Poets, lyricists, and creative writers create original written works, such as scripts, essays, prose, poetry, or song lyrics, for publication or performance.
Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays.
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material.
Prepare works in appropriate format for publication, and send them to publishers or producers.
Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers.
Confer with clients, editors, publishers, or producers to discuss changes or revisions to written material.
Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events.
Conduct research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, using sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews.
Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly.
Follow appropriate procedures to get copyrights for completed work.
Attend book launches and publicity events, or conduct public readings.
Collaborate with other writers on specific projects.
Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication.
Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers.
Write words to fit musical compositions, including lyrics for operas, musical plays, and choral works.
Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows.
Teach writing classes.
Work Context
Freedom to Make Decisions — 97% responded "A lot of freedom".
Structured versus Unstructured Work — 82% responded "A lot of freedom".
Level of Competition — 67% responded "Extremely competitive".
Spend Time Sitting — 60% responded "Continually or almost continually".
Electronic Mail — 52% responded "Every day".
Importance of Being Exact or Accurate — 34% responded "Extremely important".
Spend Time Making Repetitive Motions — 31% responded "More than half the time".
Importance of Repeating Same Tasks — 41% responded "Extremely important".
Telephone — 34% responded "Once a week or more but not every day".
Thinking Creatively — Developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
Interacting With Computers — Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
Getting Information — Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work — Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.
Updating and Using Relevant Knowledge — Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to your job.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems — Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Developing Objectives and Strategies — Establishing long-range objectives and specifying the strategies and actions to achieve them.
Documenting/Recording Information — Entering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
Communicating with Persons Outside Organization — Communicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events — Identifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
Scheduling Work and Activities — Scheduling events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
Interpreting the Meaning of Information for Others — Translating or explaining what information means and how it can be used.
Judging the Qualities of Things, Services, or People — Assessing the value, importance, or quality of things or people.
Analyzing Data or Information — Identifying the underlying principles, reasons, or facts of information by breaking down information or data into separate parts.
Selling or Influencing Others — Convincing others to buy merchandise/goods or to otherwise change their minds or actions.
Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal Relationships — Developing constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Communications and Media
Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Psychology
Knowledge of human behavior and performance; individual differences in ability, personality, and interests; learning and motivation; psychological research methods; and the assessment and treatment of behavioral and affective disorders.
Writing
Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Reading Comprehension
Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Active Listening
Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Critical Thinking
Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Speaking
Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Active Learning
Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Complex Problem Solving
Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Judgment and Decision Making
Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Social Perceptiveness
Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Fluency of Ideas
The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Originality
The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Written Comprehension
The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Near Vision
The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension
The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression
The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Inductive Reasoning
The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Deductive Reasoning
The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Information Ordering
The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility
The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Speech Clarity
The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition
The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Selective Attention
The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
