Writing, as a profession, has always been looked upon with scepticism. Till the 90’s parents would be crestfallen at the idea of their son wanting to pursue writing as a career. Even the most encouraging among them would advice their children to have “something to fall back on”. In most cases they were quite justified given that the path to prosperity was not the easiest one and it usually took a herculean effort to reach the zenith of success. Thankfully the scenario has changed drastically today. With newer prospects opening up like never before, writing is the “happening” industry today. If we analyse the revival of writing as a career choice, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Internet has done its bit in breathing life into the career. Internet has opened up many new branches of writing. One of the most popular ones among them is probably content writing.

Content writing, simply said, is providing content for websites. The success of a website results from its online popularity as well as realisation of the business aims behind it. Content writing requires a writer to write content which would help a website achieve this twofold goal, i.e. the content should be informative and also effective in drawing visitors to the website. This makes content writing serve as an important marketing tool.

Thus the rise of content writing as a profession can be credited to the business industry. No matter how ironic it may sound, content writing is actually a by-product of the marketing renaissance in the business world. This makes content writing defy the usual norms associated with writing. Marketing motives rather than creative gratification become the driving force behind the writing. With keywords providing the guiding light, there is barely any scope for searching for the ever elusive writer’s inspiration. Moreover, deadlines and time constraints make indulgence in writer-like whims unthinkable.

In spite of being rather business-oriented content writing has gained popularity among young writers. While for many the handsome pay cheque at the end of the month provides financial sustenance many look at it as a platform to acquire credibility as a writer before moving on to bigger things. Though it gives reason enough to draw strong disapproval from a literary puritan content writing is soon becoming the stepping stone for many a budding writer.