Professional Writing – Page 2

Inside Mentoring for EH-301: Reading, Writing, and Research

Dr. Jaclyn Wells, Writing Center director

By Malecia Luckie

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be mentored in the professional writing world? Well, I had the chance to be mentored by the director of the Writing Center, Dr. Jaclyn Wells. It was a requirement of the English 301 Course: Reading, Writing, and Research.

The course is designed to improve in-depth reading. Most students tend to overlook deeper messages hidden inside smaller ideas. This course features mentoring to help students as undergraduates and prepare them for life after college. Each student writes a 500-word essay describing their future career plan, then mentors are selected based on a student’s professional goals.

Get to Know Your Mentor

Mentors provide an indispensable service to students considering their lives after graduation. UAB offers a myriad of excellent opportunities for guidance, with professors who have extensive experience in the writing world. If you’re looking for a mentor, it is important to know your their background beforehand, so you can ask relevant questions and know what to expect.

Dr. Wells’ work has been featured in the Writing Center Journal, the Community Literacy Journal and WPA: Writing Program Administration. She even has a book that has been published, Partners in Literacy: A Writing Center Model for Civic Engagement, which was co-authored by Allen Brizee. Dr. Wells has given me many tips on how to be prepared for the world of professional writing.

Take Notes on Their Advice

Dr. Wells gave advice that was simple and to the point. Her first tip for me was, “Internships are incredibly useful for professional writing, actually any sort of real world experience with writing is great and to have a portfolio by the end of college is helpful as well.”

Internships can provide you with real-world experience that will look great to long-term employers. She went on to mention that nonprofit organizations can benefit students tremendously. Nonprofits look great on résumés because it is close to volunteering and service work.

Save Your Work

Dr. Wells emphasized the value of a portfolio, which highlights your skills and helps potential employers know what kind of work to expect from you. Even if you’re not sure it is “good enough,” you should keep your work saved. “Obsessively hold on to things, for people do not credit themselves enough. You should keep everything you have,” she said.

All work can be valuable. Dr. Wells believes that students too often discredit themselves when their work can be used in many ways. Never sell yourself short. You may miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime if you lack confidence in yourself.

Now You’re Ready

Now that you know how and what to do to stay afloat in the job searching process, don’t lose your determination. Even if you do not get every position you apply for—keep going. Sometimes it might feel like things will never work out, but just that know good things come to those who wait. It takes hard work to reach your career goals.

Professional writing majors face many obstacles. Get connected with others like you and find a mentor who has experience in the field you’re interested in. There will times when you feel like giving up on yourself. Just remember: winners never quit, and quitters never win.

The Art of Collaboration

students collaborating — Students collaborating

By Tammy Blue

Regardless of your career choice, mastering collaborative skills is essential for success. Whether you’re working with clients, editors or other writers, collaboration is a necessary feature of professional writing. While it can be one of the more challenging aspects of the job, it is often the most rewarding part of the creative process.

In virtually every professional scenario, a writer will find themselves without full creative control. Business clients will have guidelines that serve as the blueprint from which the writer bases their work. The writer must learn how to implement these ideas effectively without losing their own unique edge. They must make the ideas their own.

Even freelance writers will report to an editor or publisher, who ultimately has the final say on subject, content and style. The professional writer who is able to collaborate within the administrative hierarchy is going to be more valuable. After all, one role cannot exist without the other. There isn’t a successful writer today who will tell you their work has not improved with advice and input from an editor.

Collaboration is often most difficult when working laterally with peers. Though a healthy competition can bring out the writer’s best work, it can also cause stalemates, ultimately derailing a project timeline. It is imperative for the professional writer to express their ideas but remain open to the feedback and constructive criticism. They must always remember that everyone is on the same team.

“This isn’t going to work” are the words every professional writer dreads to hear. Sometimes, even after a successful collaboration, the client will change their mind or realize they actually don’t like what was mutually agreed upon. This can be frustrating for the writer, who now has to modify the project’s design or edit content they feel does not need revision. To the writer, these new ideas might even feel like a regressive step backward. Yet the seasoned professional will dig deep for patience and dive back into the creative collaboration process for their client’s benefit.

One of the most difficult collaborative challenges is working across age or experience gaps. In the professional world, coworkers tend to be in different stages of their careers. For example, a writer may work with a professional who has over 20 years of experience with the organization, or they could be a new hire who just graduated.

The veteran professional may feel intimidated by a younger writer with expertise in programs and software they have never used or have yet to master. If your technical skills are lacking, i is important to set pride aside and consider collaboration with a tech-savvy writer as an opportunity to learn.

At times, you might have to fight the instinct to dismiss a novice writer due to their inexperience. Writers who have worked in the field for many years may be set in their ways with a “been there, done that” mindset. This attitude is a hindrance to effective collaboration.

New writers have a lot more to offer than is often realized. They have fresh eyes and innovative approaches to their work. Conversely, recent graduates should pay attention to writers with more experience and listen to their advice. Veterans can also steer beginners clear of mistakes and potential setbacks before they occur.

When all parties involved donate their personal expertise, collaboration can create a masterpiece. It is important to come into a collective creative process with an open mind and a positive attitude.

Regardless of previous failures, each new collaborative effort is an opportunity to start again. The most amazing ideas often blossom from the distinctive strengths of each contributor.

A professional writer’s talent can be attributed to the fact that they themselves are a product of collaboration. All writers have been influenced by others’ ideas. Professors, editors, publishers, clients and other writers have all contributed to your personal style in some way. It’s likely that you have also learned from a failed collaboration and come out stronger.

Professional writers know their weaknesses and are willing to lean on the strengths of their collaborative partners. By implementing and expanding on these influences, the writer doesn’t lose their voice—in fact, that is how it’s found. That is the art of collaboration.

Creative and Professional Writing: What to Do if You’re Interested in Both

open laptop and book — Creative vs. Professional Writing

By Lauren Moore

As new students come flooding into UAB every fall, some know exactly what they want to study. However, the majority of the lowerclassmen are going to explore their options, possibly making changes to their career paths along the way through a process of trial and error.

For some, this process goes a step further—a student may find the right subject matter to study, but what about the concentration? I struggled with this decision myself. After changing my major a few different times and feeling unsatisfied, I realized that what I really wanted was to study English.

However, my insecurities with this major resurfaced when I had to select a concentration. There were many stigmas that clouded my judgement when I was faced with this decision. I have always loved constructing fiction and other forms of creative writing, but was it practical enough for the real world?

I enjoyed being on the newspaper staff in high school, and writing in a professional sense. Would it be more beneficial to my career to be a professional writer, despite my passion for crafting stories? I had to find out.

In this article, I hope to not only break some of the stigmas surrounding both concentrations, but to also examine potential careers that allow English majors the opportunity to exercise creative and professional writing.

Creative Writing Offers More Than You Think

When people ask me what I’m studying, I usually don’t specify creative writing. I’ve grown tired of the judgmental looks and comments that many give in response. Creative writing suffers from the stigma that it can only lead to teaching jobs. This notion could not be further from the truth. In fact, the creative writing concentration opens the doors to a wide range of possibilities.

Creative writing teaches you how to be a skillful, observant writer. Students are taught to manipulate language in ways that are visually and audibly pleasing to the reader. While a short story and a term paper are very different in content, they both require skillful writing. This concentration will provide you with such expertise.

There are many careers that can derive from this concentration, including publishing, marketing and journalism—proving that creative writing can be a very practical concentration.

Professional Writing is Not as Rigid as it Seems

The idea that first struck me when I considered a professional writing concentration was that it was boring. I immediately feared that there was no way I could be as creative in my career as I wanted to be. Again, this idea is a false stigma associated with this concentration. There are many ways to be creative with a degree in professional writing.

Professional writing is an interesting concentration because it is essentially applicable everywhere. Students in this concentration will learn to develop skills in technical writing, editing and publishing. These skills are useful both in the print and digital media worlds. Not only can professional writers find work as editors and publishers, but they can work at virtually any company that requires a skilled writer.

The Two Concentrations Can Collaborate

The thing to keep in mind with both of these concentrations is that they teach you how to write well. At the end of the day, it often comes down to how you advertise yourself when you interview for a job. If you can assure potential employers that you have the skills they’re looking for, that’s usually all that matters.

There are some opportunities that allow you to use both of these concentrations at once. For instance, some literary magazine publishers and editors get to enjoy designing the magazine and submitting their own creative work as well. All in all, these concentrations are what you allow them to be; if you really look deep and explore all of your options, there will be something there for you.

Five Professional Writing Must-Haves

By Sarah Goodman

Has a professor ever advised you to keep the textbook from their class? Did you listen to them? In an age where renting textbooks is often the most financially feasible option, it can be hard to follow their advice. Still, wouldn’t it be nice to know which professional writing materials will help you in the real world? Here is a breakdown of the books, manuals, stylebooks, software and online resources that both professors and alumni swear by.

Number 1

An online portfolio where you can display your writing is a must-have. To do so, however, requires an ability to maintain the website. Content curation is not everyone’s strength so the ability to manage or code a website is extremely valuable. There are website hosts that are free such as Wix, WordPress, and Weebly, which offer premium services for small subscription fees.

Without subscription fees, you can still manage and customize the website through coding. Sometimes a single line of code can make all the difference in the aesthetic and readability of your content. If you are a coding novice, there are free online training and tutorials like Dash by General Assembly, CodeAcademy, and W3 Tutorials.

Number 2

The responsibilities of professional writers have evolved over the past decade; these days it is a good investment to keep a book on design rules and tips. “Because of everything that professional writers have to know and be able to do in 2017, sometimes our attention to writing effective, clear, balanced, and elegant sentences gets lost in translation,” said Dr. McComiskey, Director of Professional Writing Programs. “So for me, every professional writer, and every professional writing student, should own and use a book on style. Style is not grammar: grammar is about correctness; style is about making writing clear and powerful.”

Now, which stylebook do you go with? There are plenty of valuable ones; it boils down to the approach. Dr. McComiskey offered, “If you’re interested in academic writing, Joseph Williams’ book Style: Ten Lessons in Clarity and Grace is excellent. If you’re interested in more general non-fiction writing, then Joe Glaser’s book Understanding Style is great. If you’re interested in writing for the Web, then Nicole Fenton and Kate Kiefer Lee’s book Nicely Said is wonderful.”

Number 3

Adobe Creative Cloud is a must-have for many professions. The utility of Creative Cloud is practically unmatched in the mainstream digital design market. Adobe has an affordable package for students that features all the programs for $19.99 per month. For individuals who are not students, Creative Cloud offers all applications costs for $49.99.

However, UAB alum Olalekan Dada said that if you or the organizations you work for do not have access to Adobe Creative Suite, it is worth your time to learn how to design your work through Microsoft Office. Microsoft Office users can attest that creative design is not an easy task in Word, but learning how to use the other components (Powerpoint, Publisher, Sharepoint, Visio, etc) could also serve as useful tools.

Number 4

When writing is your job, you have to write properly; the online resource called Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) can help with that. Whether you are citing diverse bodies of work or trying to remember an obscure grammar rule, Purdue OWL has the endorsement of professionals and professors alike. Purdue OWL is a free online resource that provides extensive guides in different writing styles, citation, grammar and writing techniques for job searches. The OWL even provides guides for writing in specific industries such as technical writing, creative writing, healthcare writing, literature, engineering and more.

In addition to Purdue OWL, A Writer’s Reference by Diana Hacker is a great resource introduced in English Composition 101 and continuing through professional careers. However, Director of the University Writing Center, Dr. Jaclyn Wells said, “There is nothing that beats just writing for a long period of time.” Experience is the best teacher, but it never hurts to have a cheat–sheet.

Number 5

The last must-have is coffee. Dr. Wells, Director of the University Writing Center, said that coffee is one of her many must-haves. The discipline of professional writing is a tough one that requires working hard hours and enduring criticism. But if you have the dedication, willpower and an energy boost, you can be a great and successful writer.

You may not need all or any of these extra resources. Just remember that it’s tough to fix things without tools. Having a knowledge of industry-standard programs like Adobe Creative Cloud or best-practices for curating your online content can make a difference.

The Art of Professional Writing

The Art of Professional Writing

By Mallorie Turner

The term “professional writing” often invites a myriad of questions regarding what the field is about. You may imagine a person sitting at an ill-lit desk, penning legal documents for long periods of time. This was my exact perception of professional writing when I first applied for the concentration as an English major. As I declared my professional writing concentration, I could feel my identity as an artist start to regress. As infatuated as I was with the formalities of business writing, I couldn’t help but see this prospective career as a threat to my creative identity. I soon learned that there is more to this field than what I thought, both visually and rhetorically, and the artist in me still had a chance to strive.

The Ropes of Creating Documents

If you have been a student in one of UAB’s professional writing courses (specifically, Developing Digital Documents) you would know that students learn on the same publishing technologies that major businesses utilize. One of these is Adobe InDesign, which is used to create letterheads, business cards and other professional documents.

Those who have used this software can tell stories of its bugginess, not to mention the fear of misspelled words in the absence of a spellcheck function. While it might be a tedious digital environment, InDesign has always proven useful to the design-focused professional writer.

In a creative sense, InDesign gives the user free range to design a project from top to bottom—from formatting to color scheme. If someone were interested in designing a magazine using their school’s colors, they would have absolute control over the project’s end result. InDesign is a professional writer’s best friend in this regard. The author has creative control over how they would like their idea to be presented to the world in the same way an artist would.

The Importance of a Good Design

Imagine finding out that there is more to fonts than just fun lettering. Fonts have an emotive quality that sets the tone of a project’s design; professional writers have to make conscious decisions about the fonts they use within a document. These decisions tend to be more significant than whether Times New Roman or Papyrus is more fitting.

A font’s case, weight, width and style all factor into whether an audience will be receptive to the document. For example, the wispy elegance of a script font will not have the right impact for a business report in contrast to the stoicism of a sans serif font. In this way, typographic design is as important to a document as the actual content is.

Professional writing requires a person to master many tools and concepts in order for their work to be marketable. A painter would not be successful if he or she dabbled in realism yet was ignorant of the underlying structure of the human form. Likewise, if a professional writer has no grasp of rhetoric or basic document design, they will not survive in the corporate world. Though there is freedom for creativity in professional writing, there is a standard for marketable work.

The Art of Rhetoric

Rhetoric is an art in itself. Philosophers like Aristotle took pride in knowing the heuristics of persuasive diction. Students studying professional writing look to these philosophers to learn masterful rhetoric they use in business settings.

Visual Rhetoric, a professional writing elective, teaches students the importance of how words and images can create a persuasive message. Professional writers learn that a document is only impactful if it is well-prepared and has a rhetorically sound composition.

Conclusion

Taking professional writing classes has shown me that I am in a creatively stimulating field where both rhetorical and artistic skills are appreciated. As a writer, I actively search for more ways to influence readers with my words. Professional writing has given me new opportunities to do so when I create documents with visual appeal. With the support of the UAB English Department faculty, I know that I can make my mark in the job force with both my writing and design skills.

Professional Writing Within Creative Writing: An Interview with Tina Braziel

By Sam Baine

The writing field offers a multitude of paths for English students to take, but it’s at the intersection of these paths that make a writing career so interesting. Professional writing may conjure up ideas of strict rules and a lack of creative control, but UAB alumna Tina Braziel knows that isn’t the case.

After receiving her Masters in English, Braziel taught at UAB as an English professor for a total of seven years. But she “wanted more instruction and time to write,” so she decided to get her M.F.A as well. Between her degrees, it was the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop that really drew her back to UAB. Now she works as the director of the three-week long workshop, which offers high schoolers the opportunity to work closely with published writers.

The intensive summer program is aimed at those who are interested in creative writing careers. Braziel uses several different methods to reach out to students; she has had to craft an online presence, post on bulletin boards and draft letters and informational cards for teachers. So, while the focus of her career may lie in creative writing, Braziel uses elements of professional writing to represent her ideas.

Braziel also relies on document design “to make clear what is advertised [and] what the classes will offer.” This is especially useful when building a creative platform, as there can be no creative publication without the traditional markers of technical writing like web design and copyediting.

She must also use professional skills for effective communication when it comes to engaging and recruiting students who aren’t considering college, keeping in touch with other faculty members to expand upon enrichment activities and contacting guest speakers and field trip sites.

Braziel’s work isn’t finished with the end of the workshop, though, as she immediately begins prepping for the next one: drafting donation and thank you letters or sending out copies of The Writer’s Block. She uses professional writing to accurately portray the workshop’s purpose and solidify its logistics so everything runs smoothly.

Outside of the workshop setting, professional writing has benefitted Braziel’s creative pursuits. She uses the same learned techniques—like drafting, critiquing, and revising—to promote her own work. Her poetry has been published in many acclaimed journals and her first poetry chapbook was published by Porkbelly Press in 2016. While Braziel never imagined that technical skills would be so closely related to creative work, she has come to find that this intersection is what makes her creative pieces possible.

However, she says that “the process of getting to that point takes more than just creative skill.” Through the ordeal of submitting (and revising and resubmitting) manuscripts, cover letters and pitch letters, creative writing doesn’t get to speak for itself. Writers must do a lot of additional work “to develop a creative style while honing writing skills,” whether that be applying for residencies and fellowships, accurately marketing yourself or pitching your publication.

There is a fine line to balancing creativity with the technical skills necessary to work throughout multiple genres and platforms. Braziel has worked hard to hone a personal professional language, a valuable skill she highly advises for other writers.

Braziel was recently announced as the winner of the 2017 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry through the Fresno State Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing, which awarded her with the publication of her debut full-length book, Known by Salt, through Anhinga Press.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

By Hunter Freeman

Barrel-chested men donning stars and stripes like bandoliers across their chests march on large posters. A factory worker flexes her bicep under a rolled sleeve, her face equal parts proud and brave. Bold type. Primary colors. Energetic illustrations.

For many, these are the familiar images of propaganda, a hallmark of a bygone era where the war of ideas rivaled, and even supplanted, the war of arms. Propaganda is any message that aims to promote a cause or point of view. These posters set the guidelines for society, encouraging citizens to serve, to ration, to fill the factories, to buy war bonds, and the list goes on.

Despite its notoriety, it can be easy to dismiss propaganda as a thing of the past. Given the highly politicized climate contemporary audiences find themselves in, and considering the new communication roles that modern professional writers are filling, it is important to keep one idea central in the minds of Americans: propaganda is not dead.

How Propaganda Has Changed

As with all forms of communication, propaganda has shifted with the advent of new technology. Gone are the days of large prints stapled onto telephone poles and corkboards. Now, messages can be shared to thousands and even millions of people through digital mediums like social media, aggregate websites, streaming services and media production companies.

In its heyday, propaganda had a recognizable style to it, a cartoonish appeal and primary colors that begged to be noticed. Now, it appears in more subtle versions like a sensationalized (or outright false) headline, a partisan-sponsored YouTube ad or an innocent-looking meme on Facebook.

Modern-Day Examples

There are an infinite number of examples of modern-day propaganda, both liberal and conservative, American and foreign, domestic and international. The US intelligence community has released multiple reports about Russian operatives using social media to create messages intended to influence US elections.

But not all propaganda is created equal. With the distribution and ease-of-access to broadcast technology, many media companies do this same type of ideological influence with partisan politics. Just by looking at some article and video titles, the point becomes self-evident. Listed below are several headlines taken from both conservative and liberal media groups:

This is our contemporary war of ideas. These titles are not blatant in their intention. They are not flashy. They are not decorated with colorful drawings on huge displays. They are not sponsored by governmental organizations. But with the new ways people share information, propaganda does not have to be.

Professional Writing’s Role in Propaganda

Behind each of the examples above is a person who carefully chose words and a thumbnail to fit the message they were creating. The authors wrote their article or script with a call to action in mind. And picking up the torch, each of these professional writers submitted their message to the public discourse with the intention of influencing whoever comes across it.

Professional writers are trained in communication. Even the Professional Writing program here at UAB teaches students the essentials to effective propaganda. Students learn how to make a message visually and logically appealing, how to consider an audience and how to write with purpose.

No, UAB is not a propaganda production company or some hive teaching students the dangerous art of eloquence. However, it is a university with a skilled staff that generates highly-capable, motivated communicators.

With the proliferation of broadcast technology, capability and motivation are the only obstacles now that prevent people from abusing a powerful voice. And so, students in the Professional Writing program are a safety pin away from controlling the masses and destroying the world.

The Big Takeaway

Today’s professional writing students are the next at the helm. Propaganda is not just flyers on a wall or a banner on a website; it is not simply colorful pictures that are emotionally provocative. Writers possess the tools to mobilize audiences, which means that they must be aware of their influence and responsible for the power of the written word.

How to Become a Global Sensation With Professional Writing

A hand holding a globe — Image courtesy of Adobe Stock

Becoming A Global Sensation With Professional Writing

By Skylar Summers

“Despacito” topped the charts, the Korean pop band BTS is being compared to The Beatles, and foreign filmmaking is on the rise. You may be asking what this has to do with professional writing, or even English. Well, a lot more than you might think. Here, we’ll take a look at how to master the arts of editing and technology, and how universal themes are generated to target mass audiences.

As English enthusiasts, our ultimate goal is to create, contribute to, or study these major climactic points that define our society on a global and historical scale. As professional writers, we can learn from these sources in order to globalize our own projects and passions.

For most of history, Western culture has influenced other regions, but now the tables seem to be turning in a phenomenon called cultural diffusion. How does this relate to professional writing? By conducting three interviews, I was able to learn how to attract massive global audiences through new technology, editing according to universal themes and understanding the power of language.

Through interviews with a non-native English speaker from a country with ever-influencing pop culture, a sociologist and somebody with an indifferent stance on the rise of new influences shaping America, I’ve come a bit closer to identifying the cultural tipping point that many professional writers learn to find in order to draw attention to their own projects.

Interview 1: Jay

The backdrop for any global sensation is technology; it’s crucial to learn how to design, market and broadcast any product. In professional writing, a student does just this. By analyzing font types, color schemes and details that draw in audiences, professional writers hone the same skills used by major companies to attain globalization.

Jay, a UAB student born in South Korea, weighs in on this topic. On the subject of Korean pop music, he tells me that he believes it’s the culture shock that typically attracts foreign audiences. The expressive style choices, technicality and overall extravagance presented in K-pop music videos allow a foreigner to escape into a world that isn’t their own. Jay says that most people don’t know what the actual lyrics to “Despacito” mean, but because of its marketing and appeal, it became a hit to English speakers.

Professional writers learn not only how to relate, but how to present our work in way that will inspire a sense of awe in our audience, and to make them truly interested in what we are presenting. Through classes in editing and design, students in the professional writing program are on their way to creating the same widespread appeal around their own projects.

Interview 2: Dr. Szaflarski

Next, I spoke to Dr. Szaflarski, a sociologist and professor at UAB. She explains how this phenomenon isn’t new, yet the presence of technology has created a platform with the power to reshape our culture.

Our discussion centered less around specific media influences than around widespread theories that prove how our world is changing. According to human ecology theory, technology enables new “tipping points,” or the factor that allows for a product to become successful to a large group of people.

Dr. Szaflarski goes on to discuss contemporary theory, or the idea that language and communication helps spread new innovations. As English speaking creators in a highly technological society, we are part of a global system in which cooperation with other nations and cultures is essential. Professional writers learn valuable skills in dealing with phenomena that’s not only embedded in American society, but modern global society as a whole. This puts analytical professional writers at the forefront of creators who can release culturally sensitive products in the midst of a digital age that makes issues like cultural appropriation more prevalent.

It’s important to note that communication is far more than words, but how those words are printed to attract an audience. Knowing what to use to gain viewership and how to create positive global reactions, professional writers possess a set of skills that are essential to the modern world.

Interview 3: Ashley

Ashley is a UAB student who sheds some light on my final question: how does the English language tie into all of this? Globalization and language are closely correlated, as language is essential to communication, and becoming proficient at analyzing trends is the goal of any writer, editor, marketer or global sensation, whether that be a musical artist, a filmmaker, or a series creator.

English students analyze texts such as novels and poetry with longstanding significance in many of our required classes, and a common denominator are themes that shape generations. This universality of topics can be applied on an even greater scale. Ashley gives a more a more objective opinion on this matter, particularly in the K-Pop genre. She says that themes like love and the universal appeal of certain features being deemed “attractive” allow this type of cultural diffusion to soar.

If you can learn how to analyze longstanding values, themes and cultural norms (as one does in an English class), you can acquire the tools that could make you successful in nearly any field that requires creativity, expression or “selling” an idea.

Conclusion

Globalization and cultural diffusion are very real aspects of our lives in the 21st century. It is important to understand not only what a piece of media is, but how it uses technology, editing according to universal themes and language to attract massive global audiences.

Professional writing encompasses these aspects and more, and is therefore rising in prominence as a viable path of study. So, next time you listen to listen to “Despacito” or watch Pokemon, perhaps you’ll notice how these phenomena appeal to their audiences, and through professional writing, your understanding could grow even deeper.

Advice from a Professional Writing Storyteller

Advice from a Professional Writing Storyteller

By Laura Jane Crocker

Professional writers are often labelled as having a certain skillset. Usually, this would imply a background in document design, editing or technical writing, among other things. However, there are plenty of ways that creative writers may find themselves in a career that requires professional writing. Making this transition may not be as uncommon as one would think, and for Brett Bralley, a writer on UAB’s University Relations team, focusing on professional writing has led to a successful career that combines her creative background with practical communication skills.

Bralley studied journalism at the University of Alabama, and her career eventually led to UAB. She works on the content team, which is in charge of creating and editing copies for university initiatives.

“I write a wide variety of content,” Bralley explains. “Sometimes it’s a shorter, dynamic copy for a brochure or a website landing page. And sometimes it’s an in-depth feature for UAB Magazine. All of it is focused on telling the stories of students, faculty, staff and friends of UAB.” Although the art of storytelling is more frequently attributed to creative writing, professional writers like Bralley are often tasked with achieving this goal with limited word counts, focused target audiences and design in mind.

With a creative writing perspective, Bralley has been able to approach the challenges of a professional writing career from a unique angle. “My background in journalism prepared me for almost every aspect of this job. I learned editorial judgement, story structure, how to interview sources, how to always consider my reader, the importance of accuracy and attention to detail, and—of course—how to tell a story in meaningful, effective way,” she says. Together, Bralley and her coworkers implement a diverse set of skills that are fundamental to professional writing.

As opposed to writing careers that focus on churning out content, Bralley is often tasked with considering design. Depending on the project, the design may be created around a copy that has been written, or the content may need to fit a specific layout, and that’s where Bralley must use her judgement to create captivating copies.

“Good writing can be all for naught if the design isn’t there,” Bralley says. “The presentation of the work has the power to entice the reader and make them want to dive into your content. A clean, legible font, a lovely layout and the right medium for sharing your work is paramount to creating quality content.”

But the process is not as strict as one might think. Often, professional writers must be in touch with their creative side to ensure that content is engaging for their audience—this requires Bralley to be adaptable. She explains, “A fun part of my job is that I’m doing all kinds of writing, so I get to exercise all sorts of skills. When I’m writing for a professional audience, whether by crafting an internal newsletter or putting together an email for a source, I think about the most informative and simple way to connect. I want to keep it engaging, but I also want to get the point across quickly.”

When asked if she had any recommendations for young professional writers, Bralley says, “Write as much as you can! Build your portfolio with a variety of work. Take classes or workshops to learn new skills. Connect with a mentor who can give you advice and help you along. When someone edits your work, review those edits and see how you can improve. The more you work at it, the better a writer you can be! And when it comes time to show off your work, don’t be shy.”

Interview with UAB Alum Emily Wiginton

By Nora Krall

Emily (Em) Wiginton graduated from UAB in 2017 with an English degree and a concentration in Professional Writing. Emily was raised on a farm in rural Alabama and spent her college years working at the public radio station 90.3 WBHM. During her time at UAB, she was President of the Professional Writing club. Post graduation, Emily is located in North Carolina at UNC Chapel Hill and lives with her partner and their cat Jiji. Emily is a queer writer, artist, and communicator who loves traveling, Korean food, and video games.

1. What made you want to major in professional writing?

I initially went into Professional Writing because I was interested in a practical application of English, but also because I was terrified to talk to anyone. As an incoming freshman, I thought that Professional Writing sounded like a field that wouldn’t require a lot of communication with other people, but boy, was I wrong. PW ended up making me a much stronger communicator—and a better writer to boot.

2. How is your degree useful to you?

A lot of my job involves sharing and explaining critical information between Women’s Health organizations across the globe, and PW really helped me learn how to consider my audience when communicating to certain groups. I also self-publish autobiographical comic zines on the side, and learning how to use software like Illustrator and InDesign to design and print my own materials is still something I use literally every day.

3. What was your goal after you graduated from UAB and how did English/PW help you get there?

My goal after graduation was basically just to get a job—any job. A lot of PW focuses heavily on professional development, so by the time I graduated, I had a fully developed LinkedIn, a gorgeous resume, and a working knowledge of how to apply for positions or market myself in the industry using sites like Indeed. I also learned how to make a web-based portfolio (emilyrosewiginton.wordpress.com) through my PW classes, and having a website really gave me an edge in interviews.

4. What was your thesis on?

For my thesis, I created a sample email newsletter for the UAB-based PW publication, Memorandum, along with a user guide that could be used in both print and PDF formats. The user guide ended up being something I took to job interviews with me as an example of my skillset—people really like it when you have a tangible example of work you’ve done, especially one that combines writing, design, and self-publishing.

5. How did you get to UNC?

I got into UNC by working a few temp jobs when I first moved here. I can’t stress enough what a useful tool this was for breaking into the job market. The best advice I can give for recent grads is to apply to as many temp pools as you can get your hands on. There are tons out there, especially around Universities, and often for communications and writing-related positions. I was at the Department of Music here at UNC, then landed a permanent position at the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Research Evidence in Sexual and Reproductive Health (WHO CC for short).

6. What are you doing at UNC now with your English/PW degree?

Here at the WHO CC, my official job title is Public Communications Coordinator, which means that I’m not only the front-facing person for our offices, but also serve as a connecting point between us and other Women’s Health Organizations around the world. We work to develop programs that apply implementation science to Women’s Health research, with a larger goal of ensuring reproductive health and justice for all. It’s challenging work, but honestly a dream job for me. As a queer, gender-nonconforming woman, I have a huge passion for reproductive justice in a global health context, and am so grateful to be working in a position that directly contributes to that.

7. What do you want to do in the future? Are you getting another degree?

My dream for the future is admittedly little less career/academia-focused. I mentioned earlier that I illustrate and self-publish comics in my spare time, and I’d love to get more serious about that while still maintaining a day job similar to what I do now. I’m so grateful to have such an amazing career, but my real joys in life come from making art, traveling with my partner, and pursuing my hobbies. However, I feel super fortunate that I can work in a position that matches up with my political and ethical convictions.

8. How did your undergraduate experience at UAB help get you to where you are today?

Professional Writing equipped me with the skills I needed to find a job pretty quickly after college, as well as the skills to pursue the things I wanted to do outside of a professional setting. Above all, however, PW helped me grow into a confident and effective communicator and leader. Professional writing is curriculum that teaches people how to write for certain audiences, interface with contemporary discourses and find work in a complicated job market which is more vital than ever, and I’m thankful that it was part of my education.

In Conclusion

Emily’s professional writing degree has propelled her into the job market seamlessly and with it, she acquired her dream job. The professional writing concentration offers skills that are necessary for most every major and vital to any job. Emily’s work post-graduation is proof of effective communication skills at work and has made the transition into the job market a rather easy one. A degree in professional writing gives you a skillset that is useful and relevant in any job.