So, you’re a content writer. Wait, what does that even mean?

The Narrative by Writerlize

Hey Reader,

"So, you’re a content writer. Wait, what does that even mean?"

If someone asked you this question today, would you know how to give them a clear answer? Do you even know what differentiates you as a content writer from the gazillion other types of writers out there?

You see, as a new content writer, I used to find myself at a loss when anybody asked me that question. Not because I didn’t know what I functioned as at work, but because it was a bit difficult to communicate the idea of what I did to people.

If you’re going to get serious with this business of content writing as a career, you must clearly define what it is that you do.

In today’s newsletter, I want to address common content writing misconceptions so that you’re one hundred percent confident that this career path is for you. And, of course, so that you can confidently answer when someone asks you what you do as a content writer. It's a pretty long read, so, brace yourself.

Estimated Reading Time: 6 minutes, 59 seconds.

I started my writing journey as a creative writer. So the creative pieces I churned out, such as works of fiction, poetry, short stories, scripts, and other literary pieces came straight from my imagination with minimal external influence. By ‘external influence,’ I mean information I researched or read about. I don’t need to research to write a poem.

But as I progressed on my journey and moved on to becoming a content writer, fewer of the pieces I wrote about came from my creative imagination.

No, think about it for a minute. How can I write on the topic “How to Use the Chowdeck App to Place an Order for the First Time” based on my imagination?

I would probably give some misleading or inaccurate tips along the way. Plus, the client or editor would have rejected the finished piece because it didn’t meet their expectations.

Differentiating Between Creative Writing, Copywriting, and Content Writing

➡️ Creative writing mostly allows you to churn out words based on how creative your imagination can get. It encompasses using poetic-styled language and rhythmic flows to create an immersive effect on your reader. It rarely relies on factual information to be considered credible — content writing, however, does.

Are you starting to distinguish between creative writing and content writing?

Let’s take a moment to establish what other things content writing is NOT:

Content writing is not “just” writing. It’s not simply putting words down without structure or flow.
Content writing is not content creation. Writing can be a part of content creation, but it does not fully encapsulate what content writing is.
Content writing is not writing from your imagination or memory, your thoughts may end up being inaccurate.
Content writing is not copywriting. Many people often interchange these two concepts but one can not replace the other.
Content writing is not academic writing, journalistic writing, or scriptwriting.

Of all the above things content writing isn’t, I want to zoom in a bit more on Content writing vs. Copywriting because I see many aspiring writers confusing both.

➡️ Copywriting is a form of writing that persuades your audience to make a purchase or perform an action. You can easily identify it by its short or punchy-styled nature.

It’s the type of writing that most brands use to convince you to buy from them. The main goal of copywriting is to prompt the audience to take action.

➡️ Content writing focuses on informing and educating your audience through descriptive language. It’s not sales-y, nor does it have a punchy style to it.

As a content writer, you give your audience as much information as they need, based on what they’ve inputted in the search engine (Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go, etc) Its main goal is to inform and educate the audience.

Have you ever asked yourself who writes all the written content you find on blogs and websites when you’re searching for information online? You guessed right, content writers. The world needs you!

Can a content writer write copy? Sure, but that requires them to take off their content writer hat and put on the copywriter hat — and vice versa.

Content writing and copywriting are two different areas of specialization. I’m a content writer, therefore, I specialize in content writing. A copywriter is an expert in writing copies. Easy peasy.

Real-Life Examples of Copywriting and Content Writing

Before I pull the curtains on this topic, let’s take a quick look at real-life examples of copy and content writing.

Content Writing

The content snippet above is descriptive and factual, explaining to the audience why an AI chatbot is important. It’s detailed and doesn’t sound like I’m trying to sell to you. I’m, however, offering you objective information based on what you searched for on Google.

Copywriting

This website copy is designed to drive the audience to want to take action. Even though it's not very detailed, it immediately triggers an emotional response in a business owner such that they think, “Nooo! I don’t want to lose sales, I need an online shopping assistant for my business ASAP.” That is copywriting.

Now that your brain is bursting with this new insight, you can boldly call yourself a content writer if you:

Create engaging written content through research and knowledge-gathering to provide factual, objective, data-backed information to your target audience.

Different types of content writers include Blog writers, Technical writers, SEO content writers, Medical Writers, etc.

Key Takeaways for You

Anybody with an interest in writing can become a content writer.
You don’t have to know everything about your topic to be able to write about it effectively. Thorough research can help fill in the information you’re missing out.
Reviewing existing content that has been written about a topic to frame your ideas does not mean you have plagiarized another person’s work.
It is expected of you as a content writer to research your subject matter before you put pen to paper. (Subsequently, I will explain what plagiarism is.)
Your “creative juices” don’t have to flow before you can successfully start to write. Researching your topic will give you a good place to begin.

With that, we’ve come to the end of today’s lessons, and I truly hope you learned something new!

Before you go, I have an easy assignment for you:

Do a critical self-assessment based on your most recently written works then answer the following questions.

Does your work align with the key principles that make a content writer?
If not, do you think content writing is the path you’re ready to take in your writing career?
Are you ready to embrace the content writer life in its entirety?

If you have questions, I’m always eager to answer! You can reply to this email, it’s delivered right into my inbox. Or you can shoot me a DM, whatever works.

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With Love, GloryAnn

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