expanding your skillset as a writer

guest post by amanda crane

Many have turned writing from a simple craft to a profession. In 2021, there were 49,410 writers in the US — the highest number recorded in the last decade. With so many professionals in the industry today, it’s become increasingly urgent to distinguish yourself as a strong and competent writer.

This article shares why writers need to expand their skillsets and catalog the essential skills that can refine their writing practice.

How Does a Comprehensive Skillset Benefit Your Writing Career?

At first glance, having a comprehensive skillset communicates a writer’s achievements and competencies within their industry. Writer skills are also an excellent way to spark collaboration between you and your clients. Before beginning a writing project, you’ll have to correspond through emails or formal memos. Wording these messages well can help elicit your desired response.

Once you get to the writing process, the right skills can determine your ability to inform, entertain, or persuade your readership. This becomes more necessary when you want to reach a larger audience or cultivate an online presence. You’ll need to be creative and post exciting and relevant content to retain your readers' attention. Additionally, writing is personal. To foster close connections, either with clients or your audience, create pieces you’re passionate about. Otherwise, taking a more active role and pursuing unfamiliar topics can extend your reach. Ultimately, a comprehensive skillset bolsters your writing career, either through your ability to tackle different writing genres or your capacity to produce solid and well-informed pieces.

The Essential Skills That Writers Need to Expand

creativity

Creativity, characterized by an imaginative mind, enables writers to create unique content. Often, this skill is accompanied by the need to churn out new and original ideas continually. There’s a misconception that an idle mind stagnates creativity. In an interview published by Literary Hub, Aaron Angello rejects that notion. He states that boredom can be a generative approach to the writing process. When you’re idle, it doesn’t mean you lack imagination, and rather, it’s a way to boost creativity. Once you think of a distinctive concept, you can use it to develop your writing style voice. If you’re a blog writer, great and singular content can also enhance the marketing of your blog and gear it for search engine optimization (SEO).

social perceptiveness

Great writing is grounded on one’s capacity to be attuned to other people and their environment. A blog post on Maryville University explains that becoming a speech writer, in particular, requires social perceptiveness, which is a nonwriting skill that helps you identify, interpret and respond to social situations. Like most writers, speech writers will need to think about speech patterns that can inform the piece’s tone. Similarly, news writers should observe the behavior of their subjects before confirming that a certain anecdote or story can be included. Being socially perceptive allows you to assess other people’s gestures and words and use these social cues to improve how you write your piece.

research

Every engaging piece of writing should incorporate research. In a New York Times feature, Nicholas St. Fleur and Katherine Wu convey the importance of sharpening one’s informational writing skills. To craft a compelling piece, you need to be adept at finding more information about your topic. Articles, journals, and websites are evident sources. However, your task is to find reliable facts and statistics that can elevate your piece. Consider interviewing experts or figures associated with your topic. Be alert to different definitions or explanations that can be quoted in your writing. Take note of quotes that can add excitement to your piece or otherwise emphasize why people should care about the subject, to begin with.

adaptability

In our post ‘Developing Your Personal Brand As a Writer’, we discussed the need for writers to clarify what they want to be known for. This way, readers will know what kind of content to expect. Of course, you don’t have to stick to a single genre. After all, writers need to be flexible across different genres of writing. For instance, a client can ask you to write about a topic that you aren’t familiar with or passionate about. In that case, you should adapt to the content your client seeks. To start, go through similar reading material before your writing process. If you need to employ technical writing, consult instructional materials or software manuals to get a sense of how to approach the project. Undertaking new challenges can diversify your writing practice, not to mention meet the changing demands of various clients.

For more insights on writing and marketing, do read through our latest posts!

Written by: Amanda Crane