If you’d like to turn your passion for writing into a career but you’re not sure where to begin, Full Sail’s Creative Writing bachelor’s degree can help you get started. The program teaches a variety of skills – like storytelling, character development, research, publishing, and how to use multimedia tools – that can help you compete in multiple industries.

“My instructors tell students, ‘Okay, if you are writing a fantasy piece, how could you apply those skills that you have learned and developed and honed, to, say, a job that you see on a job board?’ We have those kinds of conversations with students so that they can see, ‘Okay, well, I'm writing about monsters here and there's no job I can get that specifically states I’ll need to write about monsters, but I'm still gleaning these same skills, and I can apply them here.’ So, it's really about transferable skills,” says Noelani Cornell, Full Sail’s Creative Writing Program Director.

Here are some of the industries and jobs that may rely on the skills taught in the Creative Writing program.

Entertainment Writing

If you’re interested in writing for film and television, classes like Scriptwriting Techniques and Developing New Worlds: Environment and Historical Research can get you started.

In Scriptwriting Techniques, you’ll cover narrative structure, character development, and how to format a script using industry-standard software. You’ll also learn how to write loglines, conduct research, and more.

The Developing New Worlds course will teach you how to create realistic settings for your stories by researching different cultures and their histories. You’ll work on a story bible, a sales pitch for your movie or series, and learn about developmental editing.

Marketing Writing

The Creative Writing program’s storytelling focus can help you create vibrant content for jobs in the copywriting and editing industries.

In Writing Workshop III: Comics, you’ll develop premises and storyboarding for your original comic, then develop solicitation copy to pitch it. This can translate to the advertising world.

In Project & Portfolio V, you’ll tackle various forms of editing (like copyediting, developmental editing, line editing, and proofreading) for your creative writing assignments.

Publishing

If you’re interested in the publishing industry, the Publishing & Distribution course will take you through the publication process from start to finish.

You’ll write, revise, and edit an e-book; write the book’s description copy and author bio; build and format the manuscript file; and upload your book to a service provider for distribution. You’ll also write press releases, solicit book reviews, and write copy to promote your e-book.

Multimedia Content Creation

Learning how to tell your stories through different mediums, like photos, videos, and graphic designs, can make you more attractive to employers. You’ll express a narrative through Adobe Creative Cloud programs like Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro in the Creative Writing program’s Multimedia Storytelling class.

“A lot of companies are looking for writers who can tell a story through multiple avenues,” says Creative Writing Department Chair Bethany DuVall. “They're looking for, not just someone who can put words on the page, but someone who can create content. And so those Adobe skills translate to multimedia content creation and storytelling through a variety of different methods.”  

For more details about the skills taught in Full Sail’s Creative Writing bachelor’s degree, check out the program’s full course catalog.