Instr:                 Rachel Spilka
Office:              CRT 594,     229-4500
e-mail:              spilka@uwm.edu
Office hours:     by appointment.

Course Information:          TR 12:30-1:45      CRT 127

Course Description

Do you have a strong interest in pursuing a professional writing or editing career, or jobs that require strong writing and communication skills?  Are you looking for the chance to get a little experience with professional writing or editing before starting an internship or a new job?  If so, this course might be ideal for you.

Early in the course, we’ll explore answers to these questions:

•  What is professional writing?
•  What are possible jobs and career paths in this field?
• What skills are important for success in this field?
• How can students best prepare for a career in this field?

You’ll then discover what it is really like to be a professional writer or editor from the following experiences:

• ? Guest speakers from industry will tell you about their experiences, and will give you advice for how to succeed in this kind of work;
• ? Readings will reveal how other students fared in professional writing internships, jobs, and careers; and
• ? During a four-week service-learning component of this course, you’ll have the chance to work on one or several professional writing projects in a workplace context, and learn, first-hand, whether you enjoy this type of work.

Assignments are designed to enrich your writing portfolios and help with your job search:  they include a resume and cover letter, a tutorial or manual, a report summarizing remarks from guest speakers from industry, several feature articles aimed at diverse audiences, a variety of realistic editing and research assignments, a report on your service-learning experiences, and any documents you create during your month of “service learning” in a corporate setting.  While working on these assignments, you’ll learn practical strategies for succeeding as a professional writer or editor in a workplace setting – in particular, how to identify, research, analyze, and adapt documents to a complex workplace audience and how to transition successfully as a new professional writer or editor in a new organization.