"You’re a writer? I could never do that!”. If you’re a writer, chances are you’ll have heard this before. People think that being a writer is just writing, but it’s actually a lot more than that. So, what does a typical day in the life of a writer look like? Here’s everything you need to know about being a writer - challenges, frustrations and all...
By Olivia Mulligan
One thing about writers is that generally, on the whole, we love to write. It’s our thing, and it’s what we do.
I’ve been a writer for a few years now, having stumbled across copywriting on a placement year in-between my second and third year of university.
In that time, I’ve been a Junior Copywriter in the furniture industry, and I’m now currently an Online Content Executive in the automotive industry – literally, from recliners to Range Rovers!
But for those that don’t know – what is being a writer actually like?
Here’s what a day in the life as a writer looks like – or at least, my life.
More Than Words
Now, I’m not talking about the song of the same name here, by Extreme, which you’re likely to hear on the Radio.
I’m talking about how people constantly misinterpret what we do as writers. In my team – a small team of four - we do a lot more than just putting the words onto paper. We do a lot of reading and research, content planning, proofreading, editing, and even SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
We also do a lot of different types of writing. In my day to day, I’ll be working on everything from blog articles and SEO copy to emails, landing pages and advertising copy. There’s meetings to attend and there’s a lot of going back and forth to get all the information you need to start writing.
Part of my work also involves using our Content Management System (CMS) to publish content on the website. And that involves having to do basic coding!
Speaking of challenges...
Now, I’m a firm believer that nothing worth having is ever easy. Though I’ll admit there are more challenges to being a writer than you would think.
Here are the biggest challenges I face in my job as a writer, and in my writing career journey in general:
mental fatigue.
One of my sisters is a primary school teacher, and one day after work she said to me, “I am SO tired”. I responded that I was too, after a busy day in the office.
Her next response to this was, “Yeah, but you haven’t had 30 kids to look after all day long though!” - not necessarily in an unkind way, but it did get to me.
It’s another misconception people have of writers – that because our work isn’t physically exhausting, it isn’t tiring. Well, I can confirm, that it actually is. Writing requires a special kind of energy that doesn’t necessarily come from using your muscles like going for a run, it runs solely on using our mental energy.
I usually get into work early at about 8:20am, even though I start at 9:00 – fear of the traffic on the road and being late makes you do that.
So, from about 8:20 in the morning, right up to 5:30pm in the evening, I’ll be sitting at a desk in front of a laptop doing what I’m doing right now – writing.
By the time I get home from work, it’s usually about 6:00pm, and I’m often worn out from the day, totally spent from writing, editing, replying to messages and emails, and even just thinking.
I’ve incorporated a lot of self-care into my out-of-work routine to combat this, which I think is important in a job like writing to help you unwind and reset.
Quantity Over Quality
As a small content team within a huge overall marketing team, we don’t really have the capacity we need for the number of tasks that come in.
We use Asana for project management, and assign ourselves our own tasks. While I think it’s a great organizational platform, I find in my team that it creates a bit of a ‘quantity over quality’ culture.
We are often so focussed on the number of tasks we complete and getting it sent back by the deadline that we don’t always get to spend the amount of time on something that we’d like to.
When it comes to much larger projects too, like a whole section of the website being revamped, we get onto a kind of conveyor belt of getting through as many subtasks as we can to get through it.
As a writer, it’s something you don’t usually want to do – to just churn out content for the sake of it.
The Duller Topics
As a writer, there are also some topics that just aren’t interesting to write about.
These are the most challenging because they require you to be creative about something that, itself, has little creativity. Like car bulbs for instance.
Those are definitely not so fun to write about. There are times I will loathe reading through pages of product descriptions which all sound the same, only distinguished by fitment, before trying to actually make the content sound different.
Because the number one rule of SEO is absolutely NO duplicate content.
Procrastination
Another huge challenge of being a writer. Once I get going, I’ll find I can write quite easily. Though in those moments between reading through the brief and deciding how to make a start, I am sometimes completely lost.
It’s very easy to overthink writing because it feels like every single word you write has to be perfect. But that’s not necessarily the case – it just has to be relevant.
Relevant to the product, and to the customer’s desires and pain points. It has to persuade them that what your business has to offer is what they’ve been looking for – even if they didn’t know it.
Sometimes you can have all the information you need in the brief but have no idea where to start, and that’s when you have to filter out the imposter syndrome part of your thoughts – the ‘I don’t know what I’m doing’ - and just start.
Biggest Woes of Writing
What about the biggest woes when it comes to writing? These are the things that frustrate me most as a writer:
Having multiple tasks shoehorned into a brief: Our briefing form should only really have ONE task in it when briefed in, though a lot of people miss this fact, requesting an email campaign, landing page and blog all in one!
Strict character counts: These really make it hard to inject creativity into your work. It also makes writing feel a lot more formulaic than it should be.
Vague feedback: “Yeah it’s really good thanks!” isn’t very helpful. As a writer, it’s helpful to know what works and what doesn’t with your content and how it performs in order to help you develop.
Using editing tools: These are great for simple editing, though if I follow them too strictly, I find my work loses creativity.
So, there you have it - that’s what a day in the life of a writer just like me looks like. And although these are some challenges and frustrations I face daily in my job, I still enjoy it.
Writing can be challenging and mentally fatiguing, but also rewarding and fun. I love making a living using my creativity and passion for words – which is how I get past all those little frustrations.
With the help of a coffee or two, of course...
About Olivia Mulligan
Hi, I’m Olivia and I’m an Online Content Executive at Vertu Motors – one of the largest automotive retailers in the UK. I’m 23 and live in North East England, and when I’m not writing, I’m most likely reading, sweating it out at a HIIT session, or daydreaming about my next travels. See what I’ve been writing about on my Instagram @byolivia_mulligan.
