Author: swebber

Turning Off The Lights

A Soft Resistance to Complicating the Process

In 2013, Microsoft released a new iteration of Word folded into their ubiquitous Office suite. Amazingly, it came with the option to pay a recurrent subscription fee for a premium license.

Even five years on, the notion of paying a subscription fee for something you could find floating somewhere in pre-installed bloatware was questionable. Not to mention the free version was relatively feature-complete for someone uninterested in much more than simple formatting or editing functionality.

If you bought a laptop with Office pre-loaded around that time, you were probably spoiled with a generous free trial from Microsoft, but you’d eventually get a prompt to re-up for continued service.

And service really is the operative word here.

At a certain point the entire business realized that as for selling software outright,
there just isn’t cash in it like there ought to be. We’re now buying services in lieu of
programs, games, or utilities because the real money is in the customer captured.

That is, the sustainer. In the subscriber.

The consumer should be a dairy cow eager to be milked, not some one and done steer ready for slaughter.

Okay, that’s a bit much, but the point is that regular (and palatably inexpensive) purchases became standard. Take a look at Apple’s highest grossing apps list. How many offer in-app or incremental purchases?

This is really all to say I can’t call myself a fan of this business model, and I know I’m not alone because the term “microtransactions” by itself is enough to raise a certain type of person’s blood pressure, but I’m burying the lede here.

What I want to address isn’t just the incremental payment model, but the resulting feature creep of software. Why do we need so many versions of Microsoft Word if not to justify the narrative that it’s not a page you put words on, it’s a whole ecosystem?

You should be signing up for another year of service, looking at banner ads next to your unfinished novel (really coming together, by the way), and boning up
on Word’s upcoming Chinese social media integration.

Thing is, this user experience is fundamentally antithetical to creative work.

Luckily, there are alternatives.

All kinds: stone tabla with stylus, dictating to a manservant, screaming your copy directly to readers, pen and paper.

Now, if you’re like me you can’t afford yet another manservant. I also like typing on computers, and the way they can save my writing as document files. So really, none of those quite get the job done.

What I do instead is use an ancient (and static) program called Darkroom, a minimalist word processor for Windows adapted from the yet more ancient Writeroom for Mac. Darkroom has features like allowing line breaks, 48 options for text color, and saving in .txt format.

It has few other features, and it’s perfect.

Darkroom Screenshot
Gaze not too long upon its glory, for neon green settings in full screen mode disturb the weak of heart and sensitive of eyes.

Well, almost perfect. Like I said, it has no other export options besides .txt, doesn’t have shortcuts for bold and italicize, and I have not been able to discern what the middle two buttons in that upper right column actually do (seriously, let me know if you find out).

Also, if you rely heavily on spellcheck, well, this probably isn’t for you, albeit if you’re like me you find autocorrect more frustrating than helpful and that’s mercifully absent as well.

In any case, I’d highly recommend checking out minimal software like Darkroom. I saw a noticeable uptick in productivity when I started using it. It feels good to write outside the visual context of document creation for once.

There’s nothing but the words when you’re finally writing “writing” rather than a Word or Google doc.

Professional Writing in Small Businesses

By Camrie Latham
open sign
An “open” sign

When telling people that you study Professional Writing, the most common reaction is confusion. Few people actually understand what it is, and even less know how to make it a career. Many people fail to realize that Professional Writing studies are applicable to any career field.

One such field is small business ownership. Although most degrees can aid one in owning a small business, professional writers have a special skill set that gives them an advantage. Professional Writing classes prepare students to write in both technical and corporate communication.

Presence

Businesses must have an enjoyable or respectable presence to attract customers and build a loyal following. Being able to create attractive flyers, an entertaining website, or even compose a relatable social media post can improve the image of the company and influence potential customers. Some Professional Writing courses address these subjects directly, teaching how to prioritize and influence the audience through writing.

Informing the Customer

Additionally, the customers should be kept in-the-know, so to speak, with what is happening with the company. The ability to create and maintain blogs, social media accounts, or digital newsletters goes a long way in this area. Providing information directly to consumers allows for a better connection between businesses and clients and prevents confusion.

Maintenance and Growth

Lastly, businesses use professional writing to maintain and grow their company. Creating memos, letters and reports maintains order within the business, while grant writing and online fundraising involve help the company grow. Learning to appeal to an audience is, again, crucial to be successful at either of these, and Professional Writing courses emphasize this.

To successfully run a cafe or shop, professional communication is vital. The company must have a likable public presence, customers need to be kept up-to date and the business must be able to communicate to both maintain itself internally and grow externally. Courses offered at UAB such as Developing Digital Documents, Business Writing, Digital Publishing, and Visual Rhetoric can provide students with a deeper understanding of what it means to communicate effectively and reach these goals.

These are only a few examples of how Professional Writing can apply to running a small business; the fundamentals of Professional Writing play a big role in a successful small start-up.

 

What About Marketing? Featuring an Interview with Alexis Brost

By Bailey McKay
stack of marketing textbooks
Marketing textbooks

I frequently get asked what I plan on doing with an English degree. Or, what can I do with professional writing? When I answer that I want to work in the marketing field, more questions seem to arise. Many people do not see the connection between marketing and professional writing. However, English majors have a huge skillset to bring into marketing.

Meet Alexis

To explore this topic further, I interviewed Alexis Brost, the Marketing and Member Relations Coordinator at The Club Inc. Her duties include The Club’s quarterly newsletter, (concept, design, writing and photographs) communicating with outside media and sending all emails to members. Alexis graduated from Auburn with a Bachelors in English with a concentration in Literature. She has previously worked on the marketing and social media team for Books-A-Million.

A Piece of Advice

Alexis says her best piece of advice for future English graduates is, “Take a chance on ANY job that accepts a liberal arts degree. In a world that is changing in technology, people want instant and correct communication. English majors are highly attractive candidates for any career.”

What Skills Can Professional Writers Bring to Marketing?

Professional writers bring forth a unique skill set. Not only can they write and edit proficiently, they can also eloquently express themselves. Professional writers have the ability to be creative and think outside of the box; they have a diverse knowledge in reading, writing, rhetoric and many other areas. Lastly, professional writers can communicate effectively, making them a mediator between products and consumers.

According to Alexis, the majority of her English classes have come in handy in her career, but she says that her past Linguistic classes have helped her the most. In Alexis’s current job she has to use HTML coding and programs such as TextEdit, so she emphasized how important her computer classes were as well. (Shout out to Dr. Bacha and Dr. Basilico)

What’s the Takeaway?

I feel like there is a stigma when it comes to being an English major. We have so many positive qualities to offer, and our potential is limitless. When it comes to your career, be bold and take chances. Some things that don’t seem like they fit, like Professional Writing and Marketing, may just be what you’re looking for. HireABlazer is a good place to start looking for potential jobs, internships or job shadowing opportunities.

 

Beginner’s Tips for Website Design

By Kristen Williams
headshot of Courtney Lassiter
Courtney Lassiter

With so much taking place online, effectively designing and marketing websites are important skills; but, acquiring those skills can be difficult.

The problem? Apart from taking a Digital Publishing course, there are millions of places to look for advice, but what advice is actually helpful?

I turned to UAB Digital Media for guidance, interviewing Courtney Lassiter, a Media Fellow. Her job involves producing creative content for the University, as well as editing and building websites.

And pursuing a career in graphic design means offering tips on design and marketing is in her wheelhouse.

Below, I’ve condensed her many helpful tips into a few practical ones:

Developing Your Layout

Courtney joked about her habit of analyzing every menu she encounters, but stressed that it’s because of the important role layout plays in any visual medium. It’s a major part of marketing.

“How you lay out the content completely changes the meaning,” she said,
“if you have something that’s poorly laid out it’s not going to convey what you want to say effectively.”

Practical Step: Start on Paper

Creating a “wireframe” sketch for your site’s layout on paper (like this example Courtney traced in Adobe Illustrator) is a great starting point.

example wireframe sketch
Wireframe sketch

Then, a program like Sketch (which she recommended), can help you transition those ideas into your website. “Sketch is cool because it allows you to see the differences between various screen sizes, like desktop, tablets and phones,” Courtney said.

However, Sketch is only compatible with Mac and does charge you yearly,
so you might want to check out some alternatives depending on your budget.

For designing visual content for your site, Canva offers helpful design templates, works on Windows and Mac, and has a free option.

Using Links Effectively

With this tip, Courtney discussed that when linking to other sites you never want to send your audience away completely. That is: you don’t want your audience to leave your site for another within the same tab. Courtney explained that if you link to another site like this “[your audience is] going go there, and they’re going to stay there, and they’ll never come back.”

Practical Step: New Windows
screenshot of new tab
Direct your links to open in a new tab

Instead of leaving your site for another, have links open in a new tab.
She stated, “that way they’ll have to at least come back and exit out of [your site].
Always make them come back to you.”

Be Mindful of Accessibility

This, she claimed, is “the most important part of designing a website.” Courtney said: “if you have a glass hamburger, it’s nice to look at, but you can’t eat it.” That’s a similar problem for a website that’s visually appealing, but lacks accessibility.

Practical Step: Assess Your Content

According to Courtney, some ways to check your website’s accessibility are: assess who it might be alienating, ensure content is functional and, again, examine the layout.

Resources

Additional helpful resources she mentioned were:

Her parting advice: “It’s never going to be perfect.” However, following these tips can put a beginner on track to generating a high-quality website.

The Impact of Social Media on Professional Writing

By Genni Boatwright

Kalyn Wolfe
Kalyn Wolfe

It doesn’t seem that long ago that social media was just starting out and people were still reading a newspaper or turning on the TV to get the news. I remember when Myspace first started and was more of a dating site than a way to connect with friends. I was on Facebook when only college students were allowed.

It wasn’t long after Facebook began that we saw the social media explosion. Now, there are so many social media sites that I can’t keep up with them all. Social media is no longer just a way to connect with friends and family. It has seeped into professional writing world. It has changed the way we receive our news and advertisements. So many people now rely on social media for their news that news outlets are being forced to adapt their methods of delivering content in order to stay relevant.

Interview

To get more insight on the effects of social media on professional writing, I spoke with Kalyn Wolfe. Kalyn is a weekly columnist for the Pensacola News Journal, freelance writer for the New York Times and the Digital Media Specialist for Meyer Vacation Rentals. One of her duties for Meyer is handling their social media accounts; their Facebook profile alone has over 200,000 followers. We spoke about what caused the shift in social media and the impact it had on professional writing. She says,

“Links are what really affected professional writing. Things are now easier with a click of a button, eliminating steps. You only have so many characters to get your audience’s attention. People are learning to work with less but providing more impact. Also, we have new ways of gathering information and people have become less inhibited.”

Professional writers must be careful to avoid writing with the sole intention of getting followers and likes. An article’s title is important, but writers need to avoid being considered clickbait by not giving misleading headlines. Kalyn says,

“You can be a little tongue in cheek with a headline but don’t get too cutesy. Don’t treat it like a teaser and state the facts.”

I asked her what advice she would like to give young professional writers:

“Stay authentic. If you write a story to get more followers, then you won’t be your authentic self. Also, don’t be afraid to have fun but know that as a writer it comes with responsibility.”

 

Writing in a Digital Age

By Alli Patton
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated

When I was younger, wide-eyed and curious, I would flip through the glossy pages of magazines like Rolling Stone and National Geographic, and dream that one day my words would appear behind their covers. I loved the physical, tangible aspects of print media, all the flipping, pausing, turning, dog-earing. With something new and exciting to explore on the next page, there was always so much satisfaction with every flip.

Now that print media is essentially dying in this Digital Age we are caught in, is that same satisfaction lost? Can a reader be just as influenced by an article plastered on a screen? At a time when Twitter is considered a reliable news source and anything of significance can be relayed through an emoji, does the death of print also mean the death of writing?

Let us hope not. The swiping of a screen and the clicking of links has now replaced the joy in flipping a page and ogling at the words etched upon it, but has the content changed and become less mesmerizing?

Of course not, because writing is not the page-to-page motions, it is the actual content. An audience can still be reached through a screen. The little Allis of the world can still be touched and moved by words. The only difference is those words can be accessed with the touch of a button and those pages can be thumbed through with the swipe of a finger.

The Digital Age may have killed print, but it most certainly hasn’t done away with writing. If anything, written content is more accessible, easier to navigate and more widely explored. For instance, a lot of magazines, such as National Geographic and Rolling Stone, can now be read through a digital format on their websites. Today, words are bolder, voices are louder and opinions are stronger than ever. That is something you can’t get between the pages of a magazine. Life.