you also need to be proactive. You will be the one to not just write the stories; you also need to go out there and find the stories. Research, interview people, call people and ask for quotes. For a lot of journalism jobs, you will also need to be thick skinned. Not everyone appreciates you snooping around them and they might not be afraid to tell you that.

In journalism, you might be able to work part time as a staff writer – an employee of the publication or the series – or you could work for yourself as a freelance journalist.

TV & Radio Writer

Think you could keep coming up with the ideas for a script to keep a storyline going? If so, then writing for TV and radio could be for you. Radio plays, sitcoms, dramas and thrillers. TV and radio writers either work as part of a writing team, feeding off each other’s ideas, or you could work alone.

If you have a journalistic or broadcasting background, you could also be a writer, writing news bulletins of various lengths, making sure all the relevant information is communicated within the given timeframe.

Are You A Wordsmith?

So, are you a wordsmith? Do you think you could one of the part time job ideas above? Or perhaps you can come up with some other ideas, too? There are many different roles out there where you could make use of your writing talents both directly and indirectly.

If you are looking for part time work, take a look at the latest part time vacancies on offer. You can narrow these vacancies down to either those in your area or by category. Good luck!