Top 12 Author Skills to Put on Your Resume
Crafting an engaging resume as an author demands a strategic showcase of your unique blend of creativity, proficiency, and communication skills. Highlighting the top skills that reflect your adept storytelling, innovative thinking, and ability to connect with diverse audiences can significantly elevate your career prospects in the literary world.
Author Skills
- Scrivener
- Grammarly
- ProWritingAid
- Google Docs
- Microsoft Word
- Adobe InDesign
- WordPress
- SEO Optimization
- Trello
- Evernote
- Hootsuite
- Canva
1. Scrivener
Scrivener is a comprehensive writing tool designed for authors, providing a flexible platform for drafting, organizing, and formatting long documents like novels, research papers, and screenplays.
Why It's Important
Scrivener is important for an author because it provides a comprehensive writing, organization, and editing platform, enabling efficient management of research, drafting, and structuring of complex documents, ultimately streamlining the writing process and enhancing productivity.
How to Improve Scrivener Skills
To enhance your experience with Scrivener as an author, consider these concise tips:
Organize Your Research: Use the Binder to keep all your research in one place. Import web pages, images, and PDFs for quick reference. Scrivener’s Documentation offers detailed guidance on organizing materials.
Customize the Corkboard: Tailor the Corkboard for plotting. Use color-coded index cards to represent different storylines or characters. This feature is well-explained in Scrivener’s Video Tutorials.
Utilize the Split Screen Feature: Compare documents side by side or reference research while writing. This can significantly improve your workflow. For a quick how-to, refer to the Scrivener Tutorial.
Set Writing Targets: Use Project Targets to keep track of your word count goals. This keeps you motivated and on schedule. Scrivener’s manual provides insight on setting up targets under the Project Targets section.
Compile with Ease: Scrivener’s Compile feature allows you to format and export your manuscript to various formats. Understanding this feature is crucial, and the Scrivener Blog often shares tips and updates on compiling effectively.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Learn and use Scrivener’s keyboard shortcuts to speed up your writing and navigation within the software. A quick reference can be found in the Scrivener Manual.
Use Templates and Icons: Customize your workspace with templates and icons that suit your project. This personalization can make the writing process more intuitive and enjoyable. Scrivener offers a selection, and further options can be found on community forums like Literature and Latte’s Forums.
Regular Backups: Ensure your work is safe by setting up automatic backups. This process is detailed in the Scrivener Manual, under the backup section.
Explore Third-Party Integrations: Integrate Scrivener with tools like ProWritingAid or Grammarly for enhanced editing capabilities. Information on integration can be found through their respective websites or community forums.
Participate in the Scrivener Community: Join forums and social media groups where users share tips, templates, and encouragement. The Literature and Latte’s Forums is a great place to start.
By implementing these strategies, you can significantly enhance your efficiency and enjoyment while using Scrivener for your writing projects.
How to Display Scrivener Skills on Your Resume
2. Grammarly
Grammarly is a digital writing tool that offers grammar, spelling, and style checks to help authors improve the clarity, effectiveness, and correctness of their writing.
Why It's Important
Grammarly is important for an author because it helps ensure clear, error-free, and impactful writing by automatically detecting and correcting grammatical mistakes, punctuation errors, and style inconsistencies.
How to Improve Grammarly Skills
To improve Grammarly for authors, consider the following concise suggestions:
Contextual Understanding Enhancement: Enhance its AI to better understand the context and style of different genres to offer more relevant suggestions. This includes recognizing creative writing styles versus academic or technical writing.
Expand Vocabulary Suggestions: Integrate a broader, more diverse vocabulary database, including idiomatic expressions, literary terms, and genre-specific jargon. Tools like Thesaurus.com can serve as a model for expanding vocabulary options.
Customizable Style Guides: Allow authors to customize style guides according to their or their publishers' specific requirements. This feature could follow the example of The Chicago Manual of Style Online.
Enhanced Feedback for Plot and Character Development: Develop features that provide feedback on story elements such as plot consistency and character development. Incorporating AI similar to that used by Reedsy might be beneficial.
Collaboration Features: Introduce more robust collaboration tools that allow real-time feedback and editing capabilities with editors and co-authors, similar to what Google Docs offers.
By focusing on these areas, Grammarly can become a more powerful tool for authors, helping them refine their manuscripts with greater precision and creativity.
How to Display Grammarly Skills on Your Resume
3. ProWritingAid
ProWritingAid is a digital writing assistant designed for authors, providing grammar checking, style editing, and suggestions to improve clarity, readability, and overall writing quality.
Why It's Important
ProWritingAid is important for an author because it serves as a comprehensive writing assistant, offering real-time grammar checking, style editing, and suggestions for improving clarity and readability, thus enhancing the overall quality of their manuscripts.
How to Improve ProWritingAid Skills
To improve your experience with ProWritingAid as an author, consider the following concise strategies:
Customize Your Style Guide: Tailor ProWritingAid's settings to match your specific writing style or the requirements of your genre. This ensures the advice is relevant to your work.
Utilize the Thesaurus and Word Explorer: Enhance your vocabulary and avoid repetition by exploring synonyms and related words, making your writing more engaging. ProWritingAid's Thesaurus.
Incorporate the Writing Reports: Make full use of over 20 different writing reports to identify weaknesses in your writing, such as passive voice, adverb overuse, and readability issues. This helps in refining your manuscript. Explore Reports.
Regularly Update Your Software: Ensure you're using the latest version of ProWritingAid to benefit from new features and improvements. Update ProWritingAid.
Join the ProWritingAid Community: Engage with other authors in the community for tips, advice, and shared experiences. This can provide you with new insights and motivation. ProWritingAid Community.
Attend ProWritingAid Webinars: Participate in educational webinars to learn directly from writing experts about how to make the most of the tool and improve your writing skills. Webinars.
By focusing on these strategies, you can maximize the benefits of ProWritingAid for your writing projects.
How to Display ProWritingAid Skills on Your Resume
4. Google Docs
Google Docs is a cloud-based word processing tool that allows authors to create, edit, and collaborate on documents in real-time from any internet-enabled device.
Why It's Important
Google Docs is important for an author because it offers real-time collaboration, cloud-based storage, easy accessibility from any device, and automatic saving, enhancing the writing process and ensuring work safety and convenience.
How to Improve Google Docs Skills
To improve Google Docs for an author, focus on these key areas:
- Enhance Organization: Use the Table of Contents feature for easy navigation.
- Improve Writing: Leverage Grammarly for Chrome to catch grammatical errors and enhance your writing style.
- Streamline Research: Utilize the Explore tool within Docs for quick access to web resources.
- Enhance Collaboration: Share your document with editors or peers for feedback using the Share and collaborate feature.
- Backup and Access: Ensure your work is always accessible and safe by setting up Google Drive Backup and Sync.
By incorporating these tools and features, you can significantly enhance your productivity and writing quality in Google Docs.
How to Display Google Docs Skills on Your Resume
5. Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processing software used by authors for writing, editing, and formatting documents.
Why It's Important
Microsoft Word is crucial for authors because it offers advanced editing, formatting, and collaboration tools, enabling efficient writing, revision, and publishing of their work.
How to Improve Microsoft Word Skills
Improving Microsoft Word for authors focuses on enhancing organization, creativity, and efficiency. Here are concise strategies:
Use Templates: Start with a template tailored to writing (novels, scripts, etc.) to streamline formatting. Microsoft's template gallery offers a variety of options.
Master Styles and Headings: Utilize Word's Styles for consistent formatting. This improves navigation and organization. Microsoft's guide provides a walkthrough.
Leverage Navigation Pane: For better document navigation, use the Navigation Pane to jump between chapters or sections. Learn how to use it.
Incorporate Researcher and Smart Lookup: Use these features for quick access to sources and information without leaving Word. Explore Researcher and Smart Lookup.
Utilize Word’s Read Aloud Feature: Improve editing by listening to your text, catching errors or awkward phrasings. Discover Read Aloud.
Manage Sources with Citations & Bibliography: Efficiently manage references directly within Word. Manage your references.
Track Changes and Comments for Revisions: Use Track Changes and Comments for easy collaboration and self-revision. Learn about tracking changes and comments.
Customize Quick Access Toolbar and Keyboard Shortcuts: Tailor these for commands you frequently use, enhancing productivity. Customize your experience.
By integrating these strategies, authors can significantly enhance their Microsoft Word experience, making it a more powerful tool for writing, editing, and organizing their work.
How to Display Microsoft Word Skills on Your Resume
6. Adobe InDesign
Adobe InDesign is a professional desktop publishing software used by authors to layout and design books, magazines, and other print or digital publications, offering tools for typography, page design, and pre-press preparation.
Why It's Important
Adobe InDesign is crucial for authors because it provides sophisticated tools for creating professional layouts for their books, including text formatting, page design, and integration of images, ensuring a polished and appealing final product ready for publication.
How to Improve Adobe InDesign Skills
To improve your Adobe InDesign skills as an author, especially when dealing with external links, focus on these concise tips:
Learn the Basics: Start with Adobe's official InDesign User Guide to understand the fundamentals of layout design, text formatting, and managing pages.
Hyperlink Management: Master the use of hyperlinks for your external links by visiting Adding Hyperlinks. This will teach you how to insert, edit, and manage hyperlinks effectively.
Keyboard Shortcuts: Improve efficiency by using InDesign Keyboard Shortcuts. Shortcuts can significantly speed up your workflow.
Templates and Plugins: Explore templates and plugins to enhance your work. Sites like Adobe Stock offer professional templates, while Adobe Exchange provides plugins for additional functionalities.
Online Tutorials and Courses: Engage with online resources for targeted learning. Platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Udemy offer courses ranging from beginner to advanced levels.
Practice and Experiment: Regularly apply new techniques to your projects. Experiment with layout, typography, and design elements to discover what works best for your audience.
Join Forums and Communities: Engage with other InDesign users by joining forums like the Adobe Support Community to exchange knowledge and solutions.
By focusing on these areas, you can significantly improve your Adobe InDesign proficiency, making the management of external links and overall design tasks more efficient and effective.
How to Display Adobe InDesign Skills on Your Resume
7. WordPress
WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that allows authors to easily create, manage, and publish their content online on websites or blogs without needing advanced technical skills.
Why It's Important
WordPress is important for an author as it provides a simple, flexible platform to create and manage a professional website or blog, enabling them to easily publish content, reach and engage with their audience, and establish a strong online presence.
How to Improve WordPress Skills
To enhance your WordPress experience as an author and enrich your content with external links, follow these concise steps:
Optimize Content Quality: Regularly update your posts with fresh, engaging content. Use tools like Yoast SEO to improve readability and SEO.
Use Visuals: Incorporate images and videos to make your posts visually appealing. Plugins like Envira Gallery can help manage media effectively.
Speed and Performance: Ensure your site is fast and responsive. Use a caching plugin like W3 Total Cache and optimize images with Smush.
Security Measures: Protect your content with plugins like Wordfence Security.
Incorporate External Links: When referencing external content, simply use the Markdown format:
[Anchor Text](URL). This not only enriches your content but also improves SEO through outbound links.Engage with Comments: Interact with your readers through comments. Consider a plugin like Disqus to manage comments more effectively.
Backup Regularly: Use UpdraftPlus to schedule regular backups, ensuring your content is safe.
Mobile Optimization: Ensure your site is mobile-friendly. Most modern WordPress themes are responsive, but it's crucial to test your site on various devices.
By focusing on these areas, you'll significantly improve your WordPress site, making it more engaging for your audience and efficient for you as an author.
How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume
8. SEO Optimization
SEO optimization for an author involves enhancing their online content (such as blog posts, author websites, and book descriptions) to improve visibility and ranking on search engine results pages, helping them reach a larger audience and promote their work more effectively.
Why It's Important
SEO optimization is crucial for an author as it enhances their visibility online, making it easier for potential readers to discover their books and writings, thereby increasing their audience reach and potential sales.
How to Improve SEO Optimization Skills
To improve SEO optimization for an author, focus on these concise steps:
Keywords: Use relevant keywords in your content, titles, and meta descriptions. Tools like Google Keyword Planner can help find appropriate keywords.
Quality Content: Regularly publish high-quality, unique content that engages readers. This can include blog posts, articles, or resources related to your books or field of expertise.
Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Google's Mobile-Friendly Test can evaluate your site's mobile responsiveness.
Page Speed: Improve your website's loading speed. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights provide recommendations to enhance page speed.
Backlinks: Garner high-quality backlinks from reputable sites within your niche. Guest blogging and partnerships can be effective strategies.
Social Media: Leverage social media platforms to increase visibility. Sharing content and engaging with your audience can drive traffic to your site.
Local SEO: If applicable, optimize your website for local search results by creating a Google My Business account and collecting local reviews.
Alt Tags: Use descriptive alt tags for images. This not only improves accessibility but also helps search engines understand and rank your content better.
Implementing these strategies consistently over time can significantly improve an author's SEO performance.
How to Display SEO Optimization Skills on Your Resume
9. Trello
Trello is a web-based project management application that allows authors to organize their writing projects, track progress, and collaborate with others using boards, lists, and cards to visually categorize tasks and ideas.
Why It's Important
Trello is important for an author as it helps in organizing writing projects, tracking deadlines, and managing tasks and ideas efficiently, all in one visual, accessible platform.
How to Improve Trello Skills
To enhance Trello for an author, consider the following concise strategies:
Organize Writing Projects: Create separate boards for each writing project, utilizing lists for chapters or sections, and cards for detailed scenes or plot points.
Track Submissions: Set up a board to monitor submissions, using lists to represent different stages (e.g., Submitted, In Review, Accepted, Rejected).
Character and Setting Development: Use cards to detail characters and settings, adding descriptions, images, and relevant links.
Collaborate Easily: Invite editors or co-authors to collaborate on your boards, ensuring real-time updates and feedback.
Integrate Tools: Utilize Power-Ups like the Calendar for deadlines and Google Drive for document storage, linking directly to your research or drafts.
Use Labels and Filters: Implement labels for quick visual cues (e.g., research, first draft, revision) and use filters to focus on specific elements of your project.
Remember, the key is to customize Trello to fit your unique workflow as an author, leveraging its flexibility to keep your writing projects organized and on track.
How to Display Trello Skills on Your Resume
10. Evernote
Evernote is a digital note-taking app that allows authors to organize their research, draft stories, and capture ideas across devices.
Why It's Important
Evernote is important for an author as it provides a centralized platform for organizing research, drafting content, and tracking revisions, ensuring seamless workflow and creative process management.
How to Improve Evernote Skills
To enhance Evernote for authors, focus on these strategies:
Organize Content Efficiently: Use notebooks for each project or book, and tags for characters, research, or themes to quickly find and categorize your notes.
Master the Web Clipper: Capture online research, articles, and resources directly into Evernote with the Web Clipper. This saves time and keeps all references easily accessible.
Integrate with Writing Tools: Connect Evernote with writing apps like Scrivener using tools like Zapier for seamless synchronization of notes and drafts.
Use Templates: Create or use existing templates for character sketches, plot outlines, and more to streamline your writing process. Evernote offers custom templates that can be tailored to your needs.
Review and Edit with Audio Notes: Record and store voice memos for quick note-taking or when reviewing chapters. This is useful for capturing ideas on the go or for auditory editing.
Share for Feedback: Utilize Evernote’s sharing and collaboration features to share specific notes or notebooks with editors or beta readers for feedback, without leaving the platform.
By implementing these strategies, authors can significantly improve their workflow and productivity with Evernote.
How to Display Evernote Skills on Your Resume
11. Hootsuite
Hootsuite is a social media management platform that allows authors to schedule posts, track the performance of their content, and manage multiple social media accounts in one place, facilitating efficient online engagement and audience growth.
Why It's Important
Hootsuite is important for an author because it allows for efficient management and scheduling of social media content across multiple platforms, helping to increase online presence, engage with readers, and promote their work effectively.
How to Improve Hootsuite Skills
To enhance Hootsuite for an author, prioritize features that streamline content management and audience engagement across platforms. Key improvements could include:
Enhanced Analytics for Engagement: Integrate advanced analytics to track reader engagement and preferences across social media platforms. This will help authors understand their audience better and tailor their content accordingly.
Content Calendar Optimization: Improve the content calendar feature for easier scheduling of posts, including options for automatic reposting of evergreen content and reminders for important publishing dates (e.g., book launches, events).
Better Integration with Literary Platforms: Implement seamless integration with platforms popular among authors and readers, such as Goodreads, Wattpad, and Amazon, for direct posting and engagement analytics.
Customizable Templates for Promotions: Offer customizable templates for book promotions, announcements, and events, making it easier for authors to create visually appealing and consistent content across all social media channels.
AI-Driven Content Suggestions: Introduce AI-driven tools that suggest content ideas based on trending topics in the author's genre and audience interests, helping to keep the social media feeds fresh and relevant.
By focusing on these improvements, Hootsuite could become a more powerful tool for authors aiming to connect with their readers and promote their work effectively.
How to Display Hootsuite Skills on Your Resume
12. Canva
Canva is an online design platform that allows authors to create a wide range of visual content, such as book covers, promotional materials, and social media graphics, using customizable templates and drag-and-drop features.
Why It's Important
Canva is important for authors because it offers an easy-to-use platform to create professional-quality graphics for book covers, promotional materials, and social media posts, enhancing their marketing and branding efforts without needing advanced design skills.
How to Improve Canva Skills
To enhance Canva for authors, focus on implementing a feature for embedding dynamic external links directly within designs, enabling seamless integration of references or external content. Enhancing collaboration tools for real-time editing and feedback with editors and co-authors can streamline the revision process. Further, expanding the template library with more author-specific designs, such as book covers and promotional materials, tailored to various genres, would greatly benefit authors in marketing their works effectively.
How to Display Canva Skills on Your Resume
