Back to the Future: Writing Essentials
Posted on Tue, Mar 01, 2011
By Kathryn
A few weeks ago, I went back to my old stomping grounds at Falmouth Academy in Falmouth, Mass. and participated in some roundtable discussions with high school juniors and seniors on writing and journalism.
Most of the students with whom I spoke were interested in creative writing and becoming the next best-selling author. (Admittedly, my high school goal was to win the Pulitzer Prize in journalism, so I wasn’t much different.) I tried to give them a sense that writing is just one aspect of the larger world of communications, and they don’t have to get a degree in English to write. In fact, writing is essential in fields as wide-ranging as business, engineering, information technology and public relations.
I know some of the students looked at me and thought, “Who is this crazy person talking about the value of business writing, blogs and freelancing?” I hope by the time I left, these messages came across loud and clear:
- Take advantage of the social media revolution. Build a portfolio by creating your own blog or contributing articles to other blogs.
- Grow a thick skin. Editors will not always impart suggestions in the gentle tone of your teachers.
- Explore different types of writing. How can you make the topic of data protection for a virtualized environment funny and interesting?
- Intern, intern, intern. The field of communication is wide and varied. Take the opportunity in college to try out all areas of communications. I did an internship as a reporter in college and found out I hated it, but I loved the PR internships I had.
At the end of the morning, I was happy to drive off the campus and say that I never have to go back to high school. But I felt good, too, hoping I had given the students another viewpoint on the world of communications and writing.
If you were heading back to your high school or college, what advice on writing, journalism or PR would you impart?