Field Placement
Professional Writing students dedicate their last six weeks of the program to Field Placement. They work in governmental departments, NGOs, magazines, and many other organizations to fine-tune their writing and editing skills. Some of our talented students also decide to do their placement on campus, working on our Spine Online website and social media platforms, as well as working on other small projects. For the first time this year, two of these students edited a double-page spread and wrote an article for the Algonquin Times newspaper. We asked a few of our students this year to share their experiences on placement.
Spring 2017 Placement
Meaghan Cote at her placement Renaissance Press
Tell us about your placement. (ie. where is it? What do you do? etc.)
My placement is with Renaissance Press, which is a small publishing place (they have books, board games, and other things). I work from home and edit fiction manuscripts that my supervisor sends me. A lot of the editing is researching how to do things following the Chicago Manual of Style, but also having Canadian spelling. What I do is fix the things I can and leave comments about other things I’m not sure of.
What experiences are you getting that will help you in the "real world"?
I’m getting a lot of experience in working independently and problem-solving on my own. I’m gaining new knowledge on what it takes to be an editor in the publishing industry (which is what I want to do).
What has the Professional Writing Program prepared you for in terms of your placement?
I have learned to use the Canadian Style Guide on writing and it helped me to understand how to better use the Chicago Manual I’m using for my placement. I have gained a broad knowledge in editing and apply those skills daily when working. In our program, we’ve learned how to be a good storyteller and to show (not tell) the reader what is happening in the story.
Have you learned anything new from your placement?
My placement has given me a better understanding of what it truly entails to be a writer and editor in the workplace. As mentioned before, I’ve learned to use the Chicago Manual and to apply it to the manuscripts I am editing. I’m sure I’ll learn much more by the time I finish my six weeks there.
Ashton Heaps at his placement Ascribe Marketing Communications
So, Ashton, tell us about your placement. (ie. where is it? What do you do? etc.)
My placement is at Ascribe Marketing Communications. They are a content-writing agency for a number of different companies. Currently, I help with setting up their projects (research, layout, etc.), but I’ve also done some editing and content writing. I’ve also been working on updating their proposal template in order to make it more interesting. All in all, I am really enjoying my placement and learning a lot.
What experiences are you getting that will help you in the "real world"?
I’m learning so much about writing as a business. I’ve sat in on client and strategy meetings, and I’ve seen how professional writing jobs are handled by companies. Just by setting up proposals and content for my assignments, I’ve learned a lot about the behind-the-scenes of the writing world, including dealing with clients. I think that being a part of those meetings will really help me when I graduate and start participating in them.
What has the Professional Writing Program prepared you for in terms of your placement?
The most valuable skill I gained from the Professional Writing program is the ability to change the style and tone of my writing to almost any purpose. In my first two weeks of placement, I’ve already written a number of different styles of documents, some I had never attempted before. The ability to change my style and tone, learned through being subjected to so many different styles during the program, has been vital to my placement.
Have you learned anything new from your placement?
One thing that I have learned from my placement and not the program is Microsoft Word design techniques. The program teaches us a lot about InDesign (which I think is a better tool), but many companies just use Microsoft Word. In order to work with Ascribe’s templates and layout, I had to learn a lot of document production skills from the company.
William Cousins at his Placement CHEO
So, what's your placement? (ie. where is it? What do you do? etc.)
I am working in the Research Institute of the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario for the placement portion of the Professional Writing program. During my time at CHEO, I have been tasked with populating the ‘current research’ section of CHEO’s website. This entails reading many long, detailed research studies that are currently being conducted by CHEO doctors, and summarizing them into short paragraphs, and in simple language, to be placed online for public viewing.
What experiences are you getting that will help you in the "real world"?
Well, actually working in the real world is the best way to prepare for it I think, which is exactly what this placement is all about. The biggest enemy of a writer is his/her doubts. When writers question the quality of their own craft, they may be preventing potentially brilliant works of art from ever being seen. Having my own writing go public has been a very rewarding experience for me because it has made me much more self-confident in my abilities. Also, I have been receiving much positive reinforcement from my placement supervisors about my writing skills, which is really motivating me to launch my writing career as far as possible. After all, if no one is going to read what you write, you may as well be writing for your desk drawer.
What has the Professional Writing Program prepared you for in terms of your placement?
The Professional Writing program has significantly improved many aspects of my writing skills. The most prominent being the ability to show rather than tell, which is a very important writing tactic designed to captivate the reader, that can be applied to all forms of writing. Editing is also a big part of my job. Along with the usual checking for grammar and logic, the program has taught me how to substantively restructure text in order to give a piece of writing as much punch as possible. In class, we had plenty of practice summarizing long articles while retaining the important/relevant information, which is exactly what I’m doing at CHEO.
Have you learned anything new from your placement?
One major thing I learned while collaborating with other writers out on placement, is not to be discouraged when someone edits your work. An editor’s job is to make your writing as clear and concise as possible. If an editor suggests that you eliminate a paragraph you particularly like, or you disagree with the changes they have made - it’s important to remember that they have your best interest in mind, and are only trying to make your writing all that it can be. It is natural to think they are ruining your writing, or that you might not be as good a writer as you thought. After all, you worked hard on it and they are not satisfied. However, I think you will find that accepting feedback and criticism in a positive way, will greatly improve the quality of your work and will make you a better writer in the end.
Overall, I am enjoying my time at CHEO. I get to work with interesting material, I feel proud of my work, and it feels good knowing that I'm contributing to the well-being of Ottawa’s youth if only in some small way. Plus, it’s nice having my own office, if only temporarily.
Marta Zwart at her placement Feathertale
Marta, tell us about your placement (ie. where is it? What do you do? etc.)
I'm doing my placement at Feathertale. I go through the submissions that they receive and find the pieces that I believe are a right fit to be published. I'm also working on some pieces of my own for them, as well as a few other projects.
What experiences are you getting that will help you in the "real world"?
I learned a lot about writing preferences and how hard it is to write humour pieces that connect with a wide variety of audiences.
What has the Professional Writing Program prepared you for in terms of your placement?
Going through the program prepared me to detect good and bad parts to stories. I can judge whether pieces have potential within the first few paragraphs. Professional Writing taught me a lot about making the stories I write believable, even when I'm writing strange and different humour genres.
Have you learned anything new from your placement?
Placement has taught me a lot about what kind of reader I am, and that I need to gain confidence in my judgments.
Yushra Khodabocus at her placement on Special Project
Tell us about your placement. (ie. where is it? What do you do? etc.)
I am currently doing my placement at the school, handling the social media pages and website of the Professional Writing Program. With Tiffany, my colleague and classmate in this project, we are involved in keeping the social media platforms of the program fun, interactive, and engaging while promoting the program, upcoming projects/events and the writing of current students. Tiffany and I collaborated with the Journalism Program on a double page spread in the Algonquin Times about the SPINE Awards ceremony that took place a few weeks ago. While the focus was mainly on the winners and their writings, we got the opportunity to write and design the story and have fun doing it. I enjoyed my placement as it was very casual and a stress-free environment to work in, but more importantly I had a lot of fun working with Tiffany and my now favourite teacher, Ian Roy.
What experiences are you getting that will help you in the "real world"?
Since I was on the social media team in last semester's web writing class, I was already familiar with the material we were expected to produce, but this time I had the time to learn, explore, and refine those social media skills I had acquired from last semester. For the Special Project we undertook with the Journalism Program students, a lot more was at stake. There was a lot more pressure for deadlines and content quality, as well as a desire to excel which is fair since it was an important project for both programs and us. I think, at the end of the day, both Tiffany and I will go home with a sense of pride and achievement since it was a big responsibility that we both gave our hundred percent to and this is what the real world will require from us all once we step out. I can say for myself that I have a more confident and creative style of writing, more refined editing and social media skills, the ability to meet any deadline head on and independence in using Photoshop and Indesign.
What has the Professional Writing Program prepared you for in terms of your placement?
I think the Professional Writing Program is a very balanced and reliable alternative for anyone interested in exploring and crafting their passion for writing towards a professional environment. I have learned a lot of skills such as editing (substantively), speech, proposal, creative and non-creative writing and blog writing and designing. One doesn't think that they will come out of this program more skilled and confident writers, but the program is designed to allow young writers to discover their own writing and craft their art in whichever way they want. I think that in order for me to pass my placement, it was very important to have many of those skills. For example, I couldn't have learned InDesign by myself and confidently use it; or design my own article for that matter.
Have you learned anything new from your placement?
I learned to be more independent, reliable, and to take initiatives. Since I was working on my own mostly and at my own set time, I think it was easier to be careless which is why determination and hard work is important. It was important for me to learn to be a good team leader at times and allow my work partner to lead me at others. I think for me, that is something that I will take with me after these six weeks. It is the ability to be able to work together, brainstorm, advise or take advice to create quality content in a reliable environment.
