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The Sims 4's Writing Skill
The Sims 4's Writing Skill allows your Sim to publish books and get paid for their efforts. Inspired is the Ideal Mood for this Skill, but you may find that Sims who are Sad or Flirty can make great cash off Sad or Romantic Books by writing Bestsellers. This Guide will teach you all you need to know to be successful with this Skill, though it has been simplified compared to the previous versions in earlier iterations of the Sims Franchise. All books take about the same time to write, and Bestsellers produce similar earnings.
How to: Writing Cheats
Press Control + Shift + C then type testingcheats on and press enter. You can now set your skill level with stats.set_skill_level major_writing x (fill in 1-10) - we also have a full listing of Skill Cheats and a master list of Cheats in The Sims 4
A guide Writing, maximizing profit and the Book of Life you get for the Bestselling Author Reward Trait
Being Very Inspired Raises Book Quality, helping your Sim Write Bestsellers
Getting Started & Inspiration
All you need to get started with Writing is a Computer, and perhaps some of the things you need to get Inspired. Showers allow you to take Thoughtful Showers, and Radios help boost Happiness so that you can boost Inspiration. You can listen to the radio, then sit down for a long writing session in which you can likely finish two to three Books. Objects from the Painter Career synergize very well with this Skill, as do those from the Chef (although you'd be effectively writing in the Kitchen). These give off Auras which provide Inspiration. All Sims who can write may also browse art from the Web on the Computer, which allows them to get Inspired as well. Stacking all these, along with the Writing Skill's 'Read for Reference' ability, allows your Sim to get Very Inspired.
Good Traits & Aspirations
The Creative Trait is a natural choice, since it randomly gives your Sim Inspiration. Also, Lazy is a decent choice given it will give your Sim more Happiness from sitting in a chair for extended times, which helps boost all Inspired Buffs. The Bestselling Author Aspiration is the best choice for this Skill, given it allows you to write The Book of Life.
There are numerous Book Genres, but they perform similarly in Royalties
Skill Unlocks & Book Type List
Here are the various unlocks for each level of the Skill. Note the Emotional Books. Sims with the Expressionistic Trait from the Painter Aspiration can write these so long as they reach the level. Sims without it need to be in the proper emotional state. Every Book type takes about 4 hours to write and produce similar earnings.
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Read Non-Fiction for Reference Helps your Sim get Inspired
Book Quality
Book Qualities range from Normal, to Good, Excellent, and Bestseller. Naturally, Book Quality is important. In order to raise it, you should either be Very Inspired or Very X if you're writing an Emotional Book. The Creative Visionary Reward, bought for 2000 Satisfaction in the Rewards Store, raises the odds you'll come out with Bestsellers.
Publishing and Royalties
You can publish books from the Mailbox. Book Royalties vary based on the form of Publishing. Self-Publishing is baseline, and will not be used once you reach level 5 and are able to Sell to Publisher, which gives about 50% more earnings (but is based on book quality). There is no downside to this form of publishing. At level 9, once you're able to Submit to Literary Digest, you can submit a book once a week. Save it for a Bestseller, as it gives practically double that of what a Publisher will provide. Royalties are paid out every day at 10AM, and you'll earn them for about 20 days for any book type. You can have as many books published as you want at any time.
The best types of books to write are generally higher level, given the time to complete the books is about the same. An Excellent Biography or Mystery Book will do far better than a Bestselling Sad or Children's book, because those are easier to write. This isn't very realistic, but is just the way it is. The higher level books have higher multipliers. Your Sim's Writing level does influence the pay for each book type, however, so if you stuck with writing a low-level book you'd gradually see the value increase as you approach level 10. Later in your Sim's writing Career, save Submit to Literary Digest for Bestsellers that are high level, and submit the rest to regular publishers.
Book Royalties come in daily at 10AM
Rake in the Money
No matter the book quality, you should publish your books. You can make $10k off a Bestseller during the 20 days you get Royalties, though day to day earnings may fluctuate up to 30-40%. The list will not show all your books at once (max about 16), but rest assured you do get all the money from those works each day. As the old books drop off, you will see your new books' performance. It would have been better if Maxis had listed the newest books first so that you can see how they perform, but I suppose it's OK the way it is. You just won't know exactly what you're making off a book until time has passed... but you'll definitely feel the effects in your Household's bank account.
Love Emails & Excuse Notes
Love Emails allow Sims to send an Email to any Sim they know, which will raise their romantic relationship with them. This is a very powerful feature for increasing the affection between two Sims. Excuse Notes allow a Sim to skip Work or School without major performance hits.
The Book of Life lets you Resurrect Dead Sims or Raise their Needs and Soothe Bad Moods
The Book of Life
Perhaps the single most interesting aspect of this Skill is the ability to write the Book of Life. The Book of Life is unlocked by completing the Bestselling Author Aspiration and getting the Poetic Reward Trait. First, you must write it, but then need to bind it by capturing the Epic Saga of a living Sim. With this Book, you can call a dead Sim's ghost to your lot, so that you may befriend them and add them to your household where they can be resurrected to life simply by reading their own book. Eating Ambrosia (Gourmet Cooking Skill). The Book may not be bound to a ghost Sim and if a Sim has been returned to the netherworld via their Urn, they will not be able to be called by the Book. If a Sim who is a Ghost reads their own book of life, they can use it to Restore Life, bringing them back from the dead as effectively as Ambrosia, only much easier.
If The Book of Life is used while the Sim is still alive you can refill their Needs on demand and soothe any negative moods, any time! You may pass this book to a Sim to let them restore their own Needs. Only the Sim that wrote the book may bind it, however, and a Sim may not bind it to themselves. If a couple wanted to have this book for each other, both would need to write the Book of Life, and bind it to the other, thus requiring both to complete the Aspiration.
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The Sims 4 Seasons expansion now has options! Want to disable weather or make plants in season year-round? You can do so with my new Seasons Tuner Mod
The past month, I've spent every day tinkering The Sims 4, making quality of life improvements, gameplay changes, and new difficulty settings for the game. If you'd like to learn more about my project, visit the post on Patreon where you can download it now.
Cottage Living Guide! Here is my guide to new features in the Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion
You can also find handy Cottage Living Cheats
I have much more to come, since you can actually write a few guides about this pack!
Blender has been incredibly useful in video production, so I made my own Physics and Simulation Improvement Addon that lumps a ton of unique tools into one compact interface.
Snowy Escape Cheats
Lifestyles in Snowy Escape
Climb Mt. Komorebi
Sentiments in Snowy Escape
Rock Climbing
Skiing Skill
Snowboarding Skill
I've released a guide to Sentiments in The Sims 4 & Snowy Escape.
There is a new platform tool in The Sims 4. There's also a new Sentiments system, but it'll take some time to create a guide to that. Players can also use rental lots in any world now by changing lot types of builds in manage worlds.
I've created a massive List of The Best Mods in The Sims 4 that should be very helpful to new players and those who have not yet explored modding and how much it can do for your gameplay.
New - Secrets I have a new guide to secrets in the game. If you prefer, you can also watch a video about secrets in Sims 4.
Nifty Knitting is now available. Learn all about the stuff pack on my guide page here.
NEW - Nifty Knitting CheatsNew features in the Sims 4 June 2020
The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle Guide
Eco Footprint: How it Works
Neighborhood Action Plans
How to Cheat in Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Civil Designer Career
Insect Farms & Bio Fuel
Fabrication Skill in Eco Lifestyle
Juice Fizzing NEW
Traits and Aspirations in DLC
Gameplay Ideas for Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Updated
Trait Cheats Updated
Traits List Updated
Aspirations List Updated
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This is inspired by a new series in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to the full playlist!
I now have a guide page to Tiny Living Stuff where you can learn about Murphy Beds, the new death, as well as the lot bonuses you'll receive if you manage to keep the size of your lot down with this new pack's Tiny Home Lot Type.
New I now have a guide to Making Super Sims in The Sims 4. Look for a text version within the next 72h. It won't have THAT much more info but it will help out as a checklist.
This was inspired by a series, "Let's Play a Super Sim" in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to each part for people who are interested. You can also see the Let's Play as a Playlist on Youtube.
The Sims 4 Discover University has been announced for November 15 for PC/Mac and December 17 for Xbox and Playstation 4 consoles. Click to learn more about the pack, see my summary of the livestream or read our FAQs below.
Other Guides to Discover University:
New Lot Traits: Study Spot and University Student Hang Out
New: Discover University FAQ: Gameplay Features
New Video The Sims 4 Discover University Gameplay Tips Video
More videos coming soon!
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Comments (24)
testingcheats on
stats.set_skill_level major_writing 10 would set you to max level.
More on cheats here
I am actually planning to edit into all the skill guides that socials give gobs of XP and can be used to level them faster.
Which book genre earns a big profit for a Sim once a Sim decided to sell the book to a publisher?
I really curious about it! Thank you
Has the filling needs part of the book been removed? The sim I am using it for is alive sim.
EA Bug Report- Book of Life Broken
I guess it will have to be a developers fix. Such a shame as using the BoL is so good for sims when they are at work etc. It's like a cheat that isn't a cheat really.
Ghost Guide
Cheats Guide
This is so disappointing!
Sorry if anyone misunderstood the message. I was having a problem with the skill and I was typing, and I accidentally hit the add comment button!