Fields of discipline evolve with the march of time. Back in my college days during the nineties, we were never taught about looking ahead to how the business of writing and publishing would evolve. Despite the early beginnings of e-book publishing, we merely considered it as a trend that would have no effect on the writer as a professional.

We were wrong. Now that people are spending more time online, professionals, especially creatives, have to do more than create art. And this applies to writers. The digital age, while providing a plethora of opportunities for writers, is becoming more competitive. For a writer to stand out, he needs to hone other special skills to help him navigate his way around the information highway. Here are some of those essential skills.

1. Writing is your foundation.

For sure, you’re already aware of this. The question is, how often do you write? You have to set your thoughts down on paper on a regular basis. The connection between your thoughts and the act of writing them down hones your skill to organize ideas better.

Write when you feel like it, but write even more when you don’t feel like it. If you only write when you are inspired, it will condition your brain to associate writing with comfort. Write to set your ideas down, no matter how random and disorganized they may appear. You can always set it aside and get back to it for rewriting.

Guard your writing time as well. Never allow any distraction to interfere in that specific time you have set aside for your writing. Think of it as quality time between you and your vocation.

2. Establish personal branding.

Establishing connections is essential to growing your online presence. Put yourself in a scenario where you browse online for digital books. What are the odds that you would choose to pick a book from an unknown author over a book from an established and prominent writer? People are brand-conscious. Most readers will read a new release from a known author rather than from someone they never heard of. Names like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling have become brand names. You need to package yourself this way. To establish yourself as a brand, you need to create a following by building an estate of your work online.

This is a way for you to introduce yourself to the reading public. They need to know who you are. Understand that different social media channels are competing for people’s attention. Give your audience something that will make them feel you’re worth their time. Show it through the caliber of your work.

3. Address people’s needs, not just yours.

Are you writing to express yourself, or are you writing to fill a market’s need? For some writers, the former is more inspiring to create. The motivation for self-expression and the desire to share our story allows us to dig deeper into our psyche to produce the best story. The former, on the other hand, may give us the same degree of feeling, but providing information or solutions requires you to put yourself in your audience’s shoes to understand them better, and that leads to helping them better.

Readers’ tastes may change from time to time. Nowadays, more adults are digging into nonfiction. This is a signal that nonfiction writers are more in demand by an audience hungry for information or advice.

Should you stop writing fiction? No. Continue by all means. But you must learn to adapt to suit the growing needs of the market’s demand. Offer your nonfiction services to write content or how-to guides. You can always set aside time for your fiction especially when you’re freelancing.