How should I improve my writing outside of school?
In public relations it is important that students write well. I want to write more and get more accustomed to writing, is there a way you recommend I do that? What kind of writing should I be practicing? Creative or specifically press releases?
#public-relations #writing
5 answers
Robert (Rob)’s Answer
Emily -
Practice, practice, practice. And even more importantly, ask friends, mentors and others you trust to review and critique your work.
Don't be afraid to edit. Review your work yourself and look for passages that may be a little clunky, too wordy, or not very clear, and make those sections better. Part of being a good writer is being a good editor. And in any PR career you're going to do a lot of editing.
Read other peoples' work with a critical eye. Can you spot typos and awkward sentences and phrasings? Can you develop your own sense of how to fix the flaws you spot?
Good luck and have fun practicing.
Gloria’s Answer
What do you mean by improve your writing? I imagine that there are a few different things. As a writer, I have experienced or seen some of these items below.
- I want to write better, with better spelling.
This may sound strange, but I would recommend reading. Read a lot and read a variety of books. Published books have gone through a publication and editing process. That means that the writing itself has gone through some review of grammar and spelling rigor. I actually find that reading has helped me with my use of commas and other punctuation.
- I need to get through writer's block or thinking of new ideas.
To attack this challenge, I would recommend writing daily in a journal. There are some fun books that can help you with writing activities that make you more creative. The goal here is not quality, but quantity. Write every day. Write when you don't want to write. Write when you have nothing to say and do it for at least 10 minutes every day. You will learn a few things. One thing is that you always have something to say. Two, you will learn that there are opportunities to write even in the smallest things. You can write for 10 minutes about why you love butterflies or sugar cookies. Writing in a journal also simply primes the pump. I write some words, so I will be able to write more.
- I don't know if I am a good writer.
So far in the list, I have mentioned writing being corrected by you. Here you have to engage with others. You need feedback and opinions. It is not enough to find out if someone likes what you write. No matter what, you need to know why they had whatever opinion that they have. If someone doesn't like what you wrote, it can sometimes be the language use, not the fact that the theme of the story was bad. You need to make sure that you don't limit your feedback to one person. I would say get a wide variety of people to comment on your writing. You can do that now very easily, just start a blog or use other social media to get your work out there. Maybe you can take writing classes where you can share with a teacher and fellow students.
Keep writing!
Gloria
Mihir’s Answer
The key to being a good writer is making sure that you read a lot.
My suggestion would be to keep reading books by different writers and from different genres.
This will inculcate new ideas and creativity.
Len’s Answer
Say more with less. I've noticed that many college students come out of school writing very flowery prose. Don't dazzle with cliches or big words. Speak plainly to your audience. Keep it simple.
Len recommends the following next steps:
Hey Emily,
I would suggest you start your own blog to practice your writing skills! The best way to improve is practice! https://www.wix.com/start/blog provides is a resource to take you step by step to creating your own blog online and it's free.
Devan Oates
Rebecca’s Answer
One of the things I did was start a writing club with friends. We challenged ourselves every other week, by picking a theme or genre and developing a piece. For example, a horror short story, a poem, an essay/opinion/persuasive argument, etc. Then we shared our stories and provided feedback. Another thing that really helps is to READ. A lot. Join a book club and read all types of books, including biographies, short stories, novels, etc.