You may think that some people are simply born as better writers than others, but in fact writing is a reflection of experience and effort. If you think about your successes as a writer, you may come up with a couple of favourite books, authors, or teachers that inspired you to express yourself. You may also recall a sense of frustration with your earlier writing experiences. It is normal and natural to experience a sense of frustration at the perceived inability to express oneself. The emphasis here is on your perception of yourself as a writer as one aspect of how you communicate.

Looking back

Before you can learn to write in a new context, it’s helpful to explore how you got to this point. Every one of us arrives in the workplace (and the classroom) with our own beliefs and assumptions about communication. Sometimes, these beliefs are helpful. Sometimes, however, our beliefs can hold us back. So, before we dive in, let’s take a moment to reflect.

Read the following questions and think them over. It may be helpful for you to write some notes in a journal.

Now, reflect on your answers. Do you notice any patterns? Can you identify any beliefs that might hold you back? Let’s take a look at how another student answered.

Simran is a good writer (she can write short stories!), but her unhelpful beliefs about her writing could set her up for failure before she has even started. By talking about our reading and writing beliefs and figuring our where they came from, we can challenge unhelpful beliefs and be more successful.

Thinking about our reading and writing beliefs is also a great way to celebrate the communication strengths you already have. For example, if you’ve learned Traditional Stories from elders in your community, you already know a story can be used as a powerful teaching tool when tailored to the right audience at the right time. Your ability to play music or sing will help you write sentences that people will enjoy reading. If you can shift between multiple languages or dialects, you can adapt to a new workplace environment. Our goal is not to erase what’s unique about your writing voice, but to build on your existing skills so that you can be successful in your writing for public relations.

What do experts say about reading and writing beliefs?

The question of how to become a better writer has been studied extensively for decades. We actually know a lot about how people learn to read and write, and how we can improve our writing. Here are just a few writing beliefs that researchers, writing teachers and scholars believe to be true (Fink, 2015). How many of these points do you agree with?

1. Everyone can become a better writer.
2. People learn to write by writing.
3. Writing is a process.
4. Writing helps us think and figure out what we have to say.
5. There is no one way to write well. Different writers have different processes and may even change their process depending on what type of writing they’re doing.
6. Editing, revising and rethinking are important to help writers reach their potential.
7. Writing and reading are related. Reading will improve your writing. It doesn’t even matter what genre you read. Read what you enjoy.
8. Talking about your writing with your peers and your teacher can make you a better writer.

In short, you can become a better writer. In fact, some studies have found that students who believe that they can become good writers improve faster than those who don’t (Baaijen, Galbraith, and de Glopper, 2014).

You are a good writer, and you can become a better writer. You use your writing skills every day. It’s hard to change a belief overnight, but over the course of the semester, we’ll build on what you already know and apply it to writing for public relations. We’ll figure out a writing process that works for you. And hopefully, by the end of the semester, you’ll have created writing that you’re proud of.

Looking forward

You are your own best ally when it comes to your writing. Keeping a positive frame of mind about your journey as a writer is not a cliché or simple, hollow advice. Your attitude toward writing can and does influence your written products.