technology – MEMORANDUM

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.

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.

Caret Software Review

By Jana Brown

What is Caret?

Caret is an HTML text editing software that I have been using for Dr. Bacha’s Digital Publishing EH 455 course.

The Caret logo

Chosen for its simplicity and convenience; Caret made html easy to jump into. For anyone who needs to learn basic HTML, Caret is a good option. The Caret logo can be seen to the right. For Chrome users, here is a link to download Caret via the
Chrome Web Store.

Pros

This image shows what happens when the software detects an issue with your code

One of the biggest perks of using this software is that it is free. Thus, it is accessible for anyone with internet access.

Usability is also a major plus. I’m not the most computer savvy individual, which is why I was shocked at the ease with which I began using the software without hiccups. An important aspect that makes it so user friendly is the feature that displays a red X next to any line of code where the software detects an issue. When you hover your cursor over this icon, a tooltip appears that alerts you to the problem with your code.

Cons

Line 37 can be found at the bottom of the image next to “disableBehaviors”

I would recommend this software to new coders. However, aspects of the software need to change in order to improve usability. I don’t like the default setting that autocompletes lines of code.

For example, when I type the opening paragraph tag, the software automatically inserts the closing tag after it. This feature shouldn’t be a default setting, and could lead to learned laziness when it comes to closing tags.

As the image above demonstrates, you can change this setting yourself in the user preferences page by changing “false” to “true” on line 37, beside the phrase disableBehaviors.

This brings me to the final issue I have with the software: Caret’s user preference page is difficult to navigate. I had to seek out online guides to help me find and fix the problem I had with the auto closing of tags.

Additionally, the online technical support guide is difficult to find when you search for it it online, and could use some streamlining. Click here for the Caret technical support guide.

Don’t Trust the Process(or)

By Chase Coats

An anxious student

Let’s be honest; we all want to fit in, and for a foreign writer, sometimes that can prove to be quite a challenge.

It should come as no surprise that writing is an area where non-native speakers seem to have the most anxiety.

Entering the business world, many wish they could hide their accent or any sign that English is their secondary language, and that’s why software like Grammarly is appealing to so many!

Grammarly appeals to people who want their ideas to be heard, but don’t want to be bothered with the nitpicking that can often make or break their writing or meaning.

If you’re unfamiliar with Grammarly, it’s a program that prides itself on not just fixing minor mistakes, but improving one’s writing as a whole by interacting with the user. Grammarly highlights detected errors and offers suggestions for corrections or substitutions, but ultimately it’s up to the user to decide for themselves.

But does Grammarly allow someone still grappling with the language barrier the confidence to operate their software effectively?

What happens if what is highlighted goes beyond spelling and punctuation, and leans more towards the trickier laws of grammar or even word choice? For the non-native-speaker, a demographic that Grammarly boasts has benefitted from their services, Grammarly’s suggestions can actually muddy up the voice in one’s writing. To make matters worse, Medium.com reports that On average, Grammarly only finds 40% of errors in non-native-English.

Sinister Synonyms

The main area of concern lies in the program’s thesaurus, which attempts to improve a writer’s word choice to make their work seem more eloquent and professional. This would be one of the product’s features that a foreign voice would hope to utilize, but reviews have shown that the suggested synonyms can either be archaic or just plain weird.

An example of this questionable word choice is best seen in Writing-Skills.com’s review of Grammarly, where the word “plain” in “plain English” was the focal point. Rather than keeping the word “plain” (the software having deemed it too generic), Grammarly offered words like “basic” or “clear” as substitutions. For a foreign voice still trying to assimilate to a more Western way of speaking, these are the moments that defeat the whole purpose for using the software in the first place.

A writer must have the confidence to be able to know when Grammarly may have made a mistake, and for a non-native speaker already struggling with a transition between languages, this presents a real problem. The final verdict on Grammarly? As a product that claims to be a powerful tool for…foreign students…English language learners, and non-native-English-speaking professionals, Grammarly has the potential to fail those who truly need it most.

Complementing a PW Major

By Laura Jane Crocker

Notebooks

Professional Writing is a versatile field that combines the creativity and beauty of language with logical instruction and organized information. Although Professional Writing skills are valued in many fields, an interesting minor can make new graduates stand out from their peers.

Computer Science

We are living in a time where technology is thriving and innovation is second-nature. Employers like to see that prospective hires are well-equipped to deal with tasks that require a secure grasp on programming; those with a Liberal Arts degree are no exception. For example, jobs in Technical Writing require skills from both Professional Writing and Computer Science. With a minor in Computer Science, a Professional Writing degree becomes more appealing to employers in the tech industry.

Graphic Design

Alongside technological innovation is the rise of aesthetically-pleasing design. Consumers want more than well-placed subheadings and bulleted lists; they want to be dazzled by interesting graphics and professional photography. For a Professional Writer who decides to freelance, a minor in Graphic Design is an excellent choice. One can both design websites and create copy; they can become a one-stop shop for clients looking to incorporate digital marketing strategies into their business plan.

Marketing

Professional Writers are trained to write with clarity, creativity and meaning; these are all necessary for those considering in a career in Marketing. Learning the tricks of the trade when it comes to Marketing can be a bit difficult, so it is better to take some courses to familiarize oneself with technical terms. Whether a job requires one to write copy for ads, a website or social media posts, Professional Writing never disappoints. When paired together, Marketing and Professional Writing can be a powerful combination for the success new graduates want to see in their career.

Employers today like to see that prospective hires are versatile. Studying Professional Writing is the first step to develop a skill set that reaches across a wide variety of careers. However, choosing a minor that may not seem to quite fit with Professional Writing can help one become more well-rounded.

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.

5 Don’ts of Graphic Design

I was going to give all the graphic design hopefuls a snark-filled article about the five things not to do when doing graphic design. However, after my interview with Scott Thigpen (Yes, that is a shameless plug). I felt that he provided “nots” that are much more helpful then any of my snark could ever be. The main points are his, but I have taken the liberty of elaborating on them. I hope that this at least gives graphic design hopefuls some confidence about entering the profession. So, here it goes, five don’ts when doing graphic design.

Don’t take critique personally. Critique of your work is not a critique of you. Know the difference between people providing constructive criticism and mean people. People who provide constructive criticism do not attack you personally. Constructive criticism is meant to make you better and is a close examination of your work.
Don’t devalue yourself. If you are doing work for someone, charge them according to your work. I am going to paraphrase Scott here: Your work is not worth $25. It is worth $2,500. It takes time to create. It takes time to make your creation come to life. That time is worth something and the piece you created it also worth something. You should charge for both. Charge accordingly.
Don’t get complacent. Technology is always changing, so should your work. Think about the advertisements that you see on websites. They now pop up in front of you, move, and have sound. This once was a huge no-no. Now it is the only way to make the advertisements seen. Your designs should be seen. You have to create them in such a way that they are noticed even when there are distractions around them. Getting complacent will lead to designs that don’t get noticed.
Don’t not have an accountant. This is true especially if you are freelancing. You are an artist and maybe you are good with money, but it never hurts to have someone help you keep up with your money. Also, you have to pay taxes on your income, even the income you get from creating. It is an accountant’s job to help you file taxes and not get audited. From what I hear, an audit is no fun. You don’t want that to happen. Just have an accountant. You’ll need one.
Don’t let your client train you, you train your client. When you are doing work for a client, send them three designs that reflect what they are asking for. Don’t let them tell you what you should do with your design or how it should look. Again, this is your creation, your design. And guess what? You are the designer, not your client.

I hope that Scott’s tips give you some confidence about entering into the profession. Like any job that requires creativity, graphic design can be simultaneously extremely difficult and incredibly rewarding.