We are living in an age of multimedia, videos, selfies, and moving images everywhere.
Thus you may naturally be tempted to do “multimedia” and discount the potential of good writing.
Now, here is a quick test — go to the best website you like, any website. Then either take a screenshot of the web page and delete all text in Photoshop or close your eyes for a second and imagine the same page without a single letter on it. What’s left would be just colors and images.
Does the web page make any sense anymore? Of course, it doesn’t.
Imagine an eagle with all its feathers plucked out. What a strange and pitiful sight that would be, correct?
Good writing is the “feathers” on the “eagle” of any web page or any surface for that matter.
All writers hire themselves with the first word they put on paper or screen
Imagine store windows, billboards, stock exchange ticker tapes, TV news screens, newspapers, street signs, product packaging, cell phones, etc. without any writing — can you?
It would be such a pitiful and scary world, a world without letters and words.
First Point
Even in this age of multimedia and everything-clickable on steroids, writing is still paramount, and indispensable; it is the juice that rises up through the branches and leaves of our communication devices and makes everything bloom with significance and meaning.
Without writing we’d slip back to chaos in a second. So as a writer, you will always be in demand because our world needed writers in the past, need writers in the present, and will always need writers in the future.
Try saying that for door-to-door salespersons (some of you perhaps don’t even know what I’m referring to), postal carriers, sewing machine operators, switchboard operators, data entry keying personnel, newspaper vendors, tobacco vendors, file clerks, etc.?
These are all occupations that have vanished or are fast on their way to vanishing. Writing is not one of them.
Good writing is the “feathers” on the “eagle” of any web page
According to the figures of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022 median pay for 151,200 writers in the United States was $73,150 per year, or $35.17 per hour. Writing required no work experience whatsoever in a related occupation. Job outlook suggested a 4% increase (as fast as average) between 2022–32.
Even in this age of AI (Artificial Intelligence) you need a good writer to write excellent prompts and follow-ups to get the best results from ChatGPT. Bad prompt writers will always get bad AI outputs since AI is a garbage-in-garbage-out system.
Second Point
Do you know what all those “multimedia producers” go through to produce a single decent video clip or presentation? It’s not easy to create multimedia. It’s expensive, time-consuming, and has a steep learning curve.
Another point — some people frankly do not even look good on camera, unfortunately, and there is little one can do about it since nature did not act equally generous when it comes to physical beauty. But that’s okay if you are a writer since you’ll live or die with your words and not with how you look on camera.
There will always be a real need for writers in the future
In terms of physical attractiveness, all writers are equal when they sit before their keyboards. There is nothing in principle handicapping you against a famous writer, except what you will produce in the next hour, month, or year.
Thus, compared to a multimedia artist, you are blessed since you can sit in front of your computer in your underwear and not take a bath for a week and still produce writing that changes the world and brings you all the accolades and money you deserve.
Photo by Anete Lusina:
Third Point
Even if you look like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, you still need the voice to go with that face since audio is such an important part of any multimedia production.
You need the correct microphone and studio setup (padded walls, a pop filter, etc. to prevent sound distortions).
You need the proper audio and video editing software and hardware.
You need a computer powerful enough to handle all that hi-tech magic.
In other words, you need a small army of equipment and even supporting staff to produce any decent multimedia.
Compared to writing something — you are complete from the get-go! It’s you, your mind, and your fingers on the keys. That’s all you need to produce work that will change your life forever, slowly at first but at an amazing speed if you keep it up.
The sheer mechanical ease with which you can write and the lack of prerequisites that multimedia requires is yet another reason why you should consider yourself to be extremely lucky to be a writer.
Pat yourself on the back for one more time.
Summary
To wrap it up, let’s recap the important takeaway points:
- Consider yourself incredibly lucky if you know how to write.
- All writers hire themselves with the first word they put on paper or screen.
- Writers don’t need a license, physical beauty, a deep impressive voice, or expensive and complicated software and hardware to write.
- There will be a time lag between writing and getting paid, like in any other “regular jobs” in the world.
- Shortening that time period depends on nobody but you, with the intelligence, determination, and good decisions with which you approach your writing career.
- Even in this age of AI (Artificial Intelligence) you need a good writer to write excellent prompts and follow-ups to get the best results from ChatGPT.
- There was always a real need for writers in the past. There is a real need for writers today. There will always be a real need for writers in the future.
(Excerpts from Make Money Writing Online)