From Schoolroom to Workroom

The Writers’ Slate is a small online publication that was created to promote an interest in reading and writing in children and young adults. For my position as a Slate intern, I have contributed to this mission by working alongside the Slate’s new editor, Dr. Franklin. Since our team is extremely small, the title of “intern” encompasses a wide variety of responsibilities. Dr. Franklin appoints one intern each year, and so that intern must be able and willing to act as assistant editor, designer, and communications coordinator all in one.

 

In order to be a successful intern for this publication, candidates must be interested in fostering a love of reading and writing in younger generations. They also must be innovative, have strong interpersonal communications skills, and be punctual in meeting deadlines. They should be self-reliant problem-solvers, but able to recognize when to ask for help. Since this publication is small and education-oriented, a desire to learn is the most valuable skill a Slate intern can demonstrate. 

Candidates must also be able to communicate clearly and professionally with a wide variety of recipients, especially former Slate interns (as needed), Slate editors and publishers, and young writing contestants and their guardians. They may have to communicate through several mediums, such as face-to-face, telephone, and email. No matter the medium or conversational recipient, candidates should keep in mind the lesson Linda Driskill teaches in her article “Understanding the Writing Contexts in Organizations”: namely, that today’s ever-advancing technology and ever-expanding intercultural population call for empathy, understanding, and adaptation when communicating. Here at the Slate we receive submissions from students of all ages from all across the nation. Communicating with such a variety of people (whether you are delivering a simple “congratulations” email or inquiring for further information to include in the publication), calls for patience, persistence, and understanding. For students and guardians who speak English as a second language, experience writing in Global English is a plus.

On a similar note, candidates should understand and respect the Slate’s hierarchy. In this regard, the Slate’s small team is beneficial; interns work closely with their editor and generally require little direct communication with other supervisors or publishers. However, no matter the intimacy of the team, it is always important to find the balance between informality and professional tone and respect, as Chris Anson and Lee Forsberg remind us in their article “Moving Beyond the Academic Community: Transitional Stages in Professional Writing.” In many ways, the tasks that interns perform for the Slate are similar to assignments they may complete in Technical Writing and Document Design courses in school. Unlike the academic community, however, the Slate should be treated as a professional workplace. If nothing else, developing these professional habits will benefit interns if and when they are integrated as part of a larger team in the future. As Susan Katz reminds us in her article “A Newcomer Gains Power: An Analysis of the Role of Rhetorical Expertise,” new hires cannot predict how they will be treated in their new work environments. However, practicing professional communication in a safe and intimate work environment such as The Writers’ Slate will help interns to feel welcome and “gain power” in less familiar work settings more quickly.

Finally, it is preferred that candidates have experience or at least interest in document design, especially using Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. Fortunately, this publication is extremely encouraging of experimenting with new skills and ideas, so for those who, like me, have little design experience going in, they will be encouraged and supported by their supervisors if they are willing to put in the extra time to learn.

Sources

Anson, Chris, and Lee Forsberg. “Moving Beyond the Academic Community:  Transitional Stages in Professional Writing.”

Driskill, Linda. “Understanding the Writing Contexts in Organizations.”

Katz, Susan. “A Newcomer Gains Power:  An Analysis of the Role of Rhetorical Expertise.”

Genres in Technical/Professional Writing

Although my role in this internship called for very little writing, I did still have to handle the occasional emailed conversation between myself, my supervisors, and the writing contestants of The Writers’ Slate. This email “genre” of writing (as Carolyn Miller calls it in her article “Genre as Social Action”) is extremely common today both in and out of the workplace, and is certainly not limited to technical writing professions. However, as Anis Bawarshi and Mary Jo Reiff explain in their article “Rhetorical Genre Studies,” no genre is limited to its most common uses. The genre of emailing in the workplace, then, is not limited to the “typified rhetorical actions” (as Miller calls them) of asking for a supervisor’s approval or seeking a coworker’s feedback. In the case of this internship, the seemingly mundane genre of workplace emailing required more specialized typified rhetorical actions in order to meet the needs of our publication.

For example, although I did regularly undergo the routine typified rhetorical actions of emailing my supervisor in order to update, inquire, or ask for more direction, I was also assigned the task of sending congratulatory emails to Slate contestants whose entries we selected for publication. In order to avoid rewriting the same information in each email, however I created a “congratulations letter” template in Microsoft Word. The template allowed me (and will allow future interns) to simply replace a few key items in each letter: the name of the contestant, the title of their submission, and the dates of selection and publication. This template minimizes error and prevents the hassle of having to rewrite or copy and paste the same information in every email. Instead, we can simply alter the key items listed above and attach the Word document to the appropriate email.

There is one other genre of writing that I did have the privilege of undertaking when Dr. Franklin, the Slate editor, trusted me to step in and act as the guest editor for the 2014 Contest Edition. After fulfilling the responsibilities of editor, intern, and designer, I got to write a Letter from the Assistant Editor. For this particular publication, this genre of writing called for an explanation for my love of English studies, along with a few choice thank you’s to those who influenced my education and helped me to become a Writers’ Slate member.

In their article “Genre Research in Workplace and Professional Contexts,” Bawarshi and Reiff examine ways in which novice learners are “initiat[ed] into the community” of a genre. From my own experience at The Writers’ Slate, I can answer quite simply. For the “congratulations letter” templates, I revisited assignments from my own undergraduate Technical Writing courses. In these courses, we discussed and practiced with similar genres of writing in various professions (including magazine writing and editing, grant writing, and instruction manual writing). As for the Letter from the Assistant Editor, I looked to past editions of the Slate in order to examine the recurring rhetorical elements of Dr. Franklin’s tri-annual Letters from the Editor. 

In every respect, I feel that I have learned a great deal about these writing genres throughout my experience at this internship. However, it is just as Carolyn Miller states: “genres change, evolve, and decay.” Armed with this knowledge, I anticipate entering new professional contexts with an open mind in regard to the genres of writing I have yet to encounter.

Sources
Bawarshi, Anis, and Mary Jo Reiff. "Rhetorical Genre Studies" and "Genre Research in Workplace and Professional Contexts."
Miller, Carolyn. "Genre as Social Action."