Entry Level Qualification 

12

Career Fields 

Humanities, Liberals Arts & Social Science

For Specially Abled 

,

Career Entrance Exam 

CUET UG, CUET PG

About Career 

A litterateur is synonymous with a writer or an author. It is defined as someone who is interested in literature in different languages around the world. Your work may cover various genres like:

1. Fiction: that uses imaginary events and people, for example, the Harry Potter series by J.K Rowling, Life of Pi by Yann Martel and Malgudi Days by RK Narayan.

2. Non-fiction: that is based on real events covered in biographies, essays or reference books. Some examples are A short history of nearly everything by Bill Bryson, wings of fire by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam and Mrs. Funnybones: She’s Just Like You and a Lot Like Me by Twinkle Khanna.

3. Some interesting styles of writing that have come up are comedy/satire, performance poetry, and self-help books. Having said that about current trends, pieces of fantasy literature like A Song of Fire and Ice written by George R.R. Martin in 1996 is also known to make a comeback in recent years.

4. As a litterateur, you have options to pick how you work and when you work. If you work for yourself, it may give you the liberty to set your own working hours, deadlines and choice of work.

5. Working full-time for a publishing or media house does come with its set of rules with respect to set working hours, nature of work and working with a team. Depending on what the company requirement from you is, you may have to write as per the specifications are given to you. When writing a script for a movie, for example, you may be collaborating with other writers, cinematographers, and directors as well. While they will rely on you for your expertise, you will have to work as per the brief was given to you.

Key Roles And responsibilities

Adding to the list of responsibilities mentioned above, the following are included too:

1. Building a career as a litterateur requires a lot of self-discipline when it comes to organizing your work structure and completing it on time.

2. Picking your field and style of writing so as to establish yourself from the beginning.

3. Identifying and understanding your target audience before publishing your work.

4. Creating an outline of the characters and basic storyline before developing it.

5. Consulting respective parties for checking facts and proofreading before presenting the final draft.

6. Following up the launch of your work with press conferences, interviews, and related public events.

Career Entry Pathway 

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies - Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - Bachelor’s degree with a major / honours in a language or literature or in Comparative Literature / Linguistics/ similar courses.

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can complete Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies. Following that you can pursue a Bachelor’s degree with a major or an honours in a language, comparative literature, linguistics or any similar subject.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies - Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - Bachelor's degree with major / honours in a language or literature or in Comparative Literature / Linguistics / similar courses - Master's degree in a Language / Comparative Literature / Linguistics / Creative Writing / Scriptwriting / similar courses.

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can complete Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can pursue a Bachelor’s degree with a major or an honours in a language, comparative literature, linguistics or any similar subject. For further studies, you can complete a Master’s degree in a Language / Comparative Literature / Linguistics / Creative Writing / Scriptwriting or other similar courses.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies - Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - Bachelor’s degree with specialization - Master’s degree with specialization - PhD in Literature / Creative Writing / similar courses.

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can complete Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can pursue a Bachelor’s degree with a major or an honours in a language, comparative literature, linguistics or any similar subject. For further studies, you can complete a Master’s degree in a Language / Comparative Literature / Linguistics / Creative Writing / Scriptwriting or other similar courses. If you wish to study after your Master’s degree, you can opt for a PhD in Literature / Creative Writing or other similar courses.

Required Qualification & Competencies 

1. Undergraduate Studies After School:

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies, you can complete Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies. Post that, you can complete a three-year Bachelor’s degree with a major in any subject/honours in a language or literature or in comparative literature/linguistics or a similar course.

2. Post Graduate studies:

After graduation, you can study for a Master’s degree in a language/linguistics/ creative writing/scriptwriting or a similar course.

​​​​​​​3. Doctoral Studies:

Following your Master’s degree, you can study further by opting for a Doctoral degree in either Literature, Creative Writing or any other subject in Humanities.

Competencies Required

Interests

1. Investigative: You should have interests for Investigative Occupations. Investigative occupations involve working with ideas and quite a lot of thinking, often abstract or conceptual thinking. These involve learning about facts and figures; involve use of data analysis, assessment of situations, decision making and problem solving.

2. Artistic: You should have interests for Artistic Occupations. Artistic occupations mostly involve working with creative ideas, art and designs. These occupations involve abstract or conceptual thinking, creative self-expression and often do not follow any set processes or rules for getting things done.

3. Social: You should have interests for Social Occupations. Social occupations involve helping or assisting others; these involve working with and communicating with people to provide various services; these may involve educating and advising others.

Knowledge

1. Education and Training: Knowledge of various principles and methods of developing training or teaching curriculum, design of instructional methods, developing course materials, teaching and giving instruction individuals and groups.

2. English Language: Knowledge about English grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, using English to communicate with others, reading in English, etc.

3. Foreign Language: Knowledge about the grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, etc. of a foreign language and using the language to communicate with others, reading, etc.

4. Vernacular Language: Knowledge about the grammar, words, spelling, sentence construction, etc. of a local language and using the language to communicate with others, reading, etc.

Skills

1. Active Learning: Focused and continuous learning from various sources of information, observation and otherwise for application in getting work done.

2. Communication in English: Skills in communicating effectively in writing as well as verbally with others in English language.

3. Communication in Foreign Languages: Skills in communicating effectively in writing as well as verbally with others in a foreign language such as French, German, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Spanish, etc.

4. Communication in Vernacular Languages: Skills in communicating effectively in writing as well as verbally with others in a local or indigenous language such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Bengali, Assamese, etc.

5. Critical Thinking: Skills in analysis of complex situations, using of logic and reasoning to understand the situations and take appropriate actions or make interpretations and inferences.

6. Instruction: Skills in training others how to do something.

7. Judgment and Decision Making: Skills in considering pros and cons of various decision alternatives; considering costs and benefits; taking appropriate and suitable decisions.

8. Reading Comprehension: Skills in understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.

9. Teaching: Skills in teaching and educating others about various academic and applied subjects across different academic fields.

10. Writing: Skills in communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the readers.

Abilities

1. Abstract Reasoning: The ability to understand ideas which are not expressed in words or numbers; the ability to understand concepts which are not clearly expressed verbally or otherwise.

2. Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules and common logic to specific problems to produce answers that are logical and make sense. For example, understanding the reasons behind an event or a situation using general rules and common logic.

3. Emotional Intelligence: The ability to understand your own and others' emotions and feelings; empathy for others; adjusting your behaviour or self-control and self-regulation according to others' emptions and situations.

4. Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).

5. Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information from various sources, concepts, and theories to form general rules or conclusions. For example, analysing various events or situations to come out with a set of rules or conclusions.

6. Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

7. Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

8. Verbal Reasoning: The ability to think and reason with words; the ability to reason out ideas expressed in words.

9. Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

10. Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Personality

1. You are a soft-hearted person sometimes.

2. You trust others sometimes but not always.

3. You are helpful to others sometimes.

4. You are self-satisfied sometimes but some other times you don't feel satisfied with your life and situations.

5. You are imaginative sometimes.

6. You prefer to experience new things and have new experiences sometimes.

7. You are caring, supportive, sympathetic and kind to others sometimes.

Career - Job Opportunities & Profiles 

1. As a litterateur, you will mostly be working for yourself or with a publishing company. You may start out with having a regular job in any field but if you gain some reputation, you will most likely be working on your own.

2. Some of the most popular publishing houses in India are Penguin Random House, Westland Publishers, Harper Collins, and Pirates

​​​​​​​Work Environment

Some writers are self-employed while some work for an organization or take on commissioned work. A litterateur will most likely work with people in a multicultural environment having various linguistic backgrounds. You may choose to work part-time or full-time, depending on the nature of the work. A part of this field will also include some amount of traveling for research purposes, to meet clients and editors, conduct in-person interviews, and attend events and launches.

Specialisation Tracks In This Career

1. Novelist

Writing a novel is more than just about having a great idea. It’s about writing compelling characters, creating unique situations for them that force them to take some sort of action, working on plots and dialog styles. Typically, novelists work with literary agents to get their books published and sold, but self-published books are an upward trend too nowadays.

2. Poet

A poem is a form of literature that consists of elements like rhythm, metrical patterns, alliteration and assonance. Some of the most popular forms of poetry around the world are sonnets (late middle ages), Haiku (Japanese), Odes (ancient greek) and Ghazals (urdu, arabic, persian and bengali poetry). Some genres within these forms of poetry are narrative, epic and lyrical poetry. Poems could be self published as collections, or could be written for advertisements, movies and tv shows and songs too.

3. Non-Fiction Writer

Being a non-fiction writer involves a lot of research since your work will include stating facts and figures. Non-fiction is based on real events, experience and observations that help us understand the world better. This style of writing includes writing reports, autobiographies, nature and travel writing.

4. Editor (Publishing)

As an editor, you will mainly be responsible for the style and content of the publication. You’re in charge of curating ideas and themes and are required to have excellent grammatical and leadership skills since your role will also involve ensuring processes run smoothly and coordinating with the production and advertising teams. Examples of publishing companies are newspaper, magazine, books and online publishing.

5. Ghost Writer

A ghost writer is an invisible contributor of content. The piece is written on behalf of the client and the actual writer is unaccredited. A ghostwriter is a popular choice amongst high profile public figures have a story to tell, but may not have the skill to do so. This includes politicians, musicians and celebrities. One of the biggest pluses of being a ghostwriter is easily being able to shift from one topic to another whilst still maintaining high quality in work.

Career Growth

1. At an entry level in a publishing company, you may start out as an Editorial Trainee and after 2-3 years, you may get promoted to an Assistant Editor. If you aim for a rank higher, you can further get promoted to a Managing Editor, and ultimately work as an Editor-in-chief at a publishing company.

2. If you have gained some recognition and choose to work on your own, you have the liberty of working with any company on your own terms.

Salary Offered  

1. Litterateurs can work on a full-time basis, commission basis as well as a freelance writer, which dictates the income one can earn from this. If you choose to work independently, depending on various factors such as the quality and recognition of your work, you can negotiate a quote ranging from Rs. 100 - Rs. 1,000 per hour.

2. When working with a publishing company, they pay you royalties in exchange for the right to publish your work. Royalties are percentages of the book sales that are negotiable at some companies, while some have standard rates. Depending on your contract with the company, you can earn your royalties based either on retail sales or net sales.

3. Working full-time with a publishing company at a junior designation can earn you an annual salary between Rs. Rs. 1.25 to Rs. 4.5 lakh. At a higher level, you can earn from Rs. Rs. 1.75 to Rs. 7.5 lakh, and at a senior level, you can earn Rs. 2.25 to Rs. 12 lakh annually.

Monthly Earnings In Indian Rupee 

1. Entry level: 0 - 2 years of work experience

2. Junior Level: From 1 to 12 years of work experience

3. Mid Level: From 5 to 20+ years of work experience

4. Senior Level: From 10 to 25+ years of work experience (there could be exceptions in some high-end technical, financial, engineering, creative, management, sports, and other careers; also in the near future, people will reach these levels much faster in many careers and in some careers, these levels will have no meaning as those careers will be completely tech skill driven such as even now, there is almost no level in a Cyber Security Expert’s job)

Famous Personalities 

Not Available.

Work Activities 

As a Litterateur, you must be comfortable with constantly working with different people and different formats. Some of your other tasks are the following:

1. Developing and maintaining interpersonal relationships: Developing professional relationships with co-workers and others outside organizations and maintaining good relationships.

2. Getting Information and learning: Observing, hearing, reading, using computers, or otherwise obtaining information and learning from it.

3. Organizing, planning and prioritizing tasks: Planning and organizing tasks in order to achieve work goals; prioritizing tasks to achieve goals and making the best use of the time available.

4. Updating and using relevant knowledge: Keeping updated with the latest knowledge relevant to your fields of work and use of the relevant knowledge in getting things done.

5. Using computers for work: Using computers for day-to-day office work; using computer software for various applications in day-to-day professional work; entering data and process information; for writing.