Volume 3 Issue 2 – Page 2

The Professional Writer’s Path to Graduate School

By Andrew Faustmann

screenshot of a google search for professional writing graduate programs — Looking for graduate schools

Many students attend graduate school to further concentrate their skills and knowledge for their future career; however, not every school is going to have the curriculum that supports your personal goals. So, instead of wasting two years of school and several thousand dollars, make sure to research each school carefully before applying.

Where Should You Attend?

When searching school programs that will further your professional writing skills, you need to be aware of the various names for each program. A majority will either be called “Rhetoric and Composition” or “Technical and Professional Writing.” However, you will sometimes find the term “Communication” instead of “Writing.”

This process is quite similar to searching for a job, so persistence is key. Depending on your proximity of school searches, the website Gradschools.com may be of assistance for a more national search. If you are restricted to only a handful of localized schools, you can jump straight to each school’s website.

You may want to look for a school that employs professors who share a similar background to your own. Many professors typically had or still have jobs as a professional writer with a corporation. This will open up networking opportunities and also knowledge from first-hand experience.

Go to the faculty page on the English department’s website and rummage through all of the professor’s profiles.

Typically, most professors will provide a short bio, recent courses, relevant publications and even their own website, but you may even have to dig a little deeper. You can either email those professors directly or research their names in scholarly databases, such as CompPile, JSTOR, or Proquest.

While specific areas of research may not be 100% relevant to your career pursuits, their individual research will inform you more of their academic and professional interests, which will help you decide on the most suitable courses.

What Financial Assistance Do Graduate Schools Offer?

Many schools offer financial support in the form of assistantships, scholarships and conference funding.

The assistantship typically includes full tuition remission and a stipend to survive on while you complete your degree in two years—unfortunately, the stipend typically ranges from $8,000 to $15,000 per year. While each school has different programs set up, you could be working for the school as a tutor, research assistant and/or teaching assistant. This opportunity not only allows you to receive a fully-funded education but also to gain experience working at the university.

The assistantship is not for everyone, as a great full-time job is not to be given up lightly. In this case, many English departments and graduate schools offer scholarships to assist with the cost of tuition.

It is also encouraged that you present at conferences related to your field of study. Even though conferences are directed towards those who wish to publish academic research, the experience gained from presenting is transferable to any workplace. When contemplating this, see if the schools offer conference funding for travel costs.

Go Start Applying

Pursuing a graduate degree to advance your success as a professional writer is a great decision, yet you must make sure that the school you attend has a program that will help you build the skill set to achieve your goals.

Therefore, search for programs, professors and courses that will help advance your skills and knowledge while also noting the multiple options regarding how you are going to pay for that education.

Web Design for Creative Writers

Books on a computer — Building an online presence

By Jenna Summers

So you want to write a novel?

You imagine droves of fans lining up in a bookstore waiting for you to sign the crisp new copy of your book. But how will you let your future fans know about your book? This is where professional writing and online content comes in.

But You’re Creative! You Don’t Like That Boring Professional Stuff

Often, creative writing students overlook professional writing courses because they believe that professional writing is boring. In reality, professional writing includes a wide variety of outlets for creative expression including web design and the creation of online content that is complete with eye-catching designs and memorable titles. Not only is professional writing a different way to approach the written word but it is vital to the success of creative writers.

Okay. It’s Not Boring But Why Do You Need a Website?

Imagine that it is your near future. You have finished your first novel and it is brilliant. You are confident that this book will catapult you into international stardom. Then you realize that you do not have an audience and you have no way to build an audience. How will your adoring fans discover your book?

The best solution to this dilemma comes in the form of a website. By creating a website, you will be able to instantly reach an audience from around the world. For more information on the effectiveness of online content in marketing see Six Benefits of Internet Marketing.

Your website can also serve as an extension of your book. For example, it can include information about you as the author or it can even serve as a host for an online version of the first chapter of your book.

Some authors such as J.K. Rowling have even created extensions to their books online. Through Pottermore, Rowling is able to continuously add onto the world that she originally created in the Harry Potter books.

There are a nearly unlimited number of uses that your website can serve. It is only limited by your creativity and willingness to learn.

How Do You Learn to Design a Website?

Web design skills can be learned through a variety of online sources or through in-person classes. There are courses at UAB such as EH 455-Digital Publishing which are extremely helpful in cultivating web design skills.

Career Spotlight: Online Content Editor

By Kalyn Wells

XML coding

With everything becoming more web-based, it is no surprise that there are more careers evolving around this medium in publishing today.

For example, online content editors spend most of their day creating content for the web. In addition to working with and adding content on the web, they must code their content with HTML and XML codes to properly publish it on the Internet. They strategically plan how the website should be laid out based on research and statistics of previous approaches the company has put forth on their website. So, getting to know the company and the company’s online history is a crucial part of this type of career.

Similar to most publishing careers, communication, research and proofreading are all skills an online content editor should acquire. An employer looking to hire an online content editor would look for these skills in a potential employee, but they would also look for a person who has developed coding and computer skills in order to successfully publish text and images onto the company’s website.

Creative Pool is a helpful site that gives more information about what online content editors do, what kind of environment they work in and more.

UAB offers courses in the Professional Writing curriculum that will help a student succeed in this type of career. There are courses such as Developing Digital Documents in which a student will learn more about Adobe software and how to construct a publication. Digital Publishing is another helpful course in which learning how to code for websites is one of the important objectives of the course.

You can find more Professional Writing course offerings in the UAB Catalog. A student could also take additional courses from the Communication Studies curriculum to help them gain more knowledge on the history of media.

A Word For All: Ethics, Usability and the Singular “They”

greeting sign with they/them/theirs pronouns — Inclusivity in professional writing

By Em Wiginton

In professional writing, audience dictates the language, form and content of every document. These considerations often bring up questions of ethics: how do we create the most usable, inclusive document for a certain set of people, and how can we make sure we are intertextually humanizing our readers?

At the intersection of ethics and usability in professional writing lies the issue of audience and gender—and more specifically, use of the singular “they.”

Much of the time, we use the singular “they” without even thinking about it—“Someone left their phone in class,” for example—but it has still met criticism based on the belief that it can only be used as a plural pronoun. Even my high school English teachers insisted that we use “he or she” in our academic papers, but where style and larger conversations about gender intersect, these standards are changing.

“They” and Ethics

Recent discourse has brought into question whether or not “they” can be used as a singular pronoun. However, as understanding about gender and inclusivity evolves, the use of “they” has become the best way of making sure you’re referring to everyone in your audience.

This made news in December 2015 when the Washington Post cited the singular they as the solution to the gender problem in writing. “They” includes every gender in a given audience, but also validates the existence of gender-neutral individuals, who may prefer “they” as their pronoun of choice.

“They” and Usability

The singular “they” is also the best option in terms of form. The APA Style Blog, which is the user-created counterpart to the style guide that many professional writers adhere to, suggests “they” instead of s/he, (s)he, he/she, or alternating use between he and she, as these can be awkward and distracting to the reader. The AP Stylebook has officially accepted the singular they, but the APA Style Guide has yet to change its standards on its use.

The Future of “They”

The failure of style guides to catch up with conversations about inclusivity and ethics raises an interesting dilemma: What exactly are writers to do when it comes to gender and audience?

Thaler and Sunstein’s Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness discusses how “biases can creep in when similarity and frequency diverge.” In other words, it can be easy to lump people into stereotypes and use non-inclusive wording, especially when style has yet to encourage otherwise. However, professional writing is, above all, a humanistic genre—one in which we must be activists and advocates for our users.

In all issues of audience gender, class, race and ableness, our writing should always be inclusive of and be usable by everyone.

Professional Writing for Individually Designed Majors

By Alexandria Smith

Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

As a student with an Individually Designed Major at UAB, I have specific career goals that required me to create my own course of study. I created the Cultural Communications major which combines Theater, English and Communications Studies. My ultimate goal is to do voiceovers for cartoons and write jingles for radio commercials.

While creating my curriculum, I thought it would be beneficial to add an edge to my coursework. This edge was provided through my professional writing classes.

From the Classroom

The Professional Writing program at UAB prepares students who have a desire to work with both print and digital formats. The professional writing program educates critical thinkers. Principles of rhetoric and language play a crucial role in academic, artistic, professional, personal and public settings. Having professional writing experience in the classroom provides me with skills that other majors might lack.

For example, in EH 315: Introduction to Professional Writing, my classmates and I created the brochure for the entire English Department. This is now the official brochure that is distributed to all freshmen upon entering orientation. Professional writing students learn the importance of:

Working in a team
Serving clients and customers
Exercising leadership
Negotiating
Dealing with diversity

To the Professional World

Professional writers have a wide range of other academic disciplines in the humanities, sciences and social sciences which makes them valuable. Through the professional writing program, I have learned how to communicate effectively to specific audiences, which is necessary in my future work. Writing jingles for radio commercials requires knowledge of the specific group you are trying to reach. My experience in the professional writing program has helped me focus on the audience I am trying to persuade so that I can convey my message clearly and effectively.

I’ve had the chance to work with multimodal presentations which allowed me to record my voice for a final presentation. Although it was not a silly cartoon, I still had the chance to do something that I love in a professional writing course.

Students with Individually Designed Majors should consider branching out while creating their curriculum. By including professional writing courses, I have learned valuable skills that I would lack if I did not participate in this program.

Writing What You Don’t Know: Industrial Writing

warehouse — Birmingham has no shortage of industrial offices

By Cheyenne Taylor

As English majors, we are used to having to carve out our niches everywhere. Birmingham, though, holds many opportunities for writers, one of which many may not consider: industrial writing.

The booming steel age that gave the Magic City its name may have died down, but Birmingham is still home to many industries—like coal mines, steel mills, machine shops, construction companies, and more—that need some PR, too. These companies need writers to create trade magazine articles about their services and to write content for their websites.

But wait, you might say, I’ve never written for engineers! I don’t even know there was a difference between an Arc weld and a TIG weld; how am I supposed to write anything for heavy industry?

Conveyor Manufacturing Shop Put Yourself Out There!

Don’t turn down an opportunity to write for a field just because you haven’t written for it before—how else are you supposed to learn? While many companies will want to hire writers with specialized knowledge, many others are happy to have someone who knows how to communicate effectively in writing.

One great way to prepare is to create a portfolio; you don’t have to wait for a job to get a writing sample under your belt. Gather together some examples of writing you’re proud of. Then, when an opportunity comes along, you’ll have something to show your prospective employer, even if it doesn’t pertain to their exact industry or field.

Do Your Own Research

So you got the job—but how do you approach your new subject? Your employers are likely to provide you with much of the core, specific information you will need, but you may be unfamiliar with the tone to take, the level of formality needed or other particulars of writing for this field.

Trade magazines are a great way to get familiar with the type of writing you’ll need to do; try to find a few that focus on your employer’s industry and read through several articles to get a good feel for the approach you should take. A Google search or databases like WebWire’s Publications by Industry List can help.

Gathering information about audience, tone and length from the websites of companies that do similar work can also be very helpful, as long as you don’t plagiarize any content (which, of course, you know not to do). Tap into those skills you’ve gained through writing research papers; they’ll translate well!

Don’t Be Afraid to Reach Out to the Experts

Sometimes you simply need to have a concept explained to you. Ask your employers to suggest some resources, and don’t be afraid to let them know when you don’t understand something fully. They want you to produce the best work possible, and that means they should be more than willing to walk you through how a product, machine or service works.

Sometimes you will go through multiple drafts with a member of the company just to get your verbs right or to describe a mechanism in just the right way. Don’t take anything personally. Be open, honest, and eager to learn about your employer’s industry (they’ll probably enjoy the opportunity to teach someone about what they do).

Writing on an unfamiliar subject can be daunting, but is a very rewarding experience. Challenging yourself in this way can open you up to many new paths and opportunities. Whether for heavy industry or another field you are unfamiliar with, keep these tips in mind and don’t be afraid to take on something new.

What Teaching Writing Taught Me

By Rebekah Kummer

two people analyzing a book — Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

Einstein said if you can’t explain a complicated concept in simple terms, you probably don’t understand it well enough yourself. This was the first thing I learned from teaching writing.

Understanding and accepting my own lack of knowledge is the necessary first step toward learning. Teaching writing taught me a lot about my own approach to writing, how much the writing process varies among student writers and the importance of being able to explain why students should care about writing.

Teaching Writing

I have tutored for two and a half years with Student Athlete Support Services and with the University Writing Center. I’ve encountered students across the spectrum of investment in writing.

Some understand that writing well is a good skill, but don’t have much desire to learn beyond a sufficient level of writing. Some abhor writing, or see it as irrelevant to themselves and their future careers. Some come to me with questions to ask their professors after realizing that they don’t know how to sound professional in an email. Some don’t see the point of taking pains to sound a certain way in an email, or in any document for that matter. How do I convince these students that writing matters?

Coming face to face with answering how and why writing is relevant to everyone has been a good lesson in understanding it myself. EH 101 can seem completely useless to a football player on scholarship who has no desire to even be in school. So I put myself in his giant shoes and think about specific situations in his life that would require writing: if he does make it to the NFL as he hopes, that contract is going to be awfully hard to decipher if he doesn’t learn to analyze texts critically the way we do in a rhetorical analysis. Plus, if those dreams are not realized, he will more than likely work at a great job that requires written communications via email, and written reports or evaluations.

Addressing complacent or disinterested students was difficult, but it was a great lesson not only in how to explain why writing matters, but also in adopting and understanding alternate perspectives.

No Right Way to Write

Having so many opportunities to see others’ thought processes and communication styles has been invaluable to me as a writer and as a person. My approach to writing is distinct to me, and may not be useful to all of my students.

While I’m an external processor and think out loud, especially in dialogue with others, many students are internal processors. As a result, I have discovered the value of silence.

Another thing I learned was the way structure—like required outlines, rough drafts or format suggestions—factors into various writing styles. Paralysis was a common accompaniment to structure—students were either paralyzed by fear of not filling structures in correctly or by the rigidity of the structure itself weighing upon them with no way to get out. So for some students, an outline was a creative block, not an organizational aid. Many, however, found comfort in structure, and used it as a foundation for their writing.

The writing process is simply not a one-size-fits-all framework, and while I still have a lot to learn, I think the lessons I’ve learned so far in teaching writing have allowed me to gain experience myself in understanding how others think, and how I can improve my own writing.

Library and Information Science: A Grad Option for Professional Writing Students

By Sydnei Wheat

Rhetoric and Composition is a great Master’s degree for Professional Writing students to pursue. However, it is often the only Master’s program that PW students consider throughout their undergraduate days; partly because they believe it is the only graduate degree that can effectively develop their professional skill-set.

Students might not be aware that there are other great Master’s programs that are also very compatible with their undergraduate education, such as the Library & Information Science Master’s degree (MLIS).

A Match Made in Information Heaven

English goes hand in hand with Library & Information Science. Both fields deal with research and literature/books. But as its name implies, Library & Information Science is more broadly focused on information and information technology, a characteristic that also forms the foundation of the Professional Writing field.

This graduate degree incorporates many Professional Writing theories and practices such as the focus on the user and usability experience, design and organization, and literacy and dissemination of information. MLIS also expands upon them as students can choose to concentrate in a variety of specializations. Specializations include:

archives
acquisitions
interlibrary loans
records management
data circulation
database management
media specialist
usability/user experiences
and many others

Students may also opt to keep their studies general and broad. Graduates of the degree can pursue jobs not only in libraries (academic, public, special) but in any information and research centers or environments that utilize information technology. With an MLIS degree, students have the opportunity to work in almost any area or career field.

Still Interested?

Unfortunately, very few Bachelor’s degrees in Library & Information Science exist, so courses are not readily available to undergraduates. If Professional Writing students wish to pursue a MLIS they should prepare in their undergraduate years by interning or obtaining a student position at an academic or public library.

Taking courses or minoring in communications, business or information systems can also build a strong foundation for those who want to specialize. And for students that may still wish to pursue an MA in Rhetoric and Composition, there are universities that offer joint or dual degrees in both English and Information & Library Science.

Library and Information Science is a great Master’s program for undergraduates who want to explore a different avenue to further their Professional Writing skills.

From Undergrad to Grad at UAB: Teresa Davis’ Transition

By Kayla Light

four people standing behind a podium — Davis’ Undergrad Thesis Defense Day (pictured left to right: Professor Vines, Dr. Chris Minnix, Teresa Davis, Dr. Jaclyn Wells)

Let’s face the facts—graduation will happen. Whether you’re like many of the undergrads who are still frantically searching for answers, or if you’re like the ones who nonchalantly “swagger” their way into the unknown, graduate school has probably crossed your mind.

So, how exactly does a UAB student studying rhetoric and technical writing advance their education? What are some of the myths and facts about that advancement? Well, after asking around, I found the perfect student to answer these questions: Teresa Davis, a recent UAB undergrad who is transitioning into UAB’s graduate program.

About Davis and How Her Decision Could Help You

Davis graduated from UAB in December of 2015 with a Bachelor’s degree in English with a concentration in Professional Writing and Public Discourse. As the fall began, she felt the pressure to make some big decisions: to stay at UAB to pursue her education or to leave and experience a new school with a new atmosphere. After much thought and consideration, she picked UAB, and this is why:

UAB’s Cost and Practicality

UAB’s graduate program offers a package deal to exceptional, hardworking students who are seeking higher education in the English field. This package is referred to as their Assistantship program. The Assistantship program offers students tuition remission, an $8,500 yearly stipend, and the opportunity to tutor at the Writing Center and teach English Composition 101 and 102.

For Davis, this plan meant being able to balance her busy family life and would save her time and money. Some schools only have limited teaching positions while others offer them after a period of time. UAB’s competitive stipend can greatly reduce, or even eliminate student debt.

Davis not only saw their financial aid as a huge bonus, but she also felt particularly partial to UAB’s program because of the close-knit faculty.

UAB’s Family Atmosphere

Davis found the transition from the undergraduate to the graduate program to be a fluid process because she was already familiar with the program and the professors in the department. She describes this familiarity as a family atmosphere and attributes that atmosphere to the fact that UAB has a smaller graduate program.

When talking about the advantages of a smaller program, she says, “Most [returning students] drop out because balancing school with work and family is hard, and we’re very much out of practice.”

Davis reflected on her decision to return to UAB after being in the workforce for 15 years. She has been living near Birmingham with her husband, Terry Davis. They will celebrate their 7 year anniversary in June of 2016.

When Davis was faced with the question to relocate their family, she gave it much consideration. Her answer is easily summed up in her final statement on UAB’s program: “I know that at UAB, I have the support to help me succeed.”

Davis’ plan to attend UAB to further her education was a difficult decision, but in the end, she knew she wanted a school that was able to provide her with a competitive stipend and a close-knit atmosphere that allowed her the time and flexibility to be with her family.

To learn more about the UAB’s graduate program, visit their webpage.

Finding Your Professional Identity In Fonts

By Jay Haywood

three examples of font — Convey the right message with your font choice

When transitioning from the academic to professional world, several decisions are made to ensure getting a job.

Accomplishments, work experience and internships are all compiled into résumés and adjusted to fit a potential career. However, a résumé should not just be a reflection of a person’s work history. The document should also reflect the identity of the person submitting it. Otherwise, your résumé will blend in with a stack of other listing similar education and work experience.

Reflecting academia, Times New Roman is an industry standard of typefaces. In terms of fonts, it is clean, concise, and professional. It is easy to read when formatted smaller and leads the eye easily when going through a document with lots of information on it. However, Times New Roman is also everywhere, which means that it can also be perceived as bland, unthoughtful and lazy.

Some people assume that they are expected to create their résumé in Times New Roman, partly because they wrote with the font for their entire college career. There are great alternatives to the font that will help identify you as an individual while still looking professional.

If you are looking to change your style but still want to stick close to traditional fonts, consider a font called Calisto MT, found within Microsoft Word. Stylistically it seems similar to Times New Roman, as it contains serifs, and is easy to read at a small typeface. However, the weight, or thickness, of Calisto MT is slightly heavier than Times New Roman, creating a layer of depth that is lacking in the latter.

If you are looking to branch out even more, consider a sans-serif font. Sans-serif fonts are regarded as clean and modern, and can definitely help a résumé stand out. I found a font called Lato on Google Fonts, a service provided for free through Google, that is an excellent choice. When compared to Times New Roman, Lato seems sleek and contemporary.

While both of these fonts are great examples, they may not represent you, and that’s fine! Browse the web to find a font that reflects you both personally and professionally.