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LeighS /
LeighSLeigh's homepage for 484 Writing Assignments Reading Assignments Guest Speakers? Self intro to class & me Major: Professional Writing What do I want to do? I'm not really sure yet. I think it would be really fun to be a fiction writer (I'm currently working on my first novel) or possibly an editor (the one who reads all the manuscripts sent in by people like me, and decides which ones to publish). I also really enjoy being in school, and hope to stay here a little longer (grad school, possibly teaching). Ideally, I'd like to teach part time and write part time, if I can make enough money to support myself that way. Related Experiences: I currently work as a writer at EMU's University Communications. I write feature stories for Focus EMU, the faculty/staff newsletter, and press releases. As I mentioned above, I'm currently working on a novel (though I'm not very far yet). I'm hoping to put more time into it this summer after I graduate, and before grad school starts. My mother, who is also trying to break into the fiction-writing industry, has written two novels (not for publication, just for practice). One of which I helped her edit, and the other I will edit once she gives me a copy. In the very near future I will become more involved with communications at an animal rescue that I've been volunteering at. The woman who previously did the Web site, newsletters, fliers etc., has just left the group, and I will be taking over some of her previous tasks. What does it mean to be professional? To me, being professional means using some kind of knowledge or skill (in my case, writing) to make money. This could mean writing, editing or even teaching. Is being professional an act? Based on my definition, no. Most likely, certain perfessions will require different actions. For example, a novelist who writes in their pajamas is just as much as a professional as the public relations worker who meets with clients (so long as they are both getting paid for their work). If one is sucessful in their career, then they are a professional. I suppose one could "act" like they think someone in their desired career would act, but until they land that first job, they are not a professional. Question 3: There are basic things one would need to know to create a brochure...who it is intended for, what it's intended purpose is, what needs to be included ect.. Faced with these questions, I would look at other items produced by the office. Who do most of them go to? How are they written? What is their purpose? Obviously, old brochures would be the most logical choice, assuming that they were done well. At my current job, I usually look at old stories to get an idea of how to do new ones. And, of course, one could always ask questions. I would try to come up with ideas on my own, and then ask specific questions as they come up. Question 4: Learning how to write is about learning how to look for patterns and adapt. A writer cannot be taught in class how to write in a way that that will be sucessful in every situation. What they must be taught how to do is to look at the style of writing at x workplace, and be able to adjust to that situation. For example, in PR class we were taught how to write a press release. We were told what to include, what not to include, how to write the lead, etc. When I got to my current job, I found that they do their press releases differently than how we'd been taught in class. So basically, I had to ignore what I'd been taught, and look at examples of their press releases to find patterns. I then used those patterns to write my own releases. 2. Writing vs. Contextual Problem Solving: When most people think of writing, they think of producing written documents. The act of writing, then, is simply putting words on paper. People may think that to be a good professional writer simply means to have good grammar skills. However, as we've learned in the technical/professional writing classes, this is not all that writing entails. Writing is about figuring out the purpose of the document and the intended audience of the document. It's about analyzing the context to come up with a document that is sucessfull--meaning that not only is it grammatically correct and "sounds good," it also serves its purpose. 3. Things I want to do: Like many, I don't know what I want to do. I get bored really easily, and the idea of sitting in an office 8 hours a day 7 days a week is really scary. I thought I wanted to be a writer because then maybe I would have the flexability to work on my own time and do different things. However, I tried journalism, and didn't really care for it. I like my current job at University PR, but I only work 15 hours a week--I think I would get frusterated really fast if I worked 40. The one thing I really like is being in school. If I could I would stay in school forever. I guess that means I should be a teacher. 4. For an artifact sample, I brought two press releases. One I did for PR class, and the other I did in my PR job. Press releases show that you can write clear, to-the-point documents. They show that you can take a large amount of information and pick out the most important parts. If done well, they show that you understand what kinds of things the media want to see. The first release that I did in class followed the style that we were taught. The second is quite different, breaking many of the rules we were taught in class. When I got to my job, I found that they had a different style for their releases. These two show that I can take a style that I've been taught in class, and adapt it to fit other contexts in which the style may be different. _____ Jan. 25: What does it mean to be a professional? Being a professional requires a combination of specific skills and training. Just look at the jobs commonly considered professions—doctors, lawyers and engineers. One must posses a certain natural talent to be successful, for example, one who is bad at public speaking would have trouble arguing a case in front of a jury. Similarly, one with a natural talent for science could not simply walk into a hospital and start practicing medicine. They need specific training to help them diagnose and treat patients. Professions are not something just anyone could do. So what does writing mean, as a profession? Writing, as a profession, is not simply what most people believe it to be—the act of putting words on paper. It is much more than simply creating a document that “sounds good.” Non-writers may believe that writing is a talent—something that you can do or you can’t. While some types of writing may require more talent than training (poetry, for example), just being able to create grammatical sentences is not enough to be a professional writer. If writing were simply putting words on paper in a way that is grammatical, technical writers would not be necessary. Engineers and software engineers can put words on paper. In the readings from “Writing a Professional Life,” the technical writers are usually given some sort of documentation written by the “teckkies.” Their job is not to simply correct the grammatical mistakes. There are serious problems in the documents that require logic and analytical skills, as well as people skills, to fix. Mechanical and Software engineers are often too close to the subject to be able to write useable documentation. The writer’s job is to be a go-between for the engineers and the users. They need to be able live in both worlds—meaning they can understand the technical aspects enough to be able to explain them, but also understand the kinds of problems that users may have. The people who design the software do not have the necessary skills or training to design successful documentation. If they did, there wouldn’t be such a thing as a technical writer. In addition, since they can analyze different situations (both on the technical and the user end), technical writers have more use than just writing. If brought in early enough in the design process, they can make suggestions on the user’s behalf. Part of the technical writer’s job is to know what their capable of, and to inform others about what they can add to the process. Staley, Jong and Thyme What are good strategies for working with a team? These readings gave good examples of how not to work as a team. In each of the readings, it seemed a lot like each team member worked on their own part, somewhat oblivious to what the other team members were doing. I’m surprised that separate individuals were able to produce a coherent final product, considering the lack of communication between team members. In the Staley piece, it seems as though the meeting occurred too late in the process to be helpful. How do the programmers not know what changes they made in the last month? How could they possibly expect a writer to take those changes into account when the people who made the changes can’t even identify what the changes are? Though, by the end of the meeting, the manager comes up with an idea that sounds like a compromise, the writer knows that it wont help to solve her problem. In the Thyme piece, the writer expresses frustration about not receiving things when she was told she would receive them. She has to wait to get the screen shots she needs, and has to bribe the programmers to give her feedback when they should have done that anyway. This is something I have experienced many times in my own job, so I can relate. People often want to give me information at the last possible moment, which leaves me little time to write the story before my deadline. Jong’s piece was quite disturbing (although I’m sure it’s been exaggerated a bit). Clearly the programmers had no respect for the job the writer does. In order to work as a team, team members need to respect each other’s expertise. If these engineers can come up with better sentences, why did they hire a writer? The writer in the story was trying to do exactly what we’ve been taught in class—analyze the audience and produce a document that works for the user. The engineers were treating him like what non-writers typically think writers are—people who simply put words on paper and whose professional knowledge base consists solely of the proper rules of grammar. In addition, the engineers assumed that the writer knew things (for example, that the database of chemical compounds was just a placeholder, and that different ones would be in the final version). The writer could have been saved a lot of work had communication been better between the team members. Basically, these pieces show that in order to work as a team, members need to be able to communicate effectively at all stages of development, not just near the end. Members need to respect each other’s expertise, and know when to back off. They also need to be more contentious of deadlines—not getting information to the writer on time could force the writer to work overtime to compensate. My experience working on a team: In my job at University Marketing and Communications, I regularly have to work with people from other departments to help them publicize their events. Part of what I do is to write up short feature articles previewing a schedule of events, (i.e. black history month events, the winter music schedule etc.). A problem that I often run into is that departments scramble around at the last minute to finalize their schedules. They always want to send me a finalized schedule. However, if they wait to the last minute, I don’t have enough time to write my story. Their deadlines are different from mine: they need to have the events scheduled and confirmed by the day of the event; I need them scheduled and confirmed a few days before the story goes to print. Part of working effectively as a team is being conscious of other people’s deadlines, especially if they are different from your own. _____ How can we learn interpersonal skills and office politics? Clearly, every office and workplace will have a different environment that one must observe and learn to work with during the course of their employment. There are almost always tensions somewhere. The trick is to discern how to stay out of them, and how to resolve them. I’ve worked in environments where all the employees are friends. This makes working with people easier and going to work more enjoyable. But office friendships may cause problems, especially between people in superior/subordinate positions. A boss may not want to criticize an employee who is a friend. Similarly, an employee may allow a little slack in their work/efficiency if they believe that their boss is their friend, because a friend is less likely to fire you. In most workplaces there is at least one person who is difficult to work with. Often times that person is in a position of power—maybe they are higher up in the hierarchy, or have some kind of knowledge that makes them necessary. Other times, the person may be completely useless as a worker, but because of legal issues and rules and regulations, that person is nearly impossible to fire (I’ve seen this happen firsthand). The other employees must then pick up the slack, or find a way to work within the system. Overall, the best way to learn interpersonal skills and office politics is to pay attention to what works and what doesn’t work. |