Reflection (Value 9)
Being a writing arts major I, of course, have knowledge of the post-graduate options available to me in both professions and graduate studies. Graduating writers must acclimate to the numerous kinds of writing professions there are in the world. So learning about what is out there helped greatly. Take for example the class “Writing Children’s Stories”, one would not think that this class would help a writer “prepare” for much of anything, but you would be wrong. For example, there are a variety of fields a writer can get into. Children’s stories dealt with getting published as a children’s author. The trial and tribulation of trying to write a story that deals in both child and grown up emotion, it has to speak to the audience if you want your story to sell or for that matter, be published. This prepared me for what kind of book I was to publish. If I decided to become a children’s author, I would have to find some sort of relatable material to both children and the parents of said children.
Through taking classes in the WA major I was able to learn what others have done in my position. There were some guest speakers throughout my classes whom had graduated with a writing arts degree. These guest speakers actually came to class and told us how to go about life after attaining a writing degree. They told us what places were best to apply for in our current position, what to aim for as we started to get pieces published, and not to sweat the constant rejection some writers face in todays marketplace.
For example, The Writers Mind taught me the level of work ethic required to become a great writer. My professor told us how most writers feel the need to write about something almost every single day. We have to “hone in on our craft” so to speak, if we really want a random reader to be interested in what we have to say. We have to fine-tune our selves to be professional writers. I believe that’s one of greatest ways this writing program has prepared me for writing professionally.
Evaluating writing when deeper into what my writers mind class talked about. How to get your writing noticeable to readers, thus making the reader interested in anything you have published. My professor spoke of Stein and his different ways of captivating an audience through creating psychological and historical criticisms in my pieces. I’ll never forget what my professor told me on our first day of evaluating writing. If you want someone to be interested in your writing, say an editor or publishing company, astonish them within the first few sentences. Within a few minutes, someone dissecting your work will know if you’re really worth a damn.
Last, I want to bring up a class that really brought it all together for me in terms of professional writing; writing in the professions. I took it earlier this semester and couldn’t believe all I’ve been able to learn about professional writing from this class. It’s almost like it was it was specifically tailored around value 9. Though only five weeks, within the first week we were speaking of “10 things college writing classes don’t teach you about the writing life but should”. This class explored all the ins and outs of writing careers and graduate options for the soon to be graduating writer. We spoke of writing your “debut novel” and what thought process a writer may have to go through to uncover a really superb plot outline in their writing. The class also spoke of how to write a well crafted cover letter, resume, and query letter. I’ve never done either of these things before in my life. In fact, after my brother graduated I remember him crying over how hard it was to craft a good resume and “why didn’t anyone ever show me this before”. For this reason among others, I am truly grateful for taking writing in the professions class and having a grounded, understanding, and relatable professor as well. I would have never known to remove all my “less professional” jobs, like stocking shelves, from my resume. My professor also taught me, because of my age, I may want to leave out when I graduated from high school, being it would only show my age to employers. These ideas are all ones that will personally help shine myself in a more favorable light to employers in the professions.
From all this valuable information attained from the classes in the writing arts program, I believe I can follow my goal of becoming a critic or freelance writer. I know where to apply for a critiquing job, how to go about filling out my resume (so it fits the required employable needs) and even what jobs are more favorable for what I personally want as opposed to others. Writing in the professions also taught me that if I want to go on to graduate school I most certainly could. From listening to what my professor had to say I also learned that I might be able to get some of graduate school paid for me if I apply to certain schools! Wouldn’t that be nice? Either way, I’ll never forget what this program has done for me, as I become a professional writer myself. In fact, I may even come back to tell other writing students of all the different options I had available after college and what I made of them in the professional world.
Through taking classes in the WA major I was able to learn what others have done in my position. There were some guest speakers throughout my classes whom had graduated with a writing arts degree. These guest speakers actually came to class and told us how to go about life after attaining a writing degree. They told us what places were best to apply for in our current position, what to aim for as we started to get pieces published, and not to sweat the constant rejection some writers face in todays marketplace.
For example, The Writers Mind taught me the level of work ethic required to become a great writer. My professor told us how most writers feel the need to write about something almost every single day. We have to “hone in on our craft” so to speak, if we really want a random reader to be interested in what we have to say. We have to fine-tune our selves to be professional writers. I believe that’s one of greatest ways this writing program has prepared me for writing professionally.
Evaluating writing when deeper into what my writers mind class talked about. How to get your writing noticeable to readers, thus making the reader interested in anything you have published. My professor spoke of Stein and his different ways of captivating an audience through creating psychological and historical criticisms in my pieces. I’ll never forget what my professor told me on our first day of evaluating writing. If you want someone to be interested in your writing, say an editor or publishing company, astonish them within the first few sentences. Within a few minutes, someone dissecting your work will know if you’re really worth a damn.
Last, I want to bring up a class that really brought it all together for me in terms of professional writing; writing in the professions. I took it earlier this semester and couldn’t believe all I’ve been able to learn about professional writing from this class. It’s almost like it was it was specifically tailored around value 9. Though only five weeks, within the first week we were speaking of “10 things college writing classes don’t teach you about the writing life but should”. This class explored all the ins and outs of writing careers and graduate options for the soon to be graduating writer. We spoke of writing your “debut novel” and what thought process a writer may have to go through to uncover a really superb plot outline in their writing. The class also spoke of how to write a well crafted cover letter, resume, and query letter. I’ve never done either of these things before in my life. In fact, after my brother graduated I remember him crying over how hard it was to craft a good resume and “why didn’t anyone ever show me this before”. For this reason among others, I am truly grateful for taking writing in the professions class and having a grounded, understanding, and relatable professor as well. I would have never known to remove all my “less professional” jobs, like stocking shelves, from my resume. My professor also taught me, because of my age, I may want to leave out when I graduated from high school, being it would only show my age to employers. These ideas are all ones that will personally help shine myself in a more favorable light to employers in the professions.
From all this valuable information attained from the classes in the writing arts program, I believe I can follow my goal of becoming a critic or freelance writer. I know where to apply for a critiquing job, how to go about filling out my resume (so it fits the required employable needs) and even what jobs are more favorable for what I personally want as opposed to others. Writing in the professions also taught me that if I want to go on to graduate school I most certainly could. From listening to what my professor had to say I also learned that I might be able to get some of graduate school paid for me if I apply to certain schools! Wouldn’t that be nice? Either way, I’ll never forget what this program has done for me, as I become a professional writer myself. In fact, I may even come back to tell other writing students of all the different options I had available after college and what I made of them in the professional world.