15 Skills You Need to Be a Freelance Writer

The most important skill you need to be a freelance writer is also the most obvious. To excel, you need to have a way with words and an instinctive feel for what separates good writing from bad.

Many people outside the field believe that anyone can write, but actual writers know that it’s a specialized skill. The ability to write effectively doesn’t come from nowhere; it’s honed through years of reading and hands-on practice.

In addition to being able to turn an engaging sentence and express yourself clearly, you should also be skilled at writing in different contexts. The market for freelance writers is challenging (particularly lately, with the rise of AI), and you won’t always be able to be choosy about your work; you’ll probably have to take on a wide range of projects to make ends meet.

The writing you’ll have to produce may include (but won’t necessarily be limited to):

• Academic writing
• Blog content (SEO writing)
• Grant writing
• Journalism
• Long-form nonfiction (especially for ebooks)
• Technical writing

If you have the ability to write anything and everything, ranging from software tutorials to light and breezy blog content, it will be much easier to make a living as a freelance writer.

The ability to proofread your work is essential as a freelance writer. Errors and typos reflect poorly on your professionalism, which will affect how many jobs you receive.

You should have a solid grasp of:

• Spelling
• Grammar
• Stylistic conventions (the rules of punctuation, etc.)

At minimum, you should definitely be familiar with the most common style guides for writers, such as the Chicago Manual of Style and the AP Style Guide.

You also need to have strong attention to detail and be diligent about looking over everything you send out. Plan on at least two editing passes: one to copy edit your work and fix clunky sentences that you missed in the heat of composition, and a second one to proofread and finalize everything. If at all possible, let each piece sit for a few hours before performing this last check, since mistakes can become “invisible” when you’ve been staring at them for a long time.

Don’t get lazy and rely on your word processor’s spellcheck feature; it may be able to catch common errors, but automatic checking software frequently misses more subtle ones, and there’s no substitute for the human eye.

“Storytelling” is a bit of a buzzword in content writing, but it’s true that as human beings, we crave narratives. Being able to tell a satisfying and cohesive story is a valuable skill for any writer.

What this looks like is, of course, different for each type of text, but no matter whether you’re writing an instructional manual or a press release, being able to carve out some sort of narrative will make your work much more engaging.

Sometimes, this means telling a literal story—even highly technical papers in academic journals often open with anecdotes that give their readers something to relate to. Other times, it just means using descriptive imagery that will paint a series of vivid pictures in your readers’ minds.

You don’t have to overthink this skill. It’s something that comes naturally to the best writers, and if you read a lot and write a lot, you’ll pick up on it, too. Just pay attention to how other writers who you respect incorporate storytelling into their pieces and try to experiment with it when you work on your own projects.

Again, freelance writers tend to work with many different types of texts, from blog posts to white papers to ad copy. Each type has formatting standards, and you need to be willing to adapt to these.

Some clients will want their work broken into short paragraphs and peppered with bullet points and headings (like this blog post). Others will expect longer, denser paragraphs, particularly clients that are soliciting writing for print rather than online publication.

You should also pay attention to formatting on a more technical level, too. The work you turn in should look professional; the font you use, how much space you leave between your lines and paragraphs, and how your text is aligned all will affect how your clients perceive your work.

You need enough familiarity with word processing software to format your pieces in a way that’s consistent with your clients’ expectations. It’s worth stating that this isn’t always intuitive: formatting conventions vary from genre to genre and company to company, and you should be agile enough to adapt to different standards relatively quickly.

Research is another skill that all freelance writers need to hone. Unless you specialize in something very specific and commit yourself to only ever accepting assignments in your niche (e.g., if you’re a doctor who’s only interested in writing about medicine), you won’t always be writing about something you’re personally knowledgeable about.

You have to be able to collect information from various sources and turn it into readable copy quickly. Doing this requires several sub-skills:

• Familiarity with search engines so that you find the sources you need (to start with, familiarize yourself with Google’s advanced search operators)
• Enough savvy (and skepticism) to vet the sources that you find for reliability

Thankfully, research skills are highly transferable. If you have any academic research experience, for example, you’ll probably be well-equipped to research new topics for freelance writing assignments.

You’ve probably heard of search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, we’ve already mentioned it in this article. It boils down to writing and formatting content in a way that appeals to Google’s algorithm, which will make it rank more prominently for keywords that people are searching for.

SEO knowledge isn’t particularly arcane or difficult to acquire, and contrary to popular belief, it doesn’t consist of cheap tricks like “keyword stuffing” (including keywords in your content in an excessive and unnatural way). The most crucial SEO skills include:

• Using tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to perform keyword research and identify topics that people are interested in reading about
• Structuring web content in a way that both human beings and search engines can easily parse
• Adding headings to your articles to make them more navigable
• Making your links descriptive (i.e., not using opaque links like “click here”)
• Giving any images you include appropriate alt text

You can learn the basics of SEO in a couple of afternoons, and the knowledge will pay dividends later. After all, if you don’t know the current SEO best practices, it doesn’t matter how good your online content is—it still probably won’t find an audience. (The same goes for your personal website and writing portfolio, when you create them.)

Have you ever worked with a content management system (CMS) before, such as WordPress? If not, consider getting experience in this area.

Many clients will expect you to upload and publish your articles. Valnet, the company that owns the popular websites ScreenRant and TheGamer, is one prominent example—many freelancers have gotten their start writing for them, and they’re far from alone in expecting their writers to publish their pieces on their own.

You should know the ins and outs of WordPress (which you can learn easily by setting up your own blog and tinkering with it for a few hours).

If you learn how to write basic HTML and CSS, which are the main languages that are used for formatting web content, that’ll also be a huge asset. It will make you more attractive to work with, since clients will know you can handle some of the more labor-intensive tasks involved in publishing the articles you produce for them.

As a freelance writer, your earning potential is, in an indirect way, tied to how many words you can type per minute. It isn’t absolutely essential to be a quick typist—plenty of people are able to work as writers without ever progressing beyond the hunt-and-peck method—but you’ll be able to work more efficiently (and consequently complete more projects in a shorter period) if you’re quick with a keyboard.

Many writers also find that improving their typing skills also helps them turn in higher-quality work. That’s not as weird as it sounds: when you can type almost as quickly as you can think, it’s easier to seize the moment when inspiration strikes instead of getting bogged down in the fiddly details of actually putting words on paper.

Organization and time management are helpful skills in almost any job, but they’re of the utmost importance for freelance writers. To make a living in this profession, you’ll have to juggle multiple projects and coordinate with multiple clients, all without missing any important emails or blowing your deadlines.

Successful freelance writers manage these tasks with ease. For some people, that comes naturally. If you aren’t lucky enough to be one of them, the hard truth is that there’s no shortcut to improving your organizational abilities. You’ll just have to experiment with different methods of keeping track of messages and projects (writing things down in a physical planner, keeping a digital calendar, etc.) and see what works for you.

It probably goes without saying that to do all of this, having self-discipline is also very important. You’ll have a tough time as a freelancer if your attention is always drifting. When you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder, you need to cultivate a strong work ethic and good habits.

Not everyone is comfortable marketing themselves, but knowing how to self-promote is a very helpful skill for freelancers. You’ll have an easier time attracting clients if you establish a compelling personal brand. You can do this by:

• Setting up a personal website (and hosting a carefully cultivated writing portfolio on it)
• Regularly blogging about writing (and whatever subjects you specialize in, if you’ve carved out a niche for yourself)
• Staying active on social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Twitter/X, etc.
• Attending conferences and other professional events for writers, either virtually or in person

Another aspect of self-promotion is, of course, pitching to clients, which is practically required if you want to land work. Get good at coming up with concise but attention-grabbing pitches that clearly explain what you bring to the table.

While some people naturally enjoy networking, for others, it’s like pulling teeth. After all, networking is a highly social activity, and many writers are solitary by nature.

Unfortunately, even if you’re not a people person, meeting others in your field is important no matter what you do. Look for opportunities to connect with other freelancers and industry professionals. If you get your name out there and generally establish a good reputation for yourself, you’ll greatly increase the chances of people referring clients to you in the future.

Relatedly, as a freelancer, you need to be able to listen to your clients and communicate your own thoughts to them in turn.

It’s not enough to simply communicate clearly, although that’s a start—you also need to communicate proactively. Ask your clients as many questions as it takes to find out what their needs and expectations are, and let them know if there are any issues with a project as soon as you can.

You’ll find that many clients are more than willing to forgive minor mistakes and delays, as long as they aren’t too frequent. The most important thing is keeping your communication lines open so that they don’t feel like they’re in the dark.

Getting feedback is often tough, especially as a writer. After all, writing is often a very personal thing, and being criticized may leave you feeling vulnerable or even angry.

However, the ability to accept constructive criticism is one of the most powerful tools a writer can possess. No one starts out perfect, and having the temperament and initiative to learn and grow from your mistakes is arguably what separates great writers from the merely competent.

Naturally, not all of the feedback you get will be worth taking seriously, and it’s also important to be able to recognize when that’s the case. If you disagree with a client’s criticisms, you might still have to adapt your work to their tastes, but you don’t need to carry the lessons forward.

Freelance writers often are faced with unexpected challenges. Whether it’s an unclear project assignment or computer issues threatening an urgent deadline, you should be adaptable and resourceful enough to roll with the punches.

If you establish a reputation as someone who can do that without getting frazzled and losing their cool, it will make your potential clients much more confident about entrusting you with their assignments.

Professional is a broad term that means something a bit different to everyone, but it ties into almost all of the skills we’ve discussed. It shows up in your communication style, work ethic, and the effort you put into maintaining your relationships.

The bottom line is that clients appreciate it when writers go above and beyond to meet the requirements for their projects. Adhere to your deadlines, follow your clients’ standards, communicate proactively, and always be impeccably polite. If you do that—and also produce solid writing—you’ll be in excellent shape as a freelancer.