Comments on: What is Great Writing? http://pr-bridge.com/2007/09/14/what-is-great-writing/ Connecting public relations academics and professionals. Managed by Bob Batchelor Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:54:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Mandy C http://pr-bridge.com/2007/09/14/what-is-great-writing/#comment-18 Mandy C Wed, 26 Sep 2007 22:27:54 +0000 http://pr-bridge.com/2007/09/14/what-is-great-writing/#comment-18 Red Pen, Track Changes and your First Job Professor Batchelor, I can relate to the disconnect found between PR writing classes and the actual experience of writing for clients. I had the pleasure of taking a Saturday morning PR writing class with Dr. honey Rand. This experience, although daunting, gave me a a glimpse into what the "real world" would expect from me. I passed the class with an A (I was one of three). Oddly enough, I have now been working for Dr. Rand for over a year. Let me tell you...the first time I opened up a a document that had been reviewed and returned, I was baffled. It was a "Track Changes" massacre-- I had no idea what had happened to the news release that I had spent an hour writing, it was mangled. I quickly learned that writing becomes an intricate blend of skill and knowledge of your client (or audience). My first piece of advice is, do not take this personally. I did for a while, but now I understand. When writing for a client (or your boss) one has to realize that they already know what the final product should look, sound and feel. I recently had a client who was put on Sharpie probation. He printed everything out and began "editing" in cryptic symbols and comments. Over time, I began recognizing a pattern in the way he preferred things to sound and his favorite formats. Every writing assignment or adventure has a destination, however choose your path wisely. Corporate PR writing skills are valuable, yes...however so is my Encyclopedia Brittanica series that has been collecting dust for years. Solid writing principles will always be a cornerstone in the bridge connecting creativity and a purpose. Professor Batchelor--I will never write something and not give it a title...a valuable lesson :) Karen--I would be more than happy to donate some writing samples... -M.C. Red Pen, Track Changes and your First Job

Professor Batchelor,
I can relate to the disconnect found between PR writing classes and the actual experience of writing for clients. I had the pleasure of taking a Saturday morning PR writing class with Dr. honey Rand. This experience, although daunting, gave me a a glimpse into what the “real world” would expect from me. I passed the class with an A (I was one of three).

Oddly enough, I have now been working for Dr. Rand for over a year. Let me tell you…the first time I opened up a a document that had been reviewed and returned, I was baffled. It was a “Track Changes” massacre– I had no idea what had happened to the news release that I had spent an hour writing, it was mangled. I quickly learned that writing becomes an intricate blend of skill and knowledge of your client (or audience).

My first piece of advice is, do not take this personally. I did for a while, but now I understand. When writing for a client (or your boss) one has to realize that they already know what the final product should look, sound and feel.

I recently had a client who was put on Sharpie probation. He printed everything out and began “editing” in cryptic symbols and comments. Over time, I began recognizing a pattern in the way he preferred things to sound and his favorite formats.

Every writing assignment or adventure has a destination, however choose your path wisely. Corporate PR writing skills are valuable, yes…however so is my Encyclopedia Brittanica series that has been collecting dust for years. Solid writing principles will always be a cornerstone in the bridge connecting creativity and a purpose.

Professor Batchelor–I will never write something and not give it a title…a valuable lesson :)

Karen–I would be more than happy to donate some writing samples…

-M.C.

]]> By: Karen http://pr-bridge.com/2007/09/14/what-is-great-writing/#comment-11 Karen Fri, 14 Sep 2007 15:54:00 +0000 http://pr-bridge.com/2007/09/14/what-is-great-writing/#comment-11 Bob, every year or so I ask my former students to send samples from their jobs and use that to create a reading packet that students in my writing class are required to buy from a local copy shop. If none of them send something I specifically need (say, an op-ed or a PSA script), I pull them from the Web. But using former students' materials allows current students to see the kinds of work they might be doing and provides a pretty good variety of examples -- the textbooks all seem to emphasize corporate PR. The trick is to keep in touch with a core of former students who are willing to help out. Bob, every year or so I ask my former students to send samples from their jobs and use that to create a reading packet that students in my writing class are required to buy from a local copy shop. If none of them send something I specifically need (say, an op-ed or a PSA script), I pull them from the Web. But using former students’ materials allows current students to see the kinds of work they might be doing and provides a pretty good variety of examples — the textbooks all seem to emphasize corporate PR. The trick is to keep in touch with a core of former students who are willing to help out.

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