1 Read four students’ plans for a career in writing. Match the statements (1–6) with the people (A–D). You can choose the people more than once.
A Katy
People are always asking me what I’m going to do in the future and until now I haven’t really known how to reply. It’s difficult to explain that I think my future lies in writing. When I first mentioned it to my parents, they didn’t laugh but they acted as though it was something I would grow out of and they were confident that I would get a ‘proper job’ eventually. But I’ve always been serious about being a writer. I love the English language and I’ve been a keen reader since the age of five. I’ve done a lot of short stories and some have been printed in magazines. What I’d really like is to write thrillers. I know that sounds crazy and many people don’t think thrillers are real books at all. But I love a good puzzle, so that’s what I say now. ‘I’m going to be a thriller writer.’ Then I wait to see the expression on people’s faces!

B Giles
My dad and my uncle were both journalists and wrote for Sunday newspapers. We always had people in the house who were connected with newspapers and news and I grew up with their conversations in the background. It must have rubbed off on me because I desperately want to follow in Dad’s footsteps and become a journalist, too. I don’t think I’d like to do exactly the same as he did – he was a political journalist – because I’m not that serious about politics, but I’d like to travel and maybe write reports from different places around the world. I can see myself writing about environmental problems in Australia or North Africa or somewhere like that.

C Terry
When you’re a kid, you have no real idea of what you’re going to do in the future. You might have a dream of being a famous footballer or actress or even a princess (that was my younger sister’s strong belief!). But most people don’t really know the sort of person they’re going to be, so deciding on a future career is tricky. It was only last summer that I suddenly knew what I wanted to do and that was to become a writer. I’ve always done drama in my free time and I suddenly realised that I was pretty good at writing dialogue. So next term I’m going to start a screen writing course. With luck, one day I’ll be writing the soaps and dramas you watch on TV!

D Sarah
We had a creative writing course at my secondary school last year and I went on it because I’ve liked writing for a long time. I always wrote diaries when I was younger and I also used to write short, funny stories for the other kids in my class to read at primary school. However, it soon became quite clear that I wasn’t going to be the next great English novelist! I’m just not patient enough and I don’t think I’ve got the skill to write complex books. But I am clever with words, so what I’d like to do is to go into the advertising world, writing adverts. What you need in that job is to write things that are catchy but short and funny. I think it’s the right profession for me because there will be lots of variety and I’ll be working in a busy, fast-moving world. I’m glad I went on the creative writing course though, because I learned that there are all sorts of jobs which involve writing, which is why I’ve made this decision.
Which person:
1 believes his/her choice of career was influenced by his/her upbringing? ………………………
2 has chosen a writing career because of another hobby?………………………
3 has already had some success with his/her writing?………………………
4 wants a job working in a high-pressure environment?………………………
5 says that family members didn’t believe he/she was serious about his/her future plans? ……………
6 enjoys writing things that other people find humorous?………………………/6
2 Read the article again and choose the best answers, A, B or C.
1 Katy found it difficult to
A decide what she wants to do.
B justify her career choice.
C become a thriller writer.
2 She thinks that thrillers are considered
A a less important form of writing.
B too difficult to understand.
C to be difficult to create.
3 Giles wants
A to be just like his father.
B to travel before he decides what to do.
C to work in a different way to his father.
4 Terry believes that young people find it difficult to choose a career because they
A don’t know anything about different jobs.
B don’t know themselves very well.
C are too influenced by what they see on television.
5 Sarah
A has tried various forms of writing.
B has always wanted to work in advertising.
C is impatient to become a novelist.
6 Writing for advertising
A is not as good as being a novelist.
B requires different skills to writing novels.
C is more difficult than writing novels./6