Expressions: 'My dream job...', 'is TO BE A writer', 'is writING'

[Mollymillions]

Which of the following would be the correct way to say what your dream job is?

1 - "My dream job is to be a writer"
2 - "My dream job is writing"
3 - "My dream job is writer"

How do I explain it to a friend? I told him that the correct form could be either the first or the second options, but I'm not really certain of that, and I don't know how to explain why (and how) the other form is wrong. When I tried to explain it he made a point saying that his dream job was not "TO BE" or "BEING" something, but the profession (writer) itself.

Other thing is, how can I explain to someone that sometimes we have to be flexible while composing sentences, and not rely on the structure of a question to elaborate your answer? He only seems to accept that an answer is right when it follows the phrasing of the question. For example:

Q - "What was your dream job?"
His answer: "My dream job was..."

He would never say "My dream was to be a writer", he thinks that's a completely wrong answer hehe. What do you think? I'm 16 and I'm not a teacher yet (talking about dream jobs, that was mine heh), I'm just trying to teach him some basics, but these situations frustrate me beyond belief. :?

Do you have any tips on how to deal with stubborn and overly inquisitive students? :wink:

Thanks!

[Mollymillions]

anyone...? please? :(

[Alan]

Hi,

One way of explaining why the third sentence doesn't work is to explain that the indefinite article is used before occupations/jobs as in: I am a doctor and if that's what you want to do, you would say: I want to be/become a doctor or my ambition is to be/become a doctor. If that was something you really thought was the best job in the world, you would say: My dream(job) is to be/become a doctor. I wouldn't be so happy with

[Mollymillions]

Many, many thanks.