Overview
The Writing skill in The Sims 4 lets your Sim create everything from children’s books to screenplays, and earn royalties as they improve. In this guide, you’ll learn every way to build the Writing skill, how each skill level works, and how to publish your Sim’s work. We’ll also cover cheats, rewards, and helpful tips for leveling up faster so your Sim can become a bestselling author.
About the Writing skill
- The Writing skill comes with The Sims 4 Base Game, and is a 10 level skill.
- Elder, Adult, Young Adult, and Teen Sims can all build this skill.
- The Writing skill is needed to progress in the Writer career, as well as the Writer branch of the Freelancer career.
- The Writing skill is needed to complete the Bestselling Author Aspiration.
- If your Sim completes this Aspiration, they can write The Book of Life. Check out our article about death in The Sims 4 to learn more about what you can do with The Book of Life.
- The following Lot Traits can help your Sim build this skill:
- The Fast Internet Trait increases how fast your Sim builds this skill.
- If you own The Sims 4 City Living Expansion Pack, the Home Studio Lot Trait increases how fast your Sim builds this skill and the quality of what they create.
How to build Writing skill
There are multiple ways for your Sim to build the Writing skill. Some interactions are only unlocked when your Sim reaches a certain level.The simplest way to get started with this skill is to start writing. Using the computer, select Write. Choose Practice Writing or Write Genre Book. As your Sim levels up in this skill, more genres will become available to them. Once your Sim has finished writing a book, they can Self-Publish using the Mailbox once they reach level 2, or Sell to Publisher once they reach level 5. Your Sim will earn daily royalties from books they’ve published. As your Sim’s Writing skill improves, they’ll produce higher-quality books and earn more royalties from their work.If you own The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack, Sims can also Write Obituaries on the computer to build skill. Teen Sims and older can also build this skill by writing in a journal:
- the Private Journal if you own The Sims 4 Parenthood Game Pack
- the Quaint Crowskin Journal if you own The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack.
Reading skill books will work towards building skills, but it is slower than other methods. Books will only get you as far as level 9 of a skill. To buy skill books:The skill books are:
- 1Select a bookshelf and choose Purchase Books.
- 2In the pop-u,p select the drop-down at the top-left that reads Show All.
- 3Choose Skill and scroll through to find the book you want to buy. These will be added to your Sim’s bookshelf.
- Writing Vol 1: The Conjugation Conundrum
- Writing Vol 2: The Importance of Punctuation
- Writing Vol 3: Let’s Get Weird.
If you own The Sims 4 Discover University Expansion Pack, your Sim can attend skill-building classes. These are rabbit-holes, so your Sim will leave the Lot for some time and then come back when the class is over. Note: Skill Classes are only available between 9 a.m.– 9 p.m.
- 1In Live Mode, select your Sim’s phone.
- 2Open the Business app (the briefcase icon).
- 3Choose Sit in on Skill Class (§250).
- 4In the pop-up menu, choose Writing. Your Sim will leave the Lot and gain Writing skill while in class.
If you own The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Expansion Pack, your Sim can learn or teach the Writing skill using the Sharing is Caring Whiteboard. You’ll find this in Build Mode.
Writing skill levels
As your Sim builds the Writing skill, they’ll unlock new rewards, abilities, and interactions along the way. Mood-related genre books become available at certain levels of this skill, but Sims can only write these if they’re in that mood. For example, at level 2, Sims can Write Sad Books, but they’ll need to be in a Sad Mood to do so. A green progress bar will appear above your Sim’s head and gradually fill up as they’re building a skill. You can also check their progress by:- 1Entering Live Mode.
- 2Selecting the Sim Panel (bottom left).
- 3Selecting the Skills tab.
At this level, your Sim can:
- Practice Writing
- Write Children’s Books.
At this level, your Sim can Self-Publish books using the Mailbox.
At this level, your Sim can:
- Write Short Stories
- Write Sad Books (when in a Sad Mood)
- Write Excuse Notes for other Sims
- Read Non-Fiction books for Reference
- Discuss Favorite Book/Author with other Sims.
At this level, your Sim can:
- Write Poems
- Write Motivational Books (when in a Confident Mood)
- Write Playful Books (when in a Playful Mood)
- Write Romance Books (when in a Flirty Mood)
- Write Workout Guides (when in an Energized Mood)
- Write Love Emails to other Sims.
Romance Books are the quickest genre Sims can write, so they’re also the fastest way for your Sim to earn some Simoleons through this skill!
At this level, your Sim can:
- Write Non-Fiction books
- Sell to Publisher using the Mailbox
- Recite Love Poetry to other Sims
- Mentor other Sims in this skill.
At this level, your Sim can Write Screenplays.
At this level, your Sim can:
- Write Fantasy Books
- Write Horror Books (if you own The Sims 4 Life & Death Expansion Pack)
- Enthuse about Iambic Pentameter with other Sims.
At this level, your Sim can Write Science Fiction books.
At this level, your Sim can:
- Write Mystery books
- Submit to Literary Digest.
At this level, your Sim can Write Biography books.
Writing skill cheats
When using skill cheats, type in the number of the level you want to reach. For example, putting stats.set_skill_level major_writing 7 into the cheat bar will get your Sim’s Writing skill up to level 7.PC and Mac
PlayStation®
Xbox
- 1Press Control + Shift + C to open the cheat dialogue box.
- 2Type testingcheats true and press Enter to turn on cheats.
- 3Type stats.set_skill_level major_writing [skill level] and press Enter.