Top 12 Writer Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's competitive job market, writers must highlight a diverse set of skills on their resumes to stand out to potential employers. This article delves into the top 12 essential skills that writers should showcase to demonstrate their proficiency, creativity, and ability to engage audiences effectively.

Writer Skills

1. SEO Optimization
2. WordPress
3. Copywriting
4. Proofreading
5. Scrivener
6. Content Management
7. Google Docs
8. Editorial Calendar
9. AP Style
10. Grammarly
11. Storytelling
12. Research

1. SEO Optimization

SEO optimization for a writer involves crafting content with strategic keywords, compelling titles, and meta descriptions to improve visibility and ranking on search engines, thereby attracting more readers.

Why It's Important

SEO optimization is important for a writer because it increases the visibility of their content on search engines, helping to attract more readers and enhance their online presence.

How to Improve SEO Optimization Skills

To enhance SEO optimization as a writer:

1. Keyword Research: Identify relevant keywords using tools like Google Keyword Planner. Incorporate these into your titles, headers, and content naturally.

2. Quality Content: Produce well-researched, original content that provides value. Yoast SEO suggests readability and engagement are crucial.

3. Meta Descriptions: Craft compelling meta descriptions with keywords. Moz highlights their importance for click-through rates.

4. Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website is mobile-friendly. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help assess this.

5. Page Speed: Improve loading times using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights. A faster website enhances user experience and rankings.

6. Internal Linking: Link to other relevant content within your site to keep users engaged and reduce bounce rates. Search Engine Journal emphasizes its importance for SEO.

7. Backlinks: Gain quality backlinks from reputable sites. Backlinko offers strategies to build these valuable SEO assets.

8. Social Media Engagement: Increase visibility by promoting your content on social media platforms. Hootsuite explains how social signals can indirectly affect search rankings.

By focusing on these elements, you can significantly improve your SEO optimization and increase your content's visibility online.

How to Display SEO Optimization Skills on Your Resume

2. WordPress

WordPress is a popular content management system (CMS) that enables writers to easily publish, manage, and update their content on a website without needing advanced technical skills.

Why It's Important

WordPress is important for writers because it offers an easy-to-use platform to publish, manage, and promote their content, helping them reach a wider audience and establish an online presence.

How to Improve WordPress Skills

To enhance WordPress for writers, focus on these key areas:

1. Choose a Responsive Theme: Opt for a clean, minimalistic theme that adapts well to various devices. Astra and GeneratePress are excellent choices.

2. Use SEO Plugins: Improve your content's visibility with SEO tools like Yoast SEO or Rank Math, which help optimize your posts for search engines.

3. Enhance Speed: Use caching plugins like WP Rocket or W3 Total Cache to speed up your site, providing a better user experience.

4. Content Editor Improvements: Employ Gutenberg block editor for a more intuitive writing and design experience, or use Classic Editor if you prefer the traditional layout.

5. Image Optimization: Use Smush or ShortPixel to compress images without losing quality, speeding up page load times.

6. Backup and Security: Protect your content with plugins like UpdraftPlus for backups and Wordfence for security.

7. Social Media Integration: Increase your reach with social sharing plugins like Social Snap or Jetpack’s social tools to easily share content.

8. Engage Your Readers: Incorporate comment plugins like Disqus or wpDiscuz to foster a community around your content.

By focusing on these areas, you can significantly improve your WordPress site, making it more appealing and user-friendly for your readers.

How to Display WordPress Skills on Your Resume

3. Copywriting

Copywriting is the process of writing persuasive marketing and promotional materials that motivate people to take some form of action, such as making a purchase, clicking on a link, or subscribing to a service. For a writer, it involves creating compelling, clear, and concise text for advertisements, websites, emails, brochures, and more, with the aim of boosting sales and influencing the audience's perception of a brand or product.

Why It's Important

Copywriting is crucial for a writer as it enhances the ability to craft persuasive, clear, and engaging content that effectively communicates value, influences decisions, and drives action, essential for marketing and brand success.

How to Improve Copywriting Skills

Improving your copywriting skills involves practice, learning from the experts, and staying updated with trends. Here are concise tips for enhancing your copywriting abilities:

1. Understand Your Audience: Knowing your audience's needs and preferences allows you to craft messages that resonate with them. Copyblogger is a great resource for learning how to connect with your audience.

2. Practice Writing Regularly: Consistent practice improves your skills and helps you find your unique voice. Websites like Daily Writing Tips offer daily prompts and tips.

3. Learn from the Pros: Analyze and learn from successful copy. Copyhackers provides case studies and examples of effective copywriting.

4. Keep It Simple and Clear: Avoid jargon and complex language. The Hemingway App can help you make your writing bold and clear.

5. Focus on Benefits, Not Features: Highlight how your product or service improves lives. The Gary Halbert Letter offers insights into focusing on benefits in your copy.

6. Test and Iterate: Always test different versions of your copy to see what works best. Google Optimize is a free tool for A/B testing your copy.

7. Stay Updated: Copywriting trends change, so it’s important to stay informed. MarketingProfs is a good site for marketing and copywriting trends.

By applying these strategies and leveraging these resources, you can significantly improve your copywriting skills.

How to Display Copywriting Skills on Your Resume

4. Proofreading

Proofreading is the process where a writer reviews their text to correct errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting, ensuring clarity and accuracy in the final document.

Why It's Important

Proofreading is crucial for a writer as it ensures clarity, accuracy, and professionalism in their work, enhancing readability and credibility with their audience.

How to Improve Proofreading Skills

Improving proofreading skills is crucial for writers aiming to enhance the quality and accuracy of their work. Here are concise steps to improve proofreading, with helpful external links:

1. Take a Break: Distance yourself from your work to gain a fresh perspective. Read more at Grammarly.

2. Read Aloud: This helps catch errors you might overlook while reading silently. Explore the benefits at Writing Forward.

3. Use Tools: Leverage proofreading tools like Grammarly or Hemingway for initial checks. Check out Grammarly.

4. Focus on Common Errors: Know your common mistakes and pay extra attention to them. Learn common errors at the Purdue OWL.

5. Print it Out: Reading a printed version can help spot errors that you might miss on a screen. Understand why from Lifehack.

6. Read Backwards: For spelling checks, read your work backwards to focus on individual words. Discover more at the University of Wisconsin.

7. Get External Help: Ask someone else to proofread your work for a different perspective. Learn the importance at NY Book Editors.

By applying these strategies, writers can significantly enhance their proofreading skills, leading to more polished and professional work.

How to Display Proofreading Skills on Your Resume

5. Scrivener

Scrivener is a comprehensive writing software designed for writers, offering tools for outlining, research, composing, and structuring long documents like novels, research papers, and screenplays.

Why It's Important

Scrivener is important for writers because it provides a comprehensive set of tools for organizing research, structuring drafts, and compiling manuscripts, all in one place, thereby streamlining the writing process and enhancing productivity.

How to Improve Scrivener Skills

To improve your experience with Scrivener as a writer, consider the following concise tips:

1. Understand the Basics: Start by mastering the fundamentals. Watch the official tutorials to get a strong foundation.

2. Customize Your Workspace: Tailor Scrivener to fit your writing style. Adjust layouts and use full-screen mode for distraction-free writing. This guide offers customization tips.

3. Utilize Templates: Save time by using or creating templates for your projects. Explore free and premium options on sites like ScrivenerTemplates.

4. Learn Keyboard Shortcuts: Increase your efficiency by memorizing Scrivener’s keyboard shortcuts. A quick reference can be found here.

5. Compile with Care: Understand the Compile function to export manuscripts professionally. Literature and Latte provide a comprehensive compiling guide.

6. Back Up Your Work: Regularly save and back up your projects. Scrivener offers automatic backups, but knowing how to manage them is crucial. Backup instructions explain the process.

7. Join a Community: Engage with other Scrivener users for support and tips. The Literature and Latte Forums are a great place to start.

By focusing on these areas, you can significantly enhance your Scrivener experience, making it more productive and enjoyable for your writing projects.

How to Display Scrivener Skills on Your Resume

6. Content Management

Content management, for a writer, involves creating, organizing, storing, and publishing written materials using digital tools or software to efficiently manage and distribute content.

Why It's Important

Content management is crucial for writers because it organizes and streamlines the creation, editing, and publishing process, ensuring consistency, improving efficiency, and enhancing the accessibility and preservation of content across platforms.

How to Improve Content Management Skills

Improving content management as a writer involves organizing, planning, and executing your content strategy effectively. Here are concise steps with external links to help enhance your content management skills:

1. Define Your Goals: Clearly understand what you want to achieve with your content. Setting SMART goals can offer a structured framework.

2. Know Your Audience: Create content that resonates with your audience. Tools like Google Analytics can provide insights into your audience's preferences.

3. Content Calendar: Plan your content in advance using a content calendar. This helps in organizing ideas and maintaining a consistent publishing schedule.

4. Content Creation Tools: Utilize tools like Grammarly for grammar checking and Hemingway App for readability improvements to enhance the quality of your content.

5. SEO Optimization: Incorporate SEO best practices to increase visibility. Tools like Yoast SEO and SEMRush can guide you through the process.

6. Content Distribution: Determine the best channels for sharing your content. Buffer and Hootsuite are great for managing social media distribution.

7. Analyze Performance: Use analytics to track the performance of your content. Google Analytics provides comprehensive insights.

8. Feedback and Iteration: Seek feedback and make necessary adjustments. Engaging with your audience through comments or SurveyMonkey can provide valuable insights.

Implementing these steps will help you manage your content more effectively, ensuring that it reaches the right audience and achieves your objectives.

How to Display Content Management Skills on Your Resume

7. Google Docs

Google Docs is a free, cloud-based word processing software that allows writers to create, edit, and collaborate on documents in real-time from any device with internet access.

Why It's Important

Google Docs is crucial for writers as it offers real-time collaboration, easy accessibility across devices, and automatic saving, streamlining the writing, editing, and sharing process.

How to Improve Google Docs Skills

To enhance Google Docs for writers, focus on organization, collaboration, and efficiency:

1. Use Add-ons and Extensions: Integrate tools like Grammarly for advanced grammar and style checking, or ProWritingAid for in-depth editing assistance.

2. Master Shortcuts: Learn keyboard shortcuts to speed up formatting and editing. Google's support page provides a comprehensive list.

3. Leverage Voice Typing: Activate voice typing under Tools for hands-free writing, ideal for initial drafts or brainstorming sessions.

4. Organize with Headings and Table of Contents: Use headings for structure and insert a table of contents (under Insert) for easy navigation, crucial for long documents.

5. Collaborate Seamlessly: Share documents with editors or co-writers for real-time feedback. Utilize the commenting and suggestion features for efficient revisions.

6. Backup and Version History: Regularly use the Version History (under File) to save different drafts and revisit earlier versions of your document.

7. Customize Styles: Tailor paragraph styles for a consistent look and feel, saving time on formatting individual sections.

By enhancing Google Docs with these strategies, writers can streamline their writing process, improve document quality, and foster better collaboration.

How to Display Google Docs Skills on Your Resume

8. Editorial Calendar

An Editorial Calendar is a schedule that writers and publishers use to plan and organize content topics, deadlines, publication dates, and marketing strategies, ensuring consistent and strategic content production and distribution.

Why It's Important

An Editorial Calendar is crucial for a writer as it aids in planning, organizing, and scheduling content publication. This ensures consistent output, helps manage topics and deadlines, and aligns content with strategic goals, enhancing overall productivity and effectiveness.

How to Improve Editorial Calendar Skills

Improving an Editorial Calendar can streamline your writing process, ensuring consistent output and strategic content planning. Here are concise steps to enhance your Editorial Calendar:

1. Define Goals: Start by setting clear, achievable goals for your content. SMART goals can guide your content strategy effectively.

2. Audience Research: Understand your audience deeply. Tools like Google Analytics and BuzzSumo can provide insights into what your audience seeks.

3. Content Mix: Plan a diverse content mix to keep your audience engaged. Balance your content types (articles, videos, podcasts) and themes (educational, entertaining, inspirational).

4. Use Tools: Utilize editorial calendar tools like Trello, Asana, or CoSchedule to organize and visualize your content plan effectively.

5. Regular Updates: Regularly review and update your calendar. Flexibility allows you to adapt to trends, feedback, and performance analytics.

6. Delegate Tasks: If working in a team, clearly assign responsibilities and deadlines for each piece of content using your editorial calendar tool’s task assignment features.

7. Monitor Performance: Use performance data from Google Analytics or SEMrush to analyze what works and refine your strategy accordingly.

8. Feedback Loop: Incorporate feedback from your audience and team to improve your content and planning process continuously.

By following these steps and utilizing the suggested tools, you can significantly improve your Editorial Calendar, leading to a more organized, strategic, and productive writing process.

How to Display Editorial Calendar Skills on Your Resume

9. AP Style

AP Style, short for Associated Press Style, is a set of guidelines for grammar, punctuation, and usage adopted by journalists and writers to ensure consistency and clarity in news writing and reporting.

Why It's Important

AP Style is important for a writer because it ensures consistency, clarity, and professionalism in writing, facilitating effective communication across diverse audiences and platforms.

How to Improve AP Style Skills

To improve your AP Style as a writer, focus on these key areas:

1. Stay Updated: AP Stylebook undergoes regular updates. Keep a current edition or subscribe to the AP Stylebook Online.

2. Practice: Regular writing and editing practice in AP Style sharpens skills. Use prompts or convert existing pieces to AP Style.

3. Use Resources: Utilize the AP Stylebook, AP Style Quizzes, and online forums for guidance and clarification.

4. Read AP Content: Regularly read AP-sourced articles to familiarize yourself with the style in practice. Visit AP News for current examples.

5. Edit Rigorously: Self-editing or peer reviews focusing on AP Style principles help identify common mistakes and improve proficiency.

By incorporating these strategies, you'll refine your AP Style and enhance your writing's professionalism and accuracy.

How to Display AP Style Skills on Your Resume

10. Grammarly

Grammarly is a digital writing tool that helps writers improve their grammar, spelling, punctuation, and clarity, ensuring their text is error-free and effectively communicates their message.

Why It's Important

Grammarly is important for a writer because it helps ensure clarity, correctness, and effectiveness in their writing, enhancing readability and professionalism.

How to Improve Grammarly Skills

To improve Grammarly for writers, focus on these key areas:

1. Contextual Accuracy: Enhance the AI to better understand context and subtleties of language, reducing false positives. AI Research
2. Genre-Specific Suggestions: Implement genre-specific writing styles and suggestions, catering to a wide range of writing needs. Genre Writing Tips
3. Integration with Professional Tools: Expand compatibility with professional writing and editing software beyond basic text editors. Scrivener
4. Customizable Feedback: Allow users to set specific writing goals and preferences for more personalized assistance. Writing Goals
5. Language Expansion: Increase the number of languages supported to cater to a global audience. Language Learning

By focusing on these improvements, Grammarly can offer a more tailored, efficient, and versatile tool for writers of all genres and backgrounds.

How to Display Grammarly Skills on Your Resume

11. Storytelling

Storytelling, for a writer, is the art of conveying a narrative through the written word, engaging the reader's imagination to communicate experiences, emotions, and ideas.

Why It's Important

Storytelling is crucial for writers as it enables them to engage, convey complex ideas, and evoke emotional responses, ensuring their message resonates deeply with readers.

How to Improve Storytelling Skills

Improving storytelling as a writer involves honing several key skills and techniques. Here are concise tips, each accompanied by a relevant external link for deeper exploration:

1. Read Widely: Exposure to various genres and styles enriches your narrative abilities. Goodreads offers extensive reading lists.

2. Practice Writing Regularly: Consistency enhances your storytelling craft. Websites like 750 Words encourage daily writing.

3. Study Storytelling Techniques: Learn about narrative structure, character development, and pacing. MasterClass provides courses from renowned writers.

4. Seek Feedback: Constructive criticism helps identify strengths and weaknesses. Join a writing community on Scribophile for feedback.

5. Revise and Edit: Refining your story is crucial. Tools like Grammarly can assist in polishing your text.

6. Learn from the Masters: Analyze works by accomplished storytellers to understand their techniques. The Paris Review Interviews offer insights from celebrated authors.

7. Experiment with Different Media: Exploring storytelling in other media, like film or graphic novels, can offer new perspectives. TED Talks on Storytelling provide inspiration across mediums.

Incorporating these practices into your routine will gradually enhance your storytelling skills.

How to Display Storytelling Skills on Your Resume

12. Research

Research for a writer involves systematically investigating a topic to gather reliable information, insights, and data to enhance the accuracy, depth, and authenticity of their writing.

Why It's Important

Research is essential for a writer as it ensures accuracy, enhances credibility, deepens understanding of the subject, and enriches the narrative, making stories more engaging and informative for readers.

How to Improve Research Skills

Improving research skills, especially for a writer, involves honing the ability to find, evaluate, organize, and use information effectively. Here are concise strategies:

1. Define Your Research Goals: Clearly understand what you want to find out. This helps in narrowing down sources and focusing on relevant information.

2. Use Diverse Sources: Explore a variety of sources like books, academic journals, reputable websites, and interviews. For academic sources, Google Scholar is invaluable, and for books and articles, consider using WorldCat or your local library's database.

3. Evaluate Your Sources: Critically assess the credibility and relevance of your information. The CRAAP Test (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, Purpose) is a quick guide to evaluating source quality.

4. Organize Your Findings: Use digital tools like Zotero or Evernote to keep notes and references well-organized for easy access and citation.

5. Paraphrase and Summarize: Improve comprehension and retention by paraphrasing and summarizing your research findings. This also helps to avoid plagiarism.

6. Cross-Verify Information: Always cross-check facts across multiple sources to ensure accuracy and reliability.

7. Practice Ethical Research: Always give proper credit through citations and references to avoid plagiarism. Purdue OWL provides excellent guidance on citation styles and research ethics.

By implementing these strategies, writers can enhance their research skills, thereby improving the quality and credibility of their work.

How to Display Research Skills on Your Resume