When you write excellently, people think highly of you, the opposite is also true. People think that writing is all about expressions, thoughts and feelings. But really, it is so much more than that. People often take for granted the most important aspects of writing- grammar, spelling and punctuations. I honestly learned this the hard way.
I enjoyed writing since I was a kid. Buying all those cute notebooks for me to write on. I even remembered my mom telling my dad to give me all the company notebooks he has because they know I would make a good use of it. And truth to say, I did. Every paper, every page has my writings and opinions on different subjects and topics. And from there on my love for writing grew deeper.
Growing up in the age of technology made me trade pen and paper for digital writings. It was hard keeping up with the technology of writing due to the computers lack of knowledge on certain errors. I was so keen of writing my opinions that I became lazy to check other technical errors. I depended too much on technology to correct all the errors for me. And from there on, my writing started to drift off.
But, I make actions to improve my ways. It was with my working days that my writing improved again. I found it to be a big jump between personal writing and corporate articles. Like, how do I make myself sound corporate enough to capture the right kind of audience. What will I have to do to "sell" and influence my readers to read my article and actually register to our programs. It was a big step for me, and a huge difficulty. But, not like before, I did not quit.
My first articles were good,as said by my boss. Little did I know it was just a "you are new to the company, I won't make such a big about it" compliment. In the next articles I made, more and more errors are found and it made me really anxious. I took a step and attended a business writing program(also offered by our company). Attending the program made me feel nervous. There were about 28 participants and some came from companies whose industry belongs to journalism. My insecurity hit me and I thought I did not stand a chance with this people. But, regardless to say, the program went well and I learned more things and more writing strategies for corporate letters and articles.
I thought then that my corporate writing would improve. I was in a lot of pressure. Knowing that I already attended the seminar means I must apply the learnings to my outputs. But still, the feedback I got w bad and a lot of errors are still present.
I took time to internalize and reflect on my articles and see the contents of my errors. I read all the feedback, did more research on my topic, did a little more proofreading,and there we go. My article has improved- a lot!
I'm not saying that I am a good writer. There is a big difference between a hobby and a career. In my case, it applies to both. I know I have improved, but it does not stop there. I learn more each day, and try to apply them to improve my writing.
Why exactly did I write this long entry about writing? It is because I saw this long entry on one of the social networking sites and it annoyed me to bits. The least you can do is improve your grammar and know when to use and apply the proper words.
My advice, read more, do a lot of proofreading and dig more research.
