Top 12 Writer Editor Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today’s competitive job market, showcasing the right set of skills on your resume can significantly enhance your prospects as a writer/editor. This article outlines the top 12 skills to highlight so you can demonstrate real proficiency and stand out to potential employers across writing and editing roles.

Writer/Editor Skills

1. Proofreading
2. Copyediting
3. SEO
4. WordPress
5. AP Style
6. CMS (Content Management Systems)
7. Grammarly
8. Scrivener
9. InDesign
10. Fact-Checking
11. Google Docs
12. HTML/CSS

1. Proofreading

Proofreading is the process of reviewing and correcting written material to ensure accuracy, consistency, and error-free text before publication.

Why It's Important

Proofreading is crucial for a writer/editor because it ensures accuracy, coherence, and professionalism in the final text—eliminating errors, sharpening clarity, and preserving the intended message and tone. That polish upholds credibility and keeps readers engaged.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

Improving proofreading skills takes focus, repetition, and smart tactics. Try these:

1. Read Aloud: Slow down and hear the rhythm. You’ll catch slips your eyes glide past.

2. Print It Out: Paper reveals mistakes the screen loves to hide.

3. Use Tools: Run a pass with Grammarly or Hemingway Editor for quick catches—then verify with your own judgment.

4. Take Breaks: Fresh eyes = fresh catches. Step away, reset, return.

5. Read Backwards: Line by line from the end. Forces attention to the words themselves.

6. Track Your Traps: Keep a checklist of your frequent errors. Hunt them first.

7. Get External Feedback: A second reader or a peer community can spot what you’ve grown blind to.

8. Stay Updated: Keep current with style and usage via The Chicago Manual of Style and Purdue OWL.

Consistency plus practice builds accuracy. Build a routine and your error rate drops.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

2. Copyediting

Copyediting is the review and refinement of text for accuracy, readability, and consistency—fixing grammar, punctuation, usage, and style without erasing the author’s voice.

Why It's Important

Copyediting protects clarity and credibility. Clean copy reads smoothly, communicates the point, and reflects well on the author and publication.

How to Improve Copyediting Skills

Sharpen your eye and your instincts through deliberate practice:

1. Master the Foundations: Grammar, punctuation, and style. The Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Stylebook are essential.

2. Read Widely: Absorb varied voices and structures. You’ll learn patterns—and outliers.

3. Practice Daily: Edit short passages, rewrite clunky sentences, mark up your own drafts.

4. Use Tools Wisely: Run Grammarly or Hemingway for a first sweep. Final calls are yours.

5. Seek Feedback: Join editing groups or peer communities for critique and perspective.

6. Keep Learning: Short courses and workshops (e.g., on Coursera or LinkedIn Learning) can close gaps fast.

7. Stay Current: Follow editing blogs and newsletters to keep up with shifting norms.

Small improvements compound. Keep iterating.

How to Display Copyediting Skills on Your Resume

3. SEO

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) raises the visibility of content in search results. For writer/editors, it’s about intent-focused keywords, clear structure, and well-optimized titles and descriptions that bring the right readers to the right piece.

Why It's Important

SEO helps your work get found. More visibility means more readers, more engagement, more impact.

How to Improve SEO Skills

Practical, steady steps win:

1. Keyword Research: Identify relevant, intent-matched terms with tools like Google Keyword Planner. Weave them in naturally.

2. High-Quality Content: Answer real questions thoroughly. Refresh evergreen pieces on a cadence.

3. Optimize Titles and Meta Descriptions: Clear, compelling, keyword-aware. Match search intent.

4. Use Headings Well: Logical H1–H3 hierarchy. Scannable sections help readers and crawlers.

5. Mobile Readiness: Ensure responsive design and monitor Core Web Vitals in Search Console or Lighthouse.

6. Internal Linking: Connect related pages to strengthen topical clusters and navigation.

7. External Linking: Cite reputable sources. It supports credibility and context.

8. Social Amplification: Share to relevant audiences. Earn clicks, dwell time, and links.

9. Page Speed: Improve load times with image compression, caching, and efficient code. Check with PageSpeed Insights.

10. HTTPS: Secure the site. Trust and rankings both benefit.

Write for people first, then refine for search. That balance endures.

How to Display SEO Skills on Your Resume

4. WordPress

WordPress is a content management system that lets writer/editors create, edit, and publish digital content without heavy technical lift.

Why It's Important

It’s a versatile, writer-friendly platform with workflows for drafting, revising, collaborating, and shipping content—fast.

How to Improve WordPress Skills

Level up the setup and your habits:

1. Pick a Responsive Theme: Clean, fast, accessible. Themes like Astra or Writee keep content front and center.

2. Enhance the Block Editor: Use tools like Kadence Blocks for flexible layouts that don’t require code.

3. Install SEO Helpers: Yoast SEO or Rank Math guides on-page optimization and structure.

4. Speed It Up: Caching via WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache, plus image compression, pays dividends.

5. Refine Your Drafting Flow: Use Grammarly’s browser extension or draft in Hemingway Editor for style passes before publishing.

6. Make Sharing Easy: Social sharing tools like Social Snap or Monarch help readers spread your work.

7. Update and Back Up: Keep core, themes, and plugins current. Back up regularly with tools like UpdraftPlus.

8. Measure What Matters: Connect Google Analytics 4 and Search Console to track performance and guide content strategy.

Smoother workflow, stronger results.

How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume

5. AP Style

AP Style (Associated Press) is a widely used standard for newswriting. It enforces clarity, consistency, and accuracy across grammar, punctuation, usage, and journalistic conventions.

Why It's Important

Shared rules prevent confusion. AP Style is the lingua franca of many newsrooms and media teams, helping every sentence carry cleanly.

How to Improve AP Style Skills

Build fluency and keep current:

1. Practice Routinely: Edit a paragraph a day in AP. Short reps stick.

2. Stay Updated: The AP Stylebook updates annually. Note changes as they roll out.

3. Use the References: Keep the latest AP Stylebook close. The AP Style Blog adds nuance and clarifications.

4. Discuss Edge Cases: Join communities where editors unpack tricky calls.

5. Test Yourself: Quizzes highlight gaps you can close quickly.

6. Get Feedback: Peer review reveals blind spots and habits.

Repetition plus vigilance builds instinct.

How to Display AP Style Skills on Your Resume

6. CMS (Content Management Systems)

A CMS lets writers and editors create, manage, and modify web content without touching code.

Why It's Important

It streamlines publishing and collaboration, enforces structure, and speeds time to publication without sacrificing quality.

How to Improve CMS (Content Management Systems) Skills

Make the system work for you, not the other way around:

1. User-Friendly Editor: A WYSIWYG or block-based editor (like WordPress’s Gutenberg) reduces friction.

2. Built-In SEO Guidance: Add tools (e.g., Yoast SEO) for real-time readability and keyword checks.

3. Responsive Templates: Ensure designs adapt gracefully to phones, tablets, and desktops. Platforms like Squarespace emphasize this.

4. Workflow and Scheduling: Use editorial calendars, approval flows, and scheduled publishing. Project boards (e.g., Trello) help manage the pipeline.

5. Media Management: Organized libraries, alt text, and compression save time and improve performance. Systems like Drupal excel here.

6. Customization: Themes and plugins (Joomla, WordPress, others) extend features without heavy custom code.

7. Security and Support: Regular updates, role permissions, backups, and an active community matter.

8. Analytics Integration: Connect Google Analytics 4 to monitor behavior and outcomes that inform content strategy.

Structure your process, then let the CMS carry the load.

How to Display CMS (Content Management Systems) Skills on Your Resume

7. Grammarly

Grammarly is a writing assistant that flags grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, tone, and potential plagiarism to help elevate drafts quickly.

Why It's Important

It’s a fast safety net and a style nudge. You save time, reduce errors, and surface improvements you might otherwise miss.

How to Improve Grammarly Skills

Get more value from the tool by tuning how you use it:

1. Set Goals Per Piece: Audience, formality, domain, and intent. Calibrate suggestions to match context.

2. Use the Personal Dictionary: Add names, jargon, and brand terms to avoid false flags.

3. Review Clarity and Tone: Don’t just accept fixes—read the explanations to learn patterns and avoid repeats.

4. Run a Final Pass: Use the browser extension in your CMS and the desktop/web editor for long-form polishing.

5. Align With Style Guides: If you work in AP or Chicago, cross-check suggestions against your house rules.

6. Leverage Snippets and Style Guides (Business): Create reusable phrasing and team rules for consistency.

7. Adjust English Variant: US, UK, CA, AU—set it right to avoid unnecessary changes.

8. Plagiarism Scan When Needed: Especially for research-heavy pieces or contributions from multiple authors.

How to Display Grammarly Skills on Your Resume

8. Scrivener

Scrivener is a drafting and project-management workspace for long-form writing. It organizes research, drafts, and structure in one place, perfect for books, reports, and complex editorial projects.

Why It's Important

It keeps sprawling work sane—scene by scene, section by section—while making revision and restructuring less painful.

How to Improve Scrivener Skills

Trim friction and shape a workflow that sticks:

1. Customize the Interface: Hide clutter. Use Composition mode for focus.

2. Templates and Styles: Build repeatable document setups for consistent formatting.

3. Master the Corkboard: Plot, shuffle, and re-order with a glance. Great for outlining.

4. Compile Like a Pro: Learn compile presets and how to export to your target formats cleanly.

5. Reference Links: Store research and external references inside the project for quick retrieval.

6. Sync With External Editors: Use ProWritingAid or Grammarly alongside Scrivener for deeper editing passes.

7. Keyboard Shortcuts: Speed matters. Learn the ones you use daily.

8. Backups and Versioning: Enable automatic backups and use snapshots before major edits.

Once dialed in, Scrivener becomes a quiet powerhouse.

How to Display Scrivener Skills on Your Resume

9. InDesign

Adobe InDesign is professional layout software for magazines, books, brochures, and more—offering precise control over typography, images, and multi-page formatting.

Why It's Important

For writer/editors working on print or polished PDFs, InDesign is the standard—where content meets design without compromise.

How to Improve InDesign Skills

Focus on the parts that matter most for editorial work:

1. Learn the Core: Master frames, pages, links, and paragraph/character styles.

2. Typography First: Styles, hyphenation, optical margin alignment, and baseline grids elevate readability.

3. Use Templates: Build or adapt templates to keep issues or reports consistent.

4. Understand Layout Principles: Grids, hierarchy, white space, contrast. Design supports the words.

5. Automate Repetition: GREP styles, Find/Change, and nested styles save hours.

6. Manage Assets: Keep links organized and preflight before export to catch issues.

7. Collaborate Smoothly: Use InCopy or shared libraries for clean writer–designer workflows.

8. Keep Current: Track updates and common fixes via Adobe resources and professional communities.

Good design makes good writing shine brighter.

How to Display InDesign Skills on Your Resume

10. Fact-Checking

Fact-checking validates the accuracy of claims and data so readers can trust what they’re reading.

Why It's Important

Trust is fragile. Verification protects credibility, safeguards brands, and respects audiences.

How to Improve Fact-Checking Skills

Build rigor into your process:

1. Use Reputable Sources: Academic journals, government data, established newsrooms. Cross-verify.

2. Consult Fact-Checking Databases: Tools like FactCheck.org or Snopes can surface prior vetting.

3. Go to the Origin: Track claims to the primary source—quotes, studies, datasets.

4. Ask Experts: For technical or specialized topics, confirm with subject-matter pros.

5. Leverage Research Tools: Search scholarly databases (e.g., Google Scholar) and keep clean citations.

6. Be Transparent: Note methodology and limitations when appropriate.

7. Keep Learning: Workshops from organizations like Poynter or The News Literacy Project sharpen methods.

Accuracy first, always.

How to Display Fact-Checking Skills on Your Resume

11. Google Docs

Google Docs is a cloud-based word processor built for real-time collaboration, easy sharing, and robust version history.

Why It's Important

It streamlines team editing, centralizes feedback, and works anywhere—no more version chaos.

How to Improve Google Docs Skills

Work faster, collaborate cleaner:

1. Use Editing Add-ons: Integrate tools like Grammarly or ProWritingAid for inline checks.

2. Master Shortcuts: Speed through formatting, navigation, and comment management.

3. Comments and Suggestions: Keep conversation in-document. Resolve threads to mark completion.

4. Custom Styles: Set heading and paragraph styles for consistency across long docs.

5. Citations and Linking: Use a citation add-on (e.g., EasyBib) and apply clean inline links where needed.

6. Navigate Long Docs: Use the document outline and a generated table of contents for quick jumps.

Lightweight tooling, heavyweight collaboration.

How to Display Google Docs Skills on Your Resume

12. HTML/CSS

HTML structures web content—headings, paragraphs, links, images. CSS styles it—layout, color, spacing, and type.

Why It's Important

For writer/editors working on the web, basic HTML/CSS ensures clean formatting, accessibility, and on-brand presentation.

How to Improve HTML/CSS Skills

Keep it practical and iterative:

1. Learn the Fundamentals: Semantic HTML, CSS selectors, the box model, specificity.

2. Practice Small: Build tiny components in a sandbox like CodePen to test ideas quickly.

3. Responsive Design: Master media queries, fluid units, and modern layout systems (Flexbox, Grid).

4. CSS Frameworks: Bootstrap or Tailwind CSS can speed production and enforce consistency.

5. Accessibility: Follow WCAG principles—alt text, labels, contrast, keyboard navigation.

6. SEO Semantics: Use proper headings, lists, and metadata to clarify meaning.

7. Stay Current: Follow communities like MDN Web Docs, CSS-Tricks, and Stack Overflow.

8. Use DevTools: Inspect, tweak CSS live, and debug layout issues in the browser.

Clarity in code echoes clarity in content.

How to Display HTML/CSS Skills on Your Resume