Are you interested in becoming a UX writer but worried about the high cost of Bootcamps and degrees?

Worry no more! The internet has leveled the playing field for skill acquisition. With the abundance of free learning resources online, all you need these days is a hunger to learn, not a big, fat pocket. In this guide, I’ll be sharing some free (and affordable) resources that have helped me in my UX writing journey.

Let’s start with the basics, shall we?

First and foremost, you need a solid understanding of what UX writing is and, more importantly, what UX writers do. This article by CareerFoundry does a great job of explaining all you need to know.

Watch introductory videos

Once you’ve gotten the hang of what a career in UX writing entails, it’s time for some introductory lessons. These Youtube videos are some of the best I’ve found for that purpose:

A Beginner’s Guide to UX Writing (Full Guide)

In this beginner guide, Senior UX Writer, Emerson Schroeter, talks about what UX writing is and what good UX writing looks like in practice.

Material’s Communication Principles: Intro to UX Writing

In this workshop by Google’s Material Design team, you’ll learn:

• What UX writing is and why it matters
• How to determine the right tone and voice for different contexts
• How to write for specific components

UX Writing: What, Why, and How

This presentation by Bobbie Wood, Founder & CEO of the UX Writers Collective, covers the following:

• Why UX Writing evolved as its own discipline
• A few how-to examples of UX writing for interfaces
• Some important UX writing best practices

Become a UX Content Designer with Andy Welfle

In this insightful presentation, Andy Welfle, co-author of “Writing is Designing,” teaches about the world of content design. Topics covered include:

• How to get a job as a Content Designer/UX Writer
• The type of projects UX writers work on
• How writing and designing are similar

You’ll need to read…a lot

To become a strong writer, you must read…a whole lot. It’s as simple as that.

“What should I be reading?” you might ask.

There are a ton of great books and articles online to help kickstart your UX writing career. Some of my favorites books include:

Nicely Saidby Nicole Fenton & Kate Keifer Lee

This book is perfect for beginners. It contains answers to the most common web writing questions, and most importantly, it gives you a coherent and repeatable approach to writing.

(I found this book super easy to read and will recommend it as a starting point for a beginner.)

Strategic Writing for UX by Torrey Podmajersky

In this book, you’ll learn about what goals UX content can accomplish, frameworks for writing it, and methods to measure it.

Letting Go of the Words by Janice (Ginny) Radish

This book is about creating great content for websites, mobile apps, and social media by thinking of content as conversation.

(If you’re a visual learner, you might like this one as it has a lot of images and illustrations to explain the concepts.)

Writing is Designing by Michael J. Metts & Andy Welfle

This book will show you how to give your users clarity, test your words, and collaborate with your team.

Everybody Writes by Ann Handley

This book isn’t just about UX writing. It covers writing for the web in general. And it’s a darn good book that every UX writer should read. It teaches about how to write better, grammar usage, and more.

Now, to articles. These are some of my favorites:

UX Writing: Study Guide — A collection of links to UX writing articles and videos by the Nielsen Norman Group

When life gives you lemons, write better error messages by

Are you sure you want to do this? Microcopy for confirmation dialogues by

You can also sign up for this free text-based UX writing course:

A Taste of UX Writing — A short course by the UX Writing Hub

This course covers subjects like poor design, psychology in UX, the art of making things easy to use, UX research, and more.

Some tools you’ll need

Every trade has its tools, and UX writing is no exception. Here are some tools I use, but bear in mind that there are plenty more out there.

Google Docs: For writing those shitty first drafts. It’s also a great tool for collaborating with other team members. I also like to use these plug-ins with Google Docs:

• Grammarly — to check grammar
• Wordtune — for rephrasing sentences

Figma: To help set my writing in context.

Miro: Great for content maps, brainstorming, etc.

Google Forms: For surveys (user research)

Google Meet: For user interviews and testing.

And then there’s the good ol’ ChatGPT, for ensuring that I hit the right notes with voice and tone.

Put your new skills to the test

After all the hard work, you might need a way to test your newly acquired skills. This 15-day UX writing challengesends you a UX writing task via email for 15 days straight.

And if you want an even tougher challenge, consider rewriting the copy of some of your favorite apps and websites.

Start flaunting your work

Finally, you’ll need to create a portfolio to showcase all the hard work you’ve put in behind the scenes.

I know! Sharing your work in public can be scary at first. But remember: even the best UX writers sucked when they first started. So don’t let your egoget in the way of your growth.

Free platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and Notion are great for creating your portfolio.

I use Notion and found it super easy to set up. This video tutorial can help you get started if you think Notion is for you.

Don’t know what to include in your portfolio?

These articles will help nudge you in the right direction:

What We Look for in Content Design Portfolios and Work Samples — article by Hubspot

5 Tips For the Best UX Writing Portfolio — article by CareerFoundry

And… That’s a wrap! I do hope these resources help you as much as they’ve helped me. If you have anything to add, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message.

All the best!💙

If you’re interested in knowing what I’ve been up to in my UX writing journey? Check out my portfolio.