If you are excellent at written communication (or are willing to become better) and are passionate about the Army, becoming an army writer might be a good path for you. If you have been looking for your guide to army writing, you’ve come to the right place.
The Army and all of the military branches need high-quality writing on a daily basis. From communicating within the Army itself to publications for the civilian population, nothing matters more than clear writing and they always need writers who can deliver.
As you can imagine, an Army writer being able to give direct, clear reports, matters a ton. One slight miscommunication in official correspondence can be disastrous.
Not every writing project you will encounter as an army writer will be that high-stakes, but it can be.
If you have thought about army writing, you might have wondered how to get involved in this, what it takes, what it pays, and how to get your foot in the door. We will cover that we will walk you through your guide to army writing.
What is Army Writing?
If you choose to become an Army writer, you will be in charge of making sure every project on your lap is done to the best of your ability.
There are a wide variety of things you could be in charge of from blog posts, press releases, official Army publications, contracts, proposals, reports, official correspondence, resumes, and more.
Keep in mind, almost anyone in the Army will need to improve their writing skills, or at least should try, because being able to communicate well through the written word can help your career no matter which path you choose to pursue.
Almost everything we do in today’s modern world, from emails to text messages, requires you to make sure you are communicating to the best of your ability and getting your point across.
Being able to write well will also increase your chances of being promoted since you will be able to clearly articulate your accomplishments and achievements. Writing well can also help you get promoted into other fields and specialities, as communication is essential for almost any important job.
For example, when you need to write your NCOER and summarize your entire performance and accomplishments for a length of time, being able to put that together in a clear, conscience way will save you a ton of headaches.
Army Writing Roles in the Army
There are a lot of potential writing projects you could be in charge of as an Army writer. Even if you enter back into civilian life, you could choose to continue to write about the army or other military branches.
For the most part, almost all of your Army writing will be done during your time of service, but know that there are many options and paths out there if you choose to become a good writer. You could even choose to write a book later on about your experience in the army.
Your Guide to Army Writing: How to Start
There are many paths to become an army writer, but all of them will require you to have high-quality writing skills. If it has been a while since you wrote anything, you will need to take the time to improve your writing abilities before you go down this path.
Once you get that started, there are a few basic steps and systems you can turn to in order to start working toward becoming an army writer.
#1 – Sign up for writing classes
If you are a little rusty with your writing style, you should take the time to either take a writing class or just start to write every day.
While it might be fun to take some creative writing classes just to practice, you will want to focus more on styles such as journalism or business writing, since those are less creative and more practical.
For example, with journalism, you work on giving people the whole summary of the story right off the bat instead of getting to it by the bottom of the piece. Every word you write will need to be exactly what you mean instead of choosing a creative word.
Ideally, you will take an army writing class, but most writing classes are a good place to start and there are quite a few free ones online you can check out to start to practice.
#2 – Read through other examples of Army writing
The Army Writer website has some great examples of Army writing for you to reference and take a look at. The best thing you can do is to look at successful samples of army writing to help guide you.
You might even want to ask people you know for examples of successful writing. It helps you gauge where your skills are at and shows you what to start to work toward.
#3 – Buy Army writing books
There are a ton of books out there, such as the Guide to Effective Military Writing that can help you get started in the right direction.
There are more than that, so you might want to hunt around or ask people what books they recommend so you can perfect your writing. You could also buy writing books in general, as there are thousands to choose from and any of the best seller books are a good place to start, especially if you are out of practice as a writer.
#4 – Practice, practice, practice
More than anything, improving your writing skill comes through repetitive practice.
For every sentence you write, think about if there was a way you could make what you wrote even more clear and concise.
Army writing is rarely fluffy so getting right to the point matters most. You will also need to be able to write in a basic way. The last thing you need is to write something that is so creative that the person on the opposite end needs to pull out a dictionary to understand what you wrote.
#5 – Know the Army Writing Style Guide
You will need to intimately know the style guide for the Army when you choose to do any Army writing.
You should be given a style guide and all the rules as soon as you accept any project. For example, typically, military font is Arial size 12. Rarely will weird fonts ever be used or anything that looks like script-style writing.
Of course, almost every project you need to work on will have its own formatting and style rules, so you will want to be crystal clear about what those are before you ever start putting pen to paper.
#6 – Keep up to date with major publications
You will want to take the time to subscribe to Army publications so you can keep up to date with everything important but mainly to get a feel for the writing.
Seeing published pieces that have been through various editing processes can give you more clarity and ideas for how to write. It might also inspire you to work for those publications one day and start to write your own pieces.
Army Writing Salary
You might be wondering how much you could make as an army writer. According to Indeed, the average salary for a U.S. Army writer is $84,000.
What to Do Next
If you are committed to becoming a writer the Freelance Writer Den is exactly what you need. You will learn everything you need to succeed as a writer.
