In terms of creative writing, actually composing the piece is only half the battle. Once the work is complete, the author must then start the process of getting their writing looked at by a publisher, if that is the route they choose to take. Writing Forward offers some great tips on making sure you have the best chance possible to get accepted in their article “10 Tips for Creative Writing Submissions and Getting Published”. Tips include knowing your audience and the submission rules as well as many more great things to think of through the submission process.
One of the most exciting cross-fertilizations I’ve perhaps ever seen is a little, delightful, 1988 book by Hanno Ehses and Ellen Lupton, both key figures in graphic design research and theory. This book, a joint project of the Herb Lubalin Study Center of Design and Typography and the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, is called the Rhetorical Handbook, an Illustrated Manual for Graphic Designers.
In the book, which is packed with fantastic student-created illustrations, Ehses and Lupton present an argument for rhetoric in/and design. They suggest, in the face of the poststructuralist critiques that withered the modernist, mathematical, clean edges of the Modern Movement in design, that rhetoric is a “potential platform for the study and practice of graphic design.”
Before they delve into illustrating rhetorical principles—primarily with student samples, although they offer a few corporate-anchored illustrations (including the Quaker Oats logo and its evolution over the years), they offer a table that provides a side-by-side comparison of the rhetorical canons and the design process. This is a comparison I’ve tweaked and regularly share with students to scaffold the work we do, especially in the document design class that I teach, but it’s nimble enough for retooling in different composing contexts.
(I’ve added creativity and innovation here as the glue across the canons. Alas, those are topics for another day, and another post.)
Any student of publishing or avid reader knows the names of Random House and Penguin. The Atlantic details a brief history of the two companies and the rapidly changing publishing industry. With the internet, self-publishing both in print and digitally, and major sellers like Amazon all influencing the future of the publishing industry, the Atlantic predicts that more of the Big Six will begin to think merger and have to change with the changing desires of the reader.
Any avid book lover knows that books can change you. Sometimes, when you try and explain this, some people who don’t understand the power of a fabulous, well-written story, might think you’re a bit odd. On Writing Forward, guest blogger Lena Paul explains other benefits to reading, including Reading to Learn, Reading to Experience the World, and Reading to Develop Emotional Intelligence.
If you’re interested in a career in advertising, this article on fastcocreate.com is highly recommended. Allison Kent-Smith, founder of smith & beta, “a new digital education company,” explains the dilemma around the 21st century ad agency employees. She goes through steps that agencies should take to understanding that technology needs to be incorporated in creating these ads if they wish to continue bringing in audiences through the ads they create.
“The advertising industry has failed to develop and educate talent. We now feel the effects of this neglect more than ever.”
In a PR stunt by Cellaris, a company that designs iPhone screen protectors and accessories, an old-school typewriter has been rigged to type out any tweet with the hash tag #tweetpunisher to determine how much abuse the iPhone protector can take until it finally breaks.
“It took a couple months of pretty rigorous code-writing, building, testing, re-building, and re-testing to get everything just right,” says Cellairis chief marketing officer Joe Ciardullo. “When we were able to send that first tweet to and watch those typewriter keys start hammering away, we really knew we had something special.”
Check out the video below for more information on how you can send a tweet to the “TweetPunisher.”
“Internships are an almost non-negotiable step between you and a job in publishing.”
If you’re trying to break into a career in publishing, then an internship is an “unalterable factor” everyone wanting to break into publishing deals with. Publishing Trendsetter offers a blog post about the pros and cons of interning at a small, startup company versus a larger publishing house after one of their readers came to them asking if it would be beneficial to do so, and what kinds of opportunities await someone who might intern for a digital publisher, as well.
Internships are an essential part of a student’s college path to the career they want. Not only do you receive real-world experience by interning at a business or company you can see yourself working for, but you also receive the chance to network and meet people in your desired field or career with every internship you take on.
Once you have an internship, though, it’s your job to make the most out of it and receive the kind of experience you want to take away from it. Tina Ray, an MSU Rhetoric & Writing alum who now works with MessageMakers in East Lansing, recently wrote a blog post on MessageMakers’ website about how interns can be “awesome” by “being proactive.” In this post, she explains that she’s worked with a lot of interns over the past seven years at MessageMakers, and one thing that stands out to her the most is “how much their success depends on proactivity.”
What I found the most useful were her tips to effectively be proactive in your internship. Such as speaking up about projects you wish to be part of, especially if they are something that interests you. She also suggests to “take responsibility for your workflow” and keep busy; ask if there is anything else you can do if you don’t have enough to do. Also, ask for feedback on your work so you know what you’re doing right and things you could improve upon, and always take opportunities that are offered to you.
“They are an opportunity for you to get used to business settings that may become a part of your career life, to professionalize yourself, and to make connections with others that may be beneficial later.”
Even if the internship doesn’t turn into a full-fledged job, the experience is what you will take with you as you continue your career path to the job that’s best for you.
Welcome to our department. We have played an important role in writing instruction in US universities for a long time. We were founded in 1944 as the department of Written and Spoken English as part of widespread changes in higher education in the post-war period. Such a department was fairly unique at that time, and our faculty were important to how writing instruction developed in higher education.
Today, we continue to lead and are committed to preparing excellent communicators in the culturally, technologically, and economically dynamic environments of the early 21st Century.
