A professional who writes original prose material for publication. Responsibilities include:

• Selects subject matter based on personal interest or receives specific assignment from publisher.
• Conducts research and makes notes to retain ideas, develop factual information, and obtain authentic detail.
• Organizes material and plans arrangement or outline.
• Develops factors, such as theme, plot, order, characterization, and story line.
• Writes draft of manuscript.
• Reviews, revises, and corrects it and submits material for publication.
• Confers with publisher's representative regarding manuscript changes.
• May specialize in one or more styles or types of writing, such as descriptive or critical interpretations or analyses, essays, magazine articles, short stories, novels, and biographies.