Nine Authentic Career Paths for Writers and Artists

Today's post comes from guest author Ingrid Stabb, co-author of The Career Within You.

Creative people come in all career types--not one personality type has a corner on creativity. In The Career Within You, Elizabeth Wagele and I describe nine different sets of career strengths. To be successful and fulfilled, your work life must reflect your true self, including calling upon the strengths you already possess.

Check out the quizzes and our individualized approach for determining your career type and forging the career path that best suits you: www.careerwithinyou.com. A wide variety of paths lead to successful, creative self-employment.

1. If you’re the Perfectionist like Meryl Streep, you are motivated to do the right thing and achieve excellence in your work. While almost all artists and writers have a touch of perfectionism, here we’re talking about the person who excels in courteousness, logical thinking, making improvements, meticulousness or responsibility. If you have good attention to detail you excel in roles ranging from actor to photographer to technical writer. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in responsibility.
2. If you’re the Helper like Danielle Steele you attend to others’ needs and relationships are everything. You typically find yourself in roles that require interacting with people, and if not, like Steele, you write bestselling novels about love relationships. Your strengths may include expressiveness, people skills, perceptiveness, problem solving or reliability. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in reliability.
3. If you’re an Achiever like F. Scott Fitzgerald, you work to achieve a successful image. You’re competitive and as a writer or artist you want to be the best. You stand out by your ability to inspire, your drive to win, your efficiency, your problem solving or your public relations skills. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in your drive to win.
4. If you’re a Romantic like Johnny Depp you live to express your individuality. You are the classic “creative type” and it is absolutely necessary to find your voice or medium to find fulfillment. The strengths that make you unique might be your ability to discern, your aesthetic sense, your compassion, your imagination or your sense of meaning. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in your ability to discern.
5. If you’re an Observer like Emily Dickinson your aim is to acquire knowledge. Observers abound in all writing fields including journalism, technical writing, lyrics, nonfiction, novels, poems and scripts. Your strengths may include the ability to focus, complex thinking, objectivity, sensitivity or working independently. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in working independently.
6. If you’re a Questioner like Dustin Hoffman you work to reduce risk and many of you have incredible wit. Most top comedians are Questioners. You have honed your craft through your carefulness or it comes naturally to you through your intuition. Your strengths may include critical thinking, exactness, identifying with others, skepticism or taking precautions. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in taking precautions.
7. If you’re an Adventurer like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, you are always exploring possibilities. You’re likely to combine multiple creative pursuits into one career such as performance art, publicity, painting, journalism and being a talk show host. You shine with enthusiasm, idealism, seeking challenges, social networking, or multi-disciplinary thinking. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in seeking challenges.
8. If you’re an Asserter like Pablo Picasso, your goal is to set clear boundaries. You especially enjoy being your own boss. In addition to being the writer or artist, you also make a great agent with your natural negotiation skills. Your strengths may include competitiveness, leadership, logical thinking, protectiveness and self-reliance. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in self-reliance.
9. If you’re a Peace Seeker like Garrison Keillor you seek to create harmony and inner calm. For some of you editing or architecture are great fits. Repetition helps you perfect your craft. Your shine with a capacity to repeat, empathy, mediating, ability to synthesize information or teamwork. You’ll do especially well in self-employment when you score high in synthesizing information.