Do I need to be a writer to succeed in PR + Can I still learn? 5 ways to become an expert writer

Hey there,

It’s been a rollercoaster week, having to sort out clients’ needs and thrive in the world of Public Relations (PR), but it’s always fun to do what you love. Today’s topic is about whether you need to be an already made writer to thrive in PR. Personally, I think this is a misconception that so many newbies or non-PR professionals have because you can learn and grow to become a writer. Writers are not born, they are made! You too can be made into an expert PR writer who will thrive and succeed. 

Writing is a very valuable skill in PR,  that can be used to document interesting things like a press release, a report, a presentation, a copy or content, etc., which is why I know it can be learned and people can acquire the skill.

In this post, I will be discussing 5 tips to become an expert writer to wow the media, your bosses, your clients, and most importantly, yourself!

• Read widely: The more you read, the better the chances of understanding the style of the writer and you formulating a plan on how to write yours. Like a hubspot post nicely put it, it is better to read academic journals and literary fiction as not all types of reading materials can add the necessary type of value to your life. It is important to weigh the kind of reading material you have, not all can help improve your writing and vocabulary. Some can, so it is important to read materials like magazines, novels, books, and in a PR person’s life, newspapers, and blog posts to understand the writing style. I will give a personal example, when I wanted to learn how to write a press release, I took 3 of the best newspapers in the country and studied how the writers wrote their news stories. I realized that a news story is different from a feature article, which is different from an opinion piece and an editorial. In studying the articles in these papers, I began to understand how to frame my stories in such a way that it appealed to my audience. Similarly, when I started working on strategic proposals, I studied and read the different proposal templates that I was exposed to and some from the internet which helped sharpen my writing style. I took bits and pieces from each, and this helped inform my writing style till date.

• Get started, don’t be afraid, just write in bits: If you are too scared and unwilling to write, then you will never make it. It’s that simple, the more you see it as an ugly ogre or a mountain that can’t be climbed, then it will become that for you. Writing is actually a fun activity that sometimes may be herculean when you start, but after a while, the flow just comes. Don’t get me wrong, there is still writer’s block that can be quite tragic even to the best writers, but then when you start and you start small, it goes a long way in preparing you for the masterpiece. Furthermore, in writing, start little and start in bits, write the first line, then move to the second and then the next, it tends to trigger something in you to finish up and see it through. When you write one line or a topic, it triggers your research skills, you may not know so much about a topic but when you have an idea on what to write, a topic tends to come up as you go. You then conduct appropriate research on this idea which helps to expand your knowledge base and helps in your writing. No one is an Island and thanks to the internet, you can research any topic you like and get as many answers and results as possible. So in summary, get started, write in bits, conduct your research and keep writing.

• Practice! Practice! Practice: Congratulations, you have written your first article or press release! Once you start writing, it is not enough for you to just write one article and stop, you have to keep at it. Practice they say, makes perfect, well, in this case, there is no perfect writer but there are great writers. Even the greatest writers of all time practice. They started small and ended up being good. No one started out as the best, they had a teacher or mentor, and these mentors could be friends, family, or neighbors, it doesn’t have to be someone special, start out a writing ritual and stick with it. A writing ritual could be that you write once in two weeks or a month, it helps that you are writing, depending on the length of your article(s). Writing weekly also helps to make it easier and faster, the more you write, the better you become, hence, the necessity of writing.

• Read Out Loud, aka. Practice Conversational Writing: Listening to what you have written sometimes helps to identify the errors and much-needed punctuation marks in a writing piece. One of the things that makes a writeup outstanding is that it is coherent and concise. Therefore, reading out aloud helps you to know when there are missing points and when to tailor your ideas in a more strategic way. Reading out loud has helped me navigate my way in the writing scene as sometimes I know when a piece sounds too conversational and when it sounds formal, depending on the audience I am writing for. Note that your audience is human as well, therefore when you read out loud, imagine that you are reading to a group of people who will enjoy and take value from your write-up.

• Ask friends/peers for feedback: One of the best ways to thrive in writing is to ask those around you for feedback. When you have written a piece, it is best to ask your friends and family, or colleagues whether or not the write-up is coherent and presents the subject matter in a clear and concise format. Half the time, they give candid feedback and help you to become better. Someone might ask, “what if they are not close to you at the time of writing?”, the good thing is that you can send the document via multiple media and also get feedback via the same. It could be a senior colleague or a junior one who you could ask for clarity on a piece of article and they may provide a new direction in which to go with. Feedback is critical in any communication activity, therefore having those around you critique your work most times helps you to know the grey areas and identify spots for improvement.

I hope you enjoyed reading up to this point, thank you! Join me weekly in my journey into the PR world where I discuss challenges, tips, pointers, and wins in the PR career space. See you soon!

Warm regards,

The PR Chic