A creative writer resume will, by nature, be different from resumes in more corporate professions. After all, it's got the word "creative" in it.
Whatever your chosen form of creative writing, you need to build a resume to showcase your writing and content creation skills. Additionally, your writing samples and work experience should be completely accessible from a single content writing website — your writing portfolio.
In this article, however, I will focus on the creative writing resume. This resume guide will explore the types of creative writers who need a resume, tips to create a resume that best represents you as a content writer and creative writer resume samples that will inspire you to write a resume that stands out in the best possible way.
• Creative writers need a resume just as much as non-creative professionals. It's a little more challenging to create, simply because it’s more difficult to summarize what a creative writer does and what impact they have.
• Of course, I said difficult, not impossible. This article will give baseline and bonus data on what to put in a creative resume, how to format/design it, and tips on how to get the resume to stand out to prospective employers.
• You'll also find three examples of excellent creative writing resumes, sourced from reputed career advice and assistance websites. They represent what employer-approved resumes must look like, and what information they must communicate at a glance. There's also a link to a free resume template you can try to build your own.
• Your resume does not need to be extensive (the opposite) or choked with florid descriptions of your success so far (a few lines will do). Prioritize brevity, lead with tangible results, put some thought into color and design (optional), and above all, get to the point.
• Finally, since every resume should be accompanied by a strong portfolio, I've suggested a portfolio-building tool that will do 90% of the work for you. Check out the video on "How Authory works" — you enter the URL of the sites where your work is published, and Authory will import all your bylined work to its database. You can now look through all your pieces in a single location.
• Authory is a dedicated portfolio builder that imports your content from the internet, saves it forever, proves that you do not use AI to write, provides analytics data for your content, and so much more.
Creative content creators who need a creative writer resume
Authors
An author's resume is tricky because you can only build it after having published several books. It wouldn't make sense for me to provide a writer resume example with only one publication, because it says nothing about the author's sustained writing experience, writing style, or professional experience. One or two publications count as " little to no experience."
If you have not published more than a couple of books, your "resume" should be your portfolio (containing your creative writing pieces), author website, and social media content. They do a much better job of conveying your expertise.
Creative content writer
This includes long-form copy and more succinct copywriting, whether it be your full-time job or freelance gig.
The content of your resume will be common for both: list of employers, educational backgrounds, skills, and achievements. Both these resumes can be tailored to address a specific job description, and must ideally be accompanied by a solid writing portfolio. There is no better way to demonstrate your writing skills.
Scriptwriters, screenwriters, playwrights
What's more creative than the stage or screen? If you create plays, shows, or movies, your resume should have plenty to talk about. List all your writing projects, employers, show/play success rates, and awards, if you have any (hopefully plenty).
If you have worked on well-known productions consistently, you can get by with just a resume and no portfolio. But that requires your work to be known by name to all/most of your potential employers (for example, you've worked on the set of The Big Bang Theory).
Until you have reached that point in your career, it is wise to create a portfolio or creative writing website to back up the claims in your resume.
Your Creative Writer Resume Template: Essential Elements
A professional summary of your work experience
This is what the client will see right after your name on your professional resume. In about 2 to 4 sentences, mention your top skills, professional experience and achievements. This is the client's first introduction to you before they scan your entire writer's resume for information.
The primary function of a writer's resume is to create a positive impression of your skills and achievements in the employers' eyes. The summary is your first and most opportune moment to do that.
If you've read the job description, you'll get an idea of what the client wants in their ideal employee. Tweak the resume summary to appeal to those qualities. For example, if they are looking for someone with writing skills and a working knowledge of SEO, start your summary with something like: "SEO writer with 5+ years of experience in the B2B market."
List of skills pertaining to creative writing
Define the range of your writing skills. Use terms like "freelance writer," "beauty content writer," "video game reviewer," "scriptwriter for feature films," etc. Talk about what you specifically have brought to your writing projects and writing role.
Outside of just writing, clients also look for relevant skills — research, an understanding of SEO, the ability to interact with SMEs, and so on. So, be very clear about your skills and experience.
While your creativity is the very thing that gets you hired, keep the resume as straightforward as possible, especially in the skills section. You'll have room to be creative on your writing portfolio.
Work experience
This is the lengthiest and most important part of the resume. List all your previous roles and jobs, and lead with your achievements at every job: "wrote 50 articles that led to a 40% increase in website traffic within 6 months," for example. Make your resume about your specific impact on the job.
Statements like this showcase your relevant experience and level of expertise. Your experience as a creative writer is best represented by the kind of stories you have worked on. If you're trained other people, put that up front and center. Clearly highlight job titles, employers, job tenures, and duties for each role.
Education & achievements
Mention your college degree(s), especially if it’s in related fields like English, journalism, or some other humanities. Degrees in marketing or communication also go a long way in raising your employability.
Depending on what hiring managers require, you should mention your grades, college/university name/scholarships, etc. If you have won any awards or accolades, include them on your resume.
A great resume should also mention certifications in related courses like SEO, business writing, and industry-specific creative writing.
Creative Writer Resume Examples
Jessica Clair (professional resume)
I found this creative writer resume example on livecareer.com. It’s similar to my own resume format and contains all the essential information you need to communicate with the employer. Note that despite carrying a lot of information, it does not look cluttered. If you write and edit content, you know how essential an uncluttered, organized textual arrangement is for the reader's comfort.
Alicia Santos (depicting top skills via clever design)
This one is from resumebuilder.com. Notice the use of two colors and the unconventional content structuring choices. While there is no one right way to format a creative writing resume, a bit of visual appeal never goes wrong. If you can imbibe simple but effective design elements like this throughout your resume, it will help your resume stand out to potential employers.
Of course, you'll need a resume builder to put together such a document. My personal favorite is Canva.
Nina Owusu (an effective resume summary)
The source for this is standout-cv.com. Notice the resume summary in particular. In about 5 lines, the writer's professional experience is deftly summarized. The summary gives clients plenty to go on and helps quickly scan your resume for relevant information.
Bonus tips to AMP up your creative writing resume
Tailor your resume for each client and job description
One of the best skills you can acquire is to match your resume to a job description.
When sending your work history, rearrange or reword it to appeal to the client. I've offered an example before: play up the skills that directly impact your chances of getting this job. As far as possible, echo some of the words in the job description in your work history to send across a targeted and impactful resume.
At the end of the day, every employer is looking for a writer who instantly "gets it." The best way to become that writer is to relate the resume for each job description.
By echoing the language of the job description, you'll encourage positive associations with your resume in their minds.
Proofread your resume
You can't create compelling content with typos all over the place. If your resume is not pristine in its language, you won't even be able to showcase your writing in your portfolio. Your turn will be over immediately.
Before you submit a resume, proofread it three times. Eliminate all spelling errors, grammatical mistakes, and formatting inconsistencies. Have a friend proofread after you've done so. The errors will always show up easily for a second pair of eyes.
Always send the resume with the portfolio
Do this even if the clients do not specifically ask for it. Employers want to see where you've worked and then gauge the quality of your content writing. For example, if you are applying for a copywriting position, send your copywriting sample when you apply for the job. Always showcase your writing samples by default. Don't wait for the client to email/call back and ask for it.
This might sound like common knowledge, but it was a common mistake I (and quite a few of my peers) made in my early career days.
Authory: a dedicated portfolio builder that does most of the work
A great resume must be accompanied by an excellent portfolio to showcase your writing samples. You already know how to create your great resume. This section will introduce you to a tool that helps you set up a portfolio to demonstrate your writing. While there are many portfolio builders out there, Authory stands out by building your portfolio for you.
Yes, you read that right.
When you sign up for an Authory account (for free), you get the following:
A self-updating portfolio (no need to keep adding new work manually)
Authory will AUTOMATICALLY import a copy of every bylined piece from every site into its own database. You don't have to track down links to your published work (especially older pieces). As long as you remember the URL of the site where your work exists, Authory will collate all your content for you in one dashboard.
Automated backups (never lose your content, ever)
All the content that Authory imports from different sources is saved permanently. Even if the original website where it's published goes defunct for any reason, you'll always have a copy safely stored on Authory's server. All backups are in the original format — text and/or media. No screenshots.
Continued importing of past and future content (less effort for a 100% updated portfolio)
Once you enter a source, Authory won't just import your existing publications. Anything you publish on the same site (after you've fed its URL into Authory) in the future will also be imported automatically. In other words, Authory will import your past and future content.
Authory also sends email notifications for every new piece it imports, so you'll always know if something you submitted has been published.
Get started with Authory for free and see for yourself what works for you!
