: ) That’s funny. It’s too much to do both, and do it well. I do wish I had spent more of my time learning aspects of design software versus whirling around the internet. Haha.

Honestly, I think that’s someone who doesn’t want to hire a designer. It’s nice if the writer knows it, but it shouldn’t be a requirement, I don’t think. I always tell them “You wouldn’t want me designing anything — there’s a reason I’m a writer!”

Thanks, Lori. That helps give me a good, general idea. I’ve been a bit confused over the years with many job ads expecting writers to know design or design software. I finally gave up trying to “learn” too many things. Thanks, again. I didn’t expect you to answer over the weekend! I’m just happy you answer, at all. : )

Hi Gina — sorry, I was overworked on Friday (story of my life right now).

How advanced depends on what you need, I think. I do occasional formatting, so knowing how to do that in Word is helpful. But for most writers, the basic functions should do just fine. Though knowing more never hurts. And Microsoft has plenty of tutorials, so as you get the chance or the curiosity, why not learn something new?

Again, knowing anything else is going to be dependent on what you want to do. Can you get by without knowing these? Sure. I do all the time. But if you feel it’s necessary to know to accomplish your goals, then go for it.

Software I didn’t expect — yes. Trello, Evernote, OneNote. Loved Evernote. Trello was equally impressive. OneNote has always confounded me — not yet grasped how to organize anything there. And I love Sway by Microsoft and have used it.