Innovating Your Writing

Superior writing skills are a PR professional's bread and butter. Everything that we do stems from the ability to use and manage language. Whether it be writing a news release or designing content for a social media plan, strong writing skills can be found at the core of almost any assignment.

It is not uncommon to become comfortable in your writing. If you read over things that you've written, you may find that you commonly use the same phrases, adjectives or expressions. It isn't just PR pros who fall victim to this writing plateau, professional writers are susceptible as well. 

Breaking writing habits that have been heavily instilled and feel comfortable to us can be challenging. Nevertheless, stepping out of your writing comfort zone is the only way to produce not only the best work that you are capable of, but the work that your client is paying for and deserves. Take small steps every day that will help to enhance the bigger picture in your writing. Read newspapers, magazines, blogs or articles online that are written in a style that you aren't familiar with. Take bits and pieces of what you read, and see if you use them as additions to your own style.

When you edit your work, don't just look for format, style and grammar mistakes. Look for phrases that you use repetitiously and try to use different wording. Take a trip to the thesaurus and look for strong and engaging synonyms. Writing and editing are different from revising your work. When you're finished editing your work, it shouldn't be uncommon for paragraphs to be changed, language and wording to be enhanced and for the piece to look different than when you first drafted it. Always be willing to rewrite for the sake of innovative and strong writing.

Do you think that your writing is innovative? Have you been stuck in a writing rut? What do you do to better your writing abilities as a PR pro? Please share with us in the comments!

(photo via) 

150 Resources To Make You A Better Writer

It appears that PRowl Public Relations has a guardian angel. We were recently approached by a contributor for Open Education Database with a post they published of 150 resources designed to help you become a stronger writer. Who better to share it with then our readers?

The resources are broken down into categories such as blog, rhetoric, and organization. To check this out for yourself click here or find it in our blog roll year round.

Happy writing!

The Difference Between Editing and Revising

Proofreading, editing, and revising are keywords that should be at the forefront of every PR professional's mind. In an industry that requires many different forms of writing materials, we are constantly going through each of these steps in the writing process. Depending on the area of the industry you are in, you may find that these steps happen in a team, or individually. Knowing the difference between editing and revising is key to producing high quality work for your client or portfolio.

Here is a breakdown between the two:

Editing focuses mostly on the surface level material. Are all words spelled and used correctly? Do the sentences flow and implement proper punctuation? Spelling and grammatical errors should be eliminated during the editing process. After editing, you should find that your piece is a solid foundation, but the next step is where it becomes more polished.

During the revising process, rather than look for simple grammatical errors, you should think deeper into the content of your writing. Do the points and major topics flow well together in a way that makes sense to the reader? Is the piece structured in a way that keeps readers interested in what you've written? Revising may involve switching the order of sentences or paragraphs, or even re-writing sections to better state your points or provide clarification.

Many times, the revising step is skipped completely or confused with editing. Simply editing your work isn't enough, proper revising is the best way to insure you are putting your best pen forward. To really guarantee strong writing, have someone else look over your work! Getting a different perspective may offer new insights into your work that you wouldn't have seen on your own!

Do you edit and revise your work before considering it done? How often do you let a second pair of eyes look over your work for you? Share your writing experiences with us!

How To Improve Your Writing

It is hard to believe the fall semester is already underway. Assignments, essays and other homework is starting to pile up. For many PR students, these assignments will consist of writing, writing and more writing! Personally, I always seem to, in the three short months of summer, completely forget how to write.

Writing is hard work. It takes a good understanding of English, plenty of practice as well as a lot of rewriting and editing to produce interesting material. The following are some good tips found in an article by Katie Badeusz on www.Ragan.com.

1. Be Clear: The best advice I ever recieved from a professor was to KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Avoid using techinal terms or convouluted sentences. It may sound great to you, but if people cannot understand what you are trying to say then it won't matter anyways.
2. Apply Active Voice: Avoid writing in the passive voice! Sentences in the active voice are more concise and direct. Noun-verb construction is best. Say "She made a pizaa," not "A pizza was made."
3. Include Quotes: But avoid using too many or long-winded ones. Instead, incorporate quotes that sound authentic and reflect what a person might say in a normal conversation.
4. Write With Your Ear: The best way to edit your writing is to read it out loud. This way, you can hear what actually works in terms of sentence structure and pacing.
5. Allow Yourself To Write Crap: Don't focus on perfecting your sentences. Let your thoughts go and then fix them. Good writing involves rewriting!
6. Take Chances: Writing is all about creatvity. Don't forget to have fun and think outside the box.

Do you have any other writing tips you use? Let us know!

For The People, By The People

Everyone has someone to answer to, it's a fact of life. But when you are writing a press release or blog, whether it will be read by reporters or the general public, it can be hard to think about who you're writing for, when you have to hand it up to your boss to look over. I experience it myself, all of the time. I want my supervisor to like what I've written, and I want to make them happy, but the bottom line is that you are not writing for you supervisor or board of directors, etc. You are writing for an audience. Check out the tips below on how to write for your readers--not your executives:

Use the words your audience would use when describing your product: While you may work for a company that manufactures technology used in space, using industry jargon will get you no where. If you are aiming at a younger audience in an effort to gain more widespread support, think about the language they use. The culture they are in. Adjust to that, and you will get more of a response and a better understanding of the product you're selling.

Your customers are people; treat them that way: In some industries, companies will refer to their customers as "insureds" or "patron". Using these terms can sometimes de-humanize clients. Your customers are people too, and most likely don't refer to themselves as such, and may not even appreciate it. I would personally prefer someone to cut to the chase and call me what I am--a consumer, or a customer.

Writing informally is not dumbing down: Nix the ain't and the ya'll, writing informally is getting rid of the static and getting down to the roots. Who, what, where, when? Try to write in such a way that your reader won't have to keep going over what you wrote. This saves both you and the customer time, energy and frustration.

Have you ever been met with the challenge of writing to your audience while still keeping appearances with your boss? How did you manage? Let us know!

5 Ways To Prevent Writer's Block

Public relations and writing go together like math and science, you can't do one without encountering the other. But when it's time to write that perfect pitch or media advisory, writer's block is the last thing you want to deal with. Here are 5 quick and easy tips to prevent writer's block:


1. Write Daily: If you write every day, it makes writing almost effortless and quickly becomes second nature. Even if you only write for 15 minutes a day, it will help you develop a habit.

2. Change Your Surroundings: Finding inspiration can be difficult when you're always surrounded by the same 4 walls. Try talking a walk, writing at a coffee shop, or relocating your workspace to keep your creative juices flowing.

3. Read: If you're having trouble putting together your own words, seek out inspiration by reading a good book. You never know when one sentence or paragraph will give you just the boost you need to write something brillant.

4. Sleep: Writing while sleep deprived is a recipe for disaster. Getting 8 hours of sleep at night helps recharge your brain, allowing you to think more clearly and creatively!

5. Keep Learning: Opening yourself up to new experiences helps to keep you fresh and cutting edge. Try visiting museums, taking day trips, or a class. The more experiences you have, the more you have to add to your writing.

What tips do you have to prevent writer's block?

How Does Your Writing Stack Up?

As an account executive of PRowl Public Relations, Temple University’s only student-run public relations firm, the most common question I get is, “how do I improve my writing?” Now, I don’t claim to be an expert writer, but I have been writing in a journalistic and public relations styles for over five years so I’ve encountered a lot of good and bad writing. Here are a few of the best tips I can offer to beginners looking to improve their writing:

• Think about your audience. This is arguable the most important piece of advice I can give you. Who are you writing to? What are their attitudes, values, beliefs, lifestyles and cultural backgrounds? Your audience will affect the tone of voice and the words you use in your copy.
• Aim for the goal. Just like in soccer. Are you a journalist telling a story or are you a public relations professional communicating a message? Are you relating your writing back to the business goals of your company? Your goal is crucial to the finished product, don’t neglect it!
• Follow the inverted pyramid. Remember what the inverted pyramid is? Think back to your first PR or journalism class. Inverted pyramid style is putting the most important, newsworthy information first to draw your reader into your writing.
• Learn AP Style. This is essential for both public relations and journalistic writing. You need to know the proper way to write. If you don’t, your editors and audience won’t take you seriously.
• Good writing is re-writing. Your first draft should never be your last. Always review and rewrite your copy several times. Your finished product should be perfect in your eyes before you let it leave your hands.

Do you have any other essential tips for budding writers? Let us know in thecomment section.

15 Minute Writing Makeover

Between classes and extracurricular activities our to-do list as PR students may seem never ending, so finding time to work on our writing skills each day can be challenging.

However, Samantha Hosenkamp of Ragan.com says you can improve your writing by taking 15 minutes each day to do this challenge:

1. Take a minute to brainstorm three talking points on a topic. As you do this exercise more frequently choose topics that you are unfamiliar with. This will force you to learn how to write engaging content on even the most unappealing topic.

2. When your minute is up, use the next 10 minutes to flesh out your ideas in a concise and creatively written essay. Challenging yourself to write on a crunch will help you when you have to quickly turn out a media advisory, press release or any other PR document.

3. Then take your final four minutes to edit your work. Learning to critically review your work for both grammar and content can be the difference between an OK press release, or an 'A' release that gets picked up by various outlets.

4. Use the remaining minute to read a blog post or short article. Reading examples of good writing will help you unconsciously pick up some of the key skills used to produce these works.

Try this trick and let us know how it improves your writing skills!

This guest blog was written by PRowl Public Relations staff member Shari DaCosta.

Writing for Todays Attention Span

As the semester begins most of professors start with basics; inverted pyramid, proper sentence structure, etc. However recently in one of my classes we discussed a puzzling factor in writing, the brevity of a now 21^st century reader.

In “The Philosophy of Composition” Edgar Allen Poe suggests that a writer must base the length of their piece the readers’ ability to consume the piece in one sitting. Poe adamantly states that the

reader must be able to take the piece on without interruption in order to achieve the proper effect the writer intended to express. Now back in the late 1800’s, the writers aim for a reader’s attention was around one hour. One hour is a long time to ask from a 21^st century reader. So as this writing intensive field of public relations begins to grow, how long can we ask from our readers? Thirty minutes, ten minutes or 140

characters?

To write for the 21^st century reader, the sentence structure must be key. Using clear declarative sentences allows the reader to retain and grasp the idea or situation a writer is trying to convey whether the piece is fifteen minutes or 100 characters. I tend to get tied up in fancy words and witty statements with no grammatical backing, but when I stick to the KISS (Keep It Simply Stupid) principle I get more responses on both my blogs and updates.

Revitalize your Writing

As students everywhere are approaching the school year a little faster than they all may want, it is a good time to dust off our writing samples from last year and analyze what could be done to help us grow as writers.

Setting aside the usual pet peeves that come with grammatical errors such as they're/there/their and your/you're, outlined below are some tips to keep your readers interested and to get your point across while writing.

• Be clear and concise. Keep your sentences simple to avoid confusion. Use only the most important details so as not to lose your reader's interest.



• Monitor your tone. While you may have certain feelings or opinions running through your head as you are writing, be sure to stay informative. You could risk your credibility by including your personal thoughts, or worse, keep the reader guessing your mood, resulting in them completely missing your point.



• Adapt. Especially when reading online, it is crucial to keep your paragraphs shorter, and to take advantage of bullet points or headings as a way of organizing your thoughts. Also, avoid strange fonts that could be difficult to read, or fonts that are too small.



• Focus. Read your work after you have left it alone for a few hours, and then decide if you are still on topic. Try making an outline before you start writing to make sure you are staying relevant in your piece.



• Practice! The only way to really improve your writing is to go over past documents and see what you could have done better. If you don't like the way a certain sentence sounds, chances are neither will your reader. Read things written by your peers to help you identify your style of writing and ways you can take yours to the next level.
  

What do you struggle with while writing? What helps?