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Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers

It's a bright outlook for

This career will grow rapidly in the next few years.

Learn more about what they do.

Create original written works, such as scripts, essays, prose, poetry or song lyrics, for publication or performance.

Related: Editors News Analysts, Reporters, & Journalists Producers & Directors Technical Writers Writers & Authors

Industries: Professional, Science, & Technical

Summary
Details

Write words to fit musical compositions, including lyrics for operas, musical plays, and choral works.
Attend book launches and publicity events, or conduct public readings.
Collaborate with other writers on specific projects.
Teach writing classes.
Write narrative, dramatic, lyric, or other types of poetry for publication.
Write fiction or nonfiction prose, such as short stories, novels, biographies, articles, descriptive or critical analyses, and essays.
Revise written material to meet personal standards and to satisfy needs of clients, publishers, directors, or producers.
Choose subject matter and suitable form to express personal feelings and experiences or ideas, or to narrate stories or events.
Follow appropriate procedures to get copyrights for completed work.
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.
Adapt text to accommodate musical requirements of composers and singers.
Develop factors such as themes, plots, characterizations, psychological analyses, historical environments, action, and dialogue to create material.
Plan project arrangements or outlines, and organize material accordingly.
Write humorous material for publication, or for performances such as comedy routines, gags, and comedy shows.
Confer with clients, editors, publishers, or producers to discuss changes or revisions to written material.
Prepare works in appropriate format for publication, and send them to publishers or producers.

Management of Financial Resources
- Making spending decisions and keeping track of what is spent.
Complex Problem Solving
- Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
Programming
- Writing computer programs.
Operation and Control
- Using equipment or systems.
Time Management
- Managing your time and the time of other people.
Speaking
- Talking to others.
Negotiation
- Bringing people together to solve differences.
Reading Comprehension
- Reading work-related information.
Learning Strategies
- Using the best training or teaching strategies for learning new things.
Science
- Using scientific rules and strategies to solve problems.
Technology Design
- Making equipment and technology useful for customers.
Installation
- Installing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs.
Instructing
- Teaching people how to do something.
Monitoring
- Keeping track of how well people and/or groups are doing in order to make improvements.
Service Orientation
- Looking for ways to help people.
Equipment Maintenance
- Planning and doing the basic maintenance on equipment.
Judgment and Decision Making
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different options and picking the best one.
Quality Control Analysis
- Testing how well a product or service works.
Management of Personnel Resources
- Selecting and managing the best workers for a job.
Social Perceptiveness
- Understanding people's reactions.
Persuasion
- Talking people into changing their minds or their behavior.
Operations Analysis
- Figuring out what a product or service needs to be able to do.
Equipment Selection
- Deciding what kind of tools and equipment are needed to do a job.
Troubleshooting
- Figuring out what is causing equipment, machines, wiring, or computer programs to not work.
Systems Analysis
- Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in the future will affect it.
Management of Material Resources
- Managing equipment and materials.
Operations Monitoring
- Watching gauges, dials, or display screens to make sure a machine is working.
Repairing
- Repairing machines or systems using the right tools.
Systems Evaluation
- Measuring how well a system is working and how to improve it.
Mathematics
- Using math to solve problems.
Coordination
- Changing what is done based on other people's actions.
Critical Thinking
- Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
Active Listening
- Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
Active Learning
- Figuring out how to use new ideas or things.
Writing
- Writing things for co-workers or customers.

Dynamic Flexibility
- Quickly and repeatedly bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Gross Body Equilibrium
- Keeping your balance or staying upright.
Trunk Strength
- Using your lower back and stomach.
Fluency of Ideas
- Coming up with lots of ideas.
Gross Body Coordination
- Moving your arms, legs, and mid-section together while your whole body is moving.
Written Expression
- Communicating by writing.
Problem Sensitivity
- Noticing when problems happen.
Oral Expression
- Communicating by speaking.
Information Ordering
- Ordering or arranging things.
Time Sharing
- Doing two or more things at the same time.
Flexibility of Closure
- Seeing hidden patterns.
Mathematical Reasoning
- Choosing the right type of math to solve a problem.
Visual Color Discrimination
- Noticing the difference between colors, including shades and brightness.
Inductive Reasoning
- Making general rules or coming up with answers from lots of detailed information.
Finger Dexterity
- Putting together small parts with your fingers.
Number Facility
- Adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing.
Sound Localization
- Noticing the direction that a sound came from.
Glare Sensitivity
- Seeing something even if there is a glare or very bright light.
Far Vision
- Seeing details that are far away.
Speech Recognition
- Recognizing spoken words.
Deductive Reasoning
- Using rules to solve problems.
Memorization
- Remembering words, numbers, pictures, or steps.
Speed of Closure
- Quickly knowing what you are looking at.
Auditory Attention
- Paying attention to one sound while there are other distracting sounds.
Perceptual Speed
- Quickly comparing groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Selective Attention
- Paying attention to something without being distracted.
Manual Dexterity
- Holding or moving items with your hands.
Control Precision
- Quickly changing the controls of a machine, car, truck or boat.
Multilimb Coordination
- Using your arms and/or legs together while sitting, standing, or lying down.
Reaction Time
- Quickly moving your hand, finger, or foot based on a sound, light, picture or other command.
Wrist-Finger Speed
- Making fast, simple, repeated movements of your fingers, hands, and wrists.
Peripheral Vision
- Seeing something to your side when your are looking ahead.
Stamina
- Exercising for a long time without getting out of breath.
Static Strength
- Lifting, pushing, pulling, or carrying.
Explosive Strength
- Jumping, sprinting, or throwing something.
Oral Comprehension
- Listening and understanding what people say.
Near Vision
- Seeing details up close.
Originality
- Creating new and original ideas.
Depth Perception
- Deciding which thing is closer or farther away from you, or deciding how far away it is from you.
Dynamic Strength
- Exercising for a long time without your muscles getting tired.
Extent Flexibility
- Bending, stretching, twisting, or reaching with your body, arms, and/or legs.
Night Vision
- Seeing at night or under low light.
Written Comprehension
- Reading and understanding what is written.
Speech Clarity
- Speaking clearly.
Hearing Sensitivity
- Telling the difference between sounds.
Category Flexibility
- Grouping things in different ways.
Spatial Orientation
- Knowing where things are around you.
Visualization
- Imagining how something will look after it is moved around or changed.
Arm-Hand Steadiness
- Keeping your arm or hand steady.
Rate Control
- Changing when and how fast you move based on how something else is moving.
Speed of Limb Movement
- Quickly moving your arms and legs.
Response Orientation
- Quickly deciding if you should move your hand, foot, or other body part.

English Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, and rules of composition and grammar.
Public Safety and Security
- Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
Customer and Personal Service
- Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Medicine and Dentistry
- Knowledge of the information and techniques needed to diagnose and treat human injuries, diseases, and deformities. This includes symptoms, treatment alternatives, drug properties and interactions, and preventive health-care measures.
Personnel and Human Resources
- Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Mathematics
- Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Foreign Language
- Knowledge of the structure and content of a foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Law and Government
- Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
Production and Processing
- Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
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.
Building and Construction
- Knowledge of materials, methods, and the tools involved in the construction or repair of houses, buildings, or other structures such as highways and roads.
Sociology and Anthropology
- Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Education and Training
- Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
Physics
- Knowledge and prediction of physical principles, laws, their interrelationships, and applications to understanding fluid, material, and atmospheric dynamics, and mechanical, electrical, atomic and sub-atomic structures and processes.
Economics and Accounting
- Knowledge of economic and accounting principles and practices, the financial markets, banking, and the analysis and reporting of financial data.
Design
- Knowledge of design techniques, tools, and principles involved in production of precision technical plans, blueprints, drawings, and models.
Philosophy and Theology
- Knowledge of different philosophical systems and religions. This includes their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and their impact on human culture.
Telecommunications
- Knowledge of transmission, broadcasting, switching, control, and operation of telecommunications systems.
Transportation
- Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
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.
Computers and Electronics
- Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
History and Archeology
- Knowledge of historical events and their causes, indicators, and effects on civilizations and cultures.
Mechanical
- Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Fine Arts
- Knowledge of the theory and techniques required to compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
Sales and Marketing
- Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Geography
- Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Administrative
- Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Engineering and Technology
- Knowledge of the practical application of engineering science and technology. This includes applying principles, techniques, procedures, and equipment to the design and production of various goods and services.
Food Production
- Knowledge of techniques and equipment for planting, growing, and harvesting food products (both plant and animal) for consumption, including storage/handling techniques.
Therapy and Counseling
- Knowledge of principles, methods, and procedures for diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of physical and mental dysfunctions, and for career counseling and guidance.
Administration and Management
- Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Biology
- Knowledge of plant and animal organisms, their tissues, cells, functions, interdependencies, and interactions with each other and the environment.
Chemistry
- Knowledge of the chemical composition, structure, and properties of substances and of the chemical processes and transformations that they undergo. This includes uses of chemicals and their interactions, danger signs, production techniques, and disposal methods.

Education

Bachelor's degree

Work Experience

No work experience

Training

More than 1 year on-the-job training

Education and Training Opportunities

Washington Annual Salary

86170/yr

Washington Hourly Wage

41.43/hr

Currently Employed

6,030

Yearly Projected Openings

740

Artistic: People interested in this work like activities that include creating, designing, and making your own rules. They do well at jobs that need:

Tolerance for Ambiguity
Innovation
Achievement Orientation
Intellectual Curiosity
Initiative

Laser fax machine
Laser printers
Personal computers
Tablet computers

Cloud-based data access and sharing software
Desktop communications software
Desktop publishing software
Document management software
Graphics or photo imaging software
Office suite software
Presentation software
Spreadsheet software
Text to speech conversion software
Video creation and editing software
Web page creation and editing software
Word processing software

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Poets, Lyricists and Creative Writers

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