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What is Professional Writing?

Broad Definition of Professional Writing

Any form of written or oral communication other than art or scholarly writing. It is often referred to as workplace writing.

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Multimedia

Audio

Video

Interactive

Print

Professional “writing” is created in all media forms and delivered in a variety of platforms.

Our professional writing courses will provide you with guided practice in producing these forms.

Upon successful completion of a course, you will have sample work that can be posted to an online portfolio to show potential employers.

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Examples of Professional Writing

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Professional Writing as a Career Choice

• copy writers develop marketing and advertising content,• public relations communicators manage brand image and

business communications,• editors review/revise the work of others and plan publication

content,• technical writers collaborate with other professionals to

create/revise client projects and translate technical information to lay audiences,

• multimedia specialists create web authored content in a variety of media and across a range of platforms.

• the median salary for these jobs as of 2014 was between $60K and $70K (payscale.com).

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At the University of Idaho

English Major

Literature Emphasis

Professional Writing

Emphasis

Creative Writing

Emphasis

Teaching Emphasis

Linguistics and Literacy

Emphasis

Students who major in English choose from five program emphases. Professional Writing is one of these.

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At the University of Idaho

English Minors

Literature Minor

Professional Writing Minor

Creative Writing Minor

TESLMinor

We also offer four minors in English, and Professional Writing is one of these.

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Professional Writing Courses at UI at the 200- and 300- levels

English 202 Intro to Professional Writing

English 313Business Writing

English 316Environmental

Writing

English 317Technical Writing

English 318Science Writing

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In English 202, you will…

1. Learn how the principles of rhetoric apply to workplace writing.

2. Treat writing as a problem-solving activity.3. Develop a set of transferable concepts for your

writing toolbox.

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Negative (typical) definitions of rhetoric:

• The use of distortion, misinformation, and outright lies to persuade an audience.

• Puffed-up, self-important, or empty speech - “mere rhetoric.”

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Our working definition of rhetoric:Crafting a message (in a wide variety of media and genres) to elicit a response from an audience.

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Treat Writing as a Problem-Solving Activity

The solution to a problem in professional writing is never the only possible one.

Writers must constantly interpret writing situations and weigh possible responses to effectively meet these situations. That means the situations and products are dynamic, not static.

Understanding how writing is a problem-solving activity will help you develop writing skills that transfer to new situations.

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Therefore, in the course, you will…• Study concepts that are transferable to many different

writing situations and apply these concepts to complete each project’s deliverable (i.e. end-product).

• Use these transferable concepts as sets of writing skills you are placing in a toolkit that you can draw upon after you leave the course to make effective choices in any writing situation. And the best friend in your skill-set tool box is rhetoric.