Time For A Change

Writers are grossly underpaid in India. As a content writer, I started my career with just 10 paise per word. Just imagine 10 paise per word. Content writing jobs sound cool but in reality, they are bullshit jobs. These are target-oriented jobs where you have to write a specific number of words in a day. As agencies pay peanuts like remunerations to writers, writers tend to focus on quantity rather than quality. So if a content writer gets paid 10 paise per word and he completes four 500-word articles in a day, it means he earns Rs. 200 per day (500*4*.10). Naturally, to earn more, writers like to increase their daily word-count. I knew a writer who used to write 5000 words daily. However, this is not possible for everyone. To stack up the number of words, content writers cheat. If I copy three consecutive words from a blog available online, only then plagiarism checking tools can find it. Content writers don’t copy three consecutive words to avoid getting caught in the plagiarism tool. However, the content idea remains the same. The idea gets copied which is also a form of stealing. This way mediocre and bullshit content gets generated in India daily. Those are just copies from the articles published in the west. The research that content writers do is basically from which article they like to steal the ideas. This way every day, many clichéd articles and blogs get generated.

I’ve worked as a digital copywriter. Digital copywriting is one of the hardest works in the advertising industry. The reason I am saying this because, digital copywriters in an agency work with digital marketers, not creative directors. Digital marketers have little understanding of copywriting compare to a creative director (copy). This is affecting the creativity factor in digital marketing. You won’t get to see highly creative works in digital marketing. First of all, the life of a creative in the digital world is lesser than in print which forces the agencies to create more works every day. It is responsible for creating cliché-ridden creatives. As digital copywriters have to follow a content calendar that means they have to produce copy more often than a mainline copywriter. As a result, you put less time behind in brainstorming and ideating. I believe digital copywriters should get a creative director (copy).

Copywriters and content writers of India should have a platform where they can put forward their grievances. Film writers have a platform. But not content writers. Especially writers those who work on a freelance basis should get a platform through which they can establish contact with the government.

The government also needs to acknowledge the growing numbers of writers in India. In the west, if a writer is asked for a change after their first draft then they charge more. In India, writers are asked to change in their writing as much time as the client is not satisfied. Writers need to get their due respect.

Writing jobs needs to get recognized. And the pay scale needs to be formalized. There should be minimum rates for freelance content and copywriters determined by the government.  Time has arrived for a change mentally.