Once again I have taken to the creative job postings section of craigslist to try to find that coveted “comedy writer – ice cream taster” position of which legends are told. I’ve searched before with no luck but I replied to one of the listings (see the listing here) anyway to feel productive.

Hi. My name is Bill Young. I’m a comedian/writer based out of Minneapolis. In response to your ad looking for a creative writer I thought I’d do something a little different. Rather than submit a resume or a sample of my writings, I will proofread your ad as my application. I’ll paste your ad here in the email and put my notes in italics (the text that slants to the right).

Conducts research to obtain factual information and authentic detail, utilizing sources such as newspaper accounts, diaries, and interviews.
Okay, first off I know that it isn’t necessary to address the reader in second or third person since, potentially, only people wanting the job will read this but it’s good form. You should start out with “Our applicants will-” or “This position requires you to-“. Let’s stick with “you” because you don’t want to bounce between second and third person. The phrase “obtain factual information and authentic detail” and everything that follows is horribly redundant. How about you make that whole chunk much shorter and concise by stating “detailed research using verifiable sources”? You don’t really need to explain every little detail of what that means. Remember, you’re looking for a creative writer. They should get it.



Reviews, submits for approval, and revises written material to meet personal standards and satisfy needs of client, publisher, director, or producer.
“Reviews” and “revises” pretty much mean the same thing in this context and “meet personal standards” can sound ambiguous so why don’t we just say “Once hired, you will (remember to address the applicant!) be responsible for editing own material”. While I’m not exactly sure of what your firm does because you didn’t really explain your company or give it’s website or even a name (hey you should do that), I assume that publishers, directors and producers are all people the writer will be generating the content for so you basically said “satisfy need of client, client, client or client”.



Selects subject or theme for writing project based on personal interest and writing specialty, or assignment from publisher, client, producer, or director.
You probably don’t need a comma before “or” since it’s a conjunction and you’re not joining two sentences together. Let’s throw “for writing project” out as well since the applicant will only be doing writing projects. How about “Our clients will give you the themes but you may select them on your own. This will be done on a project by project basis so flexibility is required.”



Develops factors, such as theme, plot, characterization, psychological analysis, historical environment, action, and dialogue, to create material.
Some more info and less redundancy would be great here. I assume from this line that your applicants may need to do some short fiction based on the whole “theme, plot, characterization etc” so just tell them that they’ll need to build short fiction from the ground up.



Writes humorous material for publication or performance, such as comedy routines, gags, comedy shows, or scripts for entertainers.
“Comedy experience in stand up and sketch preferred”. I know I’m breaking my own rule here but it’s okay to deviate from that once in a while if you’re just describing the job.

We will need to verbally speak to all our waiters, So please send your phone number.
You’re looking for waiters? If this is all a ruse to get out of work writers to sling hash then you don’t need to trick them. Most writers are also waiters anyway. If that was just a typo, remember to actually read your posting and not just rely on spellcheck because sometimes you can misspell a word into a real word. Also, “verbally speak” is again redundant so why not just say “Phone interview required before hiring”.



Writes fiction or nonfiction prose work, such as short story, novel, biography, article, descriptive or critical analysis, or essay.
There’s that comma hanging around with “or” again. “Or” also seems to be between “descriptive” and “critical”. You might want an “and” instead since “descriptive” and “critical” aren’t really opposites. It’s not one or the other.



Writes play or script for moving pictures or television, based on original ideas or adapted from fictional, historical, or narrative sources.
This seems to just be an extension of the last paragraph (only a sentence really but you’re double spacing all of them so they become paragraphs). Also, “adapted from fictional, historical, or narrative sources” covers most every type of source so just say “a variety of sources”.



Organizes material for project, plans arrangement or outline, and writes synopsis.
Ugh. This just sums up stuff that’s been covered here and there throughout the ad so far so just get rid of it.