A skill you’ll use your entire career: Writing

This week, we’re returning to our list of transferable technical skills, or the practical-knowledge skills that appear in job listings across the most career areas.

So far, we’ve discussed how spreadsheet skills and project management skills stand to boost your qualifications regardless of your occupation. This week, we’re taking a closer look at writing skills and how to improve yours.

Being a strong writer means that you are able to clearly and effectively translate your thoughts into meaningful messages. In the workplace, this skill can enable you to share your ideas, create documentation, and build relationships.

Essentially, if your career involves a keyboard, you can probably benefit from strong writing skills. It commonly shows up in business, administrative, sales, marketing, finance, education, health care, engineering, IT, research, analysis, and more careers.

You may recall that University of Michigan professor Chris Brooks cited writing as one of his top data analytics skills. As a data analyst, writing enables him to both document his analysis process—important when it comes to validating and updating data reports—and share his insights in a way that influences meaningful outcomes.

Whether you’re writing emails, reports, pitches, or any other form of documentation, our tips for strengthening your writing skills remain relatively the same. Here are three tips for improving your writing skills:

1. Review grammar and spelling basics.

Grammar and spelling are the foundations of good writing. Not only do proper grammar and spelling ensure your message is clear and easy to read, they also signal that you have strong attention to detail. Plus, you can unlock new ways to elevate your writing when you know how to use less-common punctuation, like colons, semi-colons, and em-dashes.

Build your grammar skills with the University of California, Irvine’s Academic English: Writing Specialization. You’ll begin with a highly-rated course on grammar and punctuation before moving into more advanced writing topics.

2. Think about structure.

Structure has to do with the way you organize your writing and ensures your big ideas are effectively communicated to your readers. Often, creating an outline before you start writing can help solidify your structure. That way, you can clarify what you’re hoping to convey in each section of your writing, visualize the flow of your piece, and identify parts that require more thought.

Advance your structure skills with the University of Michigan’s Good with Words: Writing and Editing Specialization. Here, you’ll explore techniques to strengthen your overall writing structure, as well as word choice, drafting, and revising.

3. Write, write, write.

Practice makes progress. If you want to improve your writing skills, create opportunities for yourself to practice writing. Start keeping a daily journal, find a digital pen pal, or set aside some time to work through writing prompts. Whether you decide to share your practice with others or keep it to yourself, the act of transcribing your thoughts will help to strengthen your overall writing muscles.

Practice creative writing with Wesleyan University’s Creative Writing Specialization. You’ll explore different aspects of story development, like plot and character, then you’ll use your learnings to write your own original piece.

Practice business writing with University of Colorado Boulder’s Business Writing course, the first part of their broader Effective Communication: Writing, Design, and Presentation Specialization.

For more writing tips, read our free guide or check out more popular writing courses on Coursera.

Leave your best writing tips and favorite prompts in the comments below. See you next time!

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