5 Great Writing-Intensive Internships

By the time you’ve declared a major in English, Journalism, or Communications, you know you want to write as a way of making your living. You also know—hopefully—that the best way to ensure a job after college is to gain some experience in the workforce as a writer. Most of the time you’ll spend your summers in college working to build credentials for that future resume, but where do you start? In order to get that experience, you’ll need to land an internship. It can be challenging to find a position, but with a little creativity and some helpful tips, you can find great summer internships that focus on building out your writing. 

1. Newspapers

If you plan to save some money and go home for the summer, one of the first places you should contact is your hometown newspaper. Every town has one of these, and they are usually more than willing to give the local college kid some assignments to take on—or to take off of someone else’s plate! It’s ok to start small here; what you’re looking for is experience and clips to add to your qualifications.

2. Non-Profit Organizations

Students looking for internships would do well to look here for a place to practice their writing skills. In interning for a non-profit,  you’ll be be exposed to all different types of writing including (potentially) press releases, Website copy, electronic (and paper!) newsletters, grant-writing and more. You may need to decide before you apply whether you’re more interested in PR and marketing or in fundraising, as at larger organizations these are frequently different departments. 

3. Publishers

Most cities, even small cities, have at least one publisher in town. This could be the group that puts out the local wedding, dining, or recreation guides at local businesses or it might be larger book publisher. Writing is at the forefront of their businesses, which makes interning for a publisher ideal to an aspiring writer. 

4. Visitor’s Centers

If there’s a historical landmark, a body of water, a festival, or a tourist site nearby, there’s sure to be a visitor’s center.  What might that have to do with writing?  The people who run these centers need someone to write web content, copy, press releases, and ads for whatever local attractions they’re trying to promote.  

5. Lawyer’s offices

You know you want to write, but the idea of law school is lingering at the back of your mind, a lawyer’s office would be a prime place for you to intern. Writing plays a huge role in the life of an attorney; somebody writes all of those legal documents, right?  Drafting briefs, letters, and motions to clients and to the courts will give you some writing experience as well as some insight into what it’s really like to be an attorney.  

These are just some suggestions about places to look for a summer internship for writers; it’s likely you can think of more—after all, you’re a creative writer. Be encouraged: writing takes place at pretty much every business you can think of; it’s up to you to offer them your skills in return for that resume-building experience you’re looking for.

The author works for an online algebra tutoring company and loves to write!

Categories: College Life   Tags: writing internships