Ross pays his fortnightly visit, this time looking at the significance of writing style in editorial.
My
decreed blogging objective is to give readers an insight into life at
TARGETjobs. Although this establishes some parameters i.e. subject matter (for
example, I wouldn’t be allowed to write exclusively about my favourite bridges
in Sweden), it does supply some freedom: I may mention the Øresund Bridge,
but I should do so in the context of my life as an intern at
TARGETjobs; I don’t need to be too specific, as my remit is pretty broad; and I
have relative liberty when it comes to writing style. It is this final element
that I wish to discuss.
Writing style is something that’s pretty important in
editorial and has been highlighted throughout my six weeks at
TARGETjobs. In my application for this position,
I linked a piece from my personal blog, which turned out to be quite a
successful move as despite my lack of journalism degree / experience, I showed
that I could write fairly legibly. In tapping out a blog I demonstrated a degree
of writing ability (surely the least anyone could hope for after years at
university, unless of course the degree focus was sandcastle deconstruction)
alongside a modicum of commitment to the pen.
It was emphasised however that my writing style was slightly academic
and would require some adaptation for TARGETjobs purposes: the tone throughout
our (yes, I am now a man - or
balding boy - of the company) publications is
intended to be balanced, supportive advice; an online news piece requires
shorter, snappier sentences; and a blog entry can adopt a chattier,
‘informal-er’ (though perhaps not that
informal) tone, but with no outright disregard for
professionalism.
Throughout TARGETjobs publications emphasis is placed on ‘plain
English’. This doesn’t mean that word choice and sentence structure are
simplified in order to ‘dumb down’, merely that a message should be communicated
in the clearest and most concise way possible without detracting from the
meaning.
I was initially quite apprehensive when it was intimated that I’d
need to consistently alter my writing style: ‘what if I end up writing in a
mundane, formulaic manner instead of writing poncey nonsense?’ I thought. I
discarded this notion and became quite excited to think that as an aspiring
writer (well, this week) I could have a few writing hats as opposed to just a
top hat. I was also reassured by the advice that, although writing styles can
differ, it is possible to maintain a ‘voice’ across the board; this is quite
encouraging, particularly if you love the sound of your own
voice…
On that note, here is a link to my personal blog:
Love your personel blog!
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