6 Ways to Be a Studious Writer

What’s on the iPod: 1983 by Neon Trees

Tax day – as if any of you needed to be reminded. We hired an accountant this year, who did an amazing job and found us some deductions we hadn’t taken in the past. We still paid, but because I’d calculated my portion of things early, I knew I was slightly off on my estimated taxes. But checks are in the mail and returns are filed. That didn’t stop us from spending yesterday looking over all the returns to make sure we or she didn’t miss anything.

It was also a gorgeous day for a walk, so we headed to the local arboretum and enjoyed the spring blossoms. The trillium and rhododendron hybrids were in full glory, as were plenty of trees and flowers, and it’s not even full spring yet. I can’t wait to go back to see what else is blooming.

Saturday was a lesson in how well my daughter shops. She had visited a silk flower warehouse a month ago, and recently found out it was closing. So we headed over to Lancaster area –Saturday, when all the Amish are on their way to services, so things were a bit slower. Good thing we did. She managed to get over $700 of flowers for her wedding for $400. They’re gorgeous, too. I didn’t expect to be wowed by fake flowers. You learn something new every day.

And that leads us right in to this month’s topic — learning. I was thinking about the way I’ve come to this point in my career. I’d love to say it was because of that expensive degree I earned, but that’s not exactly true. While the degree did give me some great background and some confidence, the skills I learned were more on-the-job skills. The best part: you can learn the same way.

That’s not to say clients will hire you to write white papers or press releases if you don’t have samples already in hand. They could (with me, they did), but it’s not always an easy transition for them. For you? Piece of cake, if you do your homework.

Here are some of the ways I’ve learned new skills before I got to the project:

Search engines. Isn’t it amazing how much free information is out there? If you’ve never written a press release, you won’t lack for templates. That will get you to the basics. It won’t teach you how to make them interesting, but that’s more your job anyway.

Self-study. I’ve been known to dissect research papers or pull out phrases that make me notice a resume or a case study. Most formal writing follows a pattern or template. What you want to do is study what’s being done and mirror the same tone that appeals to you in those examples.

Courses. There are times when something just doesn’t exist out there for free — a comprehensive course on trade magazine writing comes to mind (I had hosted a webinar on that last year). Things that are more in-depth are usually worth spending money on if you intend to use the information. Beware, though. There are a lot of people out there teaching a lot of different topics. Vet your experts wisely — if they’re not offering an outline of what you’ll learn, skip it. If they are, is the information new and useful, or is your teacher using outdated or trendy methods?

Free college courses. I love me a little Coursera now and then. When a local writer sent the link to his friends, I was glad I was on that list. I’ve taken a number of their courses when they apply to what I want to do/am doing/am interested in. Even those courses that don’t seem directly related to writing will somehow make for a richer, more interesting writer. For example, you took that finance course. Guess what magazines you might want to target now? There are other places offering free courses, but Coursera is my latest addiction.

Webinars and self-study courses. Webinars can be useful if the host isn’t churning out a recycled version of every other webinar you’ve ever seen advertised. Lately, it’s been hard to locate truly good webinars, but they do exist. Also, if you’re not someone who enjoys interrupted work hours, try opting for self-study courses. Doing something like this on your leisure (if you actually do it) can be an easier, more satisfying way of learning. Just remember to attend the course you’ve paid for.

Books. I read business books regularly – a chapter a week is my goal. It’s a good way to learn new skills and keep updated on what’s happening in different industries, or improve business operations. Pick an aspect of your business — maybe SEO or accounting or client communications — and find a book with some solid reviews behind it. Then study on your own time.

What do you want to learn today? How do you like to learn?