Content Operations

A Day in the Life of a Content Writer: Masters of the Written Online Word (Infographic)

A Day in the Life of a Content Writer: Masters of the Written Online Word (Infographic)

If writing copy was a super power, the content writer is certainly the superhero of the online realm. They use their creativity and killer communication skills to earn a fruitful living. They’re highly motivational and they can literally convince consumers to buy products… right from their computer screens.

What goes on in their day? What motivates the content writer, and how hard do they work? Check out the infographic we wrote and put together below for the answer!

Feel free to share! Have something you’d add to a “day in the life?”

content writer life infographic

 

Infographic: A Day in the Life of a Content Writer: Masters of the Written Online Word

The day in the life of a content writer is dynamic, fast-paced, filled with research, and honing their natural writing talents. Here’s an inside glimpse into their lives!

3 Facts About Content Writers

FACT: 24% of full-time freelancer writers work at least 25 hours per week. Content writers work morning, noon, and night. They have very flexible schedules as long as they meet deadlines.

FACT: 65% of people start their day with a cup of coffee. If you’re a content writer, you’re probably reaching for that cup of Joe right from the time that you wake up.

FACT: A content writer practically lives in their email inbox. 205 billion emails are sent per day, and some days it feels like 203 billion emails hit your inbox. Then you’ll have days where you receive no emails at all.

The Content Writer’s Workload: An Inside Look

What is their workload like?

The most skilled content writers are booked months in advance—and some even have a waiting list.

Content writers can be assigned specific topics by clients, or they’re left to strategize topic ideas on their own. A savvy content writer will use many resources to discover useful and interesting topic ideas. A content calendar helps keep many professional content writers on track. The content calendar includes client names, blog topics, due dates, publishing dates, and more.

When it’s time to write, a content writer can write very high or very low word counts per day. An ad copywriter may only write 100 words for a commercial, while a blogger can write 2,000 words to whip up a blog post.

  • Productivity tip #1: Content writing assignments should be tackled by order of due date. The highest priority items are worked on first.
  • Productivity tip #2: If due dates aren’t looming, a content writer may choose to tackle the toughest task first. This will help easier tasks fly by the rest of the day.

Different content writing styles will activate different parts of the writer’s brain.

A technical writer who covers engineering topics will use their left brain during the most of the day. The left brain controls tasks that are related to logic, such as science and mathematics.

A creative blog writer will primarily use the right side of their brain, which is responsible for creative and artistic tasks.

Editing: Once content is complete, a content writer will likely edit their own work or pass it along to a trusted professional editor.

The average content writer can expect to make around $240 for an 8-hour work day, or roughly $30 per hour.

The career of a content writer might not be for everyone, but those who master it will find plenty of work and make a lucrative living.

References

Get your best-fit content writer at Express Writers!

Adam Oakley

Adam Oakley

President & CEO

Adam Oakley is the President and CEO of Express Writers. He acquired the content marketing agency in 2021 and repositioned it through the AI disruption, shifting it from a founder-led brand to a team-led one on a simple principle: authority is built by people. Adam brings more than fifteen years of operations and client-services leadership to the agency. Before Express Writers, he spent twelve years helping scale AltSource, a software development and IT consulting firm, from $500K to $30M in revenue and from five to more than 200 people. There he ran Fortune 500 client services, co-negotiated a $72M anchor engagement, and led the technical due diligence on the client's roughly $1B sale, exiting as Managing Partner. Earlier, he built the marketing and early-SEO function for a specialty manufacturer, where his content roots began. He holds a B.S. in Business and Communications from Oregon State University. Adam writes on content strategy, operations, and building durable authority in the AI era.

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Quarterly notes from senior content marketers.

Real practice from the people who write and edit the work. No AI fluff, four times a year.