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When it comes to writing, just do it
March 30, 2022
I’m ashamed to admit that I’m a nervous writer. I’m sharing this confession because I know I’m not alone.
It’s not that I dislike writing, it’s more that in my line of work drafting articles on behalf of an expert can be a little daunting. Often our job in PR is making something easier to explain, experts can get tangled up in words they think everyone understands – but how can you strip out jargon when you don’t know where to begin?
I mean, it’s taken me a while to knuckle down and write this piece, and I’ve already reread this paragraph eight times.
Fortunately for me, at Pumpkin we have a supportive team of incredible writers who are full to the brim with tips and tricks on getting started. But that’s often the problem isn’t it… getting started.
The first challenge is finding the time. I’ve found that often my biggest downfall with writing is carving out time to get stuck in, especially with PR being so fast-paced – it can feel odd moving to a slower beat. But giving yourself an hour or so and trusting that your team will handle any tasks, will give you the space to start. And as someone who is quite structured in terms of working, following a typical process of research and go that applies to common tasks, transferring to the creativity of writing can feel uncomfortable.
The second biggest challenge is starting; daring to craft that opening sentence. Our lovely Head of Content Jane Bainbridge affectionately told me to ‘give myself permission to be shit’ at the start and make it better from there. Everything improves with an edit and often the first version is never as bad as you think it might be.
Another point of tension is looking at the same piece of work over and over and starting to pick it apart. I’ve found that if you can (timing wise), do try to give yourself enough time to view it with fresh eyes the next morning. You’ll thank yourself for it and often see things you hadn’t before. If you don’t have time to edit the next day, bring in an outside eye, to add another perspective and potentially pick up on things you missed.
Nervousness is normal, it’s a caveman instinct we have when approaching new things. But oftentimes the surest way to overcome nerves is to make the activity commonplace. Think of the first time you rode a bike, or went on a rollercoaster, you had encouragement (I hope) but in the end you just had to put your thoughts aside and do it.
By Chloe Portwain