writing for the media in creative writing

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Chapter 2: Media Writing–Conventions, Culture, and Style

9 Media writing skills and characteristics

Writing for the media can be difficult, especially for beginners. Practicing the following skills will help you improve the quality of your work.

Knowledge of AP Style

Most media outlets use AP style—the style established and constantly updated by the Associated Press—as the foundation for basic news and media writing. AP style provides consistency in writing across media outlets and publications. You should purchase the latest edition of the AP stylebook and familiarize yourself with it because you will be required to write in this manner for messages intended for media outlets. The stylebook is available both online and in hard copy. In general, AP style has evolved to ensure that media writing is accurate, impartial, and clear to the audience.

Knowledge of grammar and punctuation

Audiences hold media and strategic communication professionals to a high standard when it comes to knowledge of grammar and punctuation. To assist you in learning how to write for the media, here are a few basic grammar and punctuation rules:

• Use simple sentences that follow the subject, verb, object order (example: Maria attended the press conference).
• Use active, not passive voice. Active voice helps with clarity and concise writing. (Passive voice: The press release was completed by Brian. Active voice: Brian completed the press release.)
• affect, effect
• they’re, their, there
• accept, except
• Set off modifiers (words or clauses that provide further description) The publicist, who works for Ogilvy, arrived late to the meeting.
• Separate an introductory phrase or word While studying, I listened to music.
• Before a conjunction I want to go, but I have to study.
• When writing a series of items (three or more) She bought shoes, food, and a movie.

Watch the video below of Jenny Patton, senior lecturer in the English department at The Ohio State University. She discusses common grammatical errors and tips to improve your writing.

Grammatical Errors with Jenny Patton

Ability to simplify information

As a media or strategic communication professional, you will need to synthesize and make sense of a great deal of information for your audience, often under a strict deadline. This takes strategy, good storytelling skills, and the ability to focus on the essential information. Audiences respond better to information that is presented in a logical order that supports the overall narrative.

Focus on accuracy and details

When you write for the media, you represent not only your personal brand but also the broader organization for which you’re producing content. Precise writing and transparency give newsrooms credibility; misinformation can severely diminish the integrity of the media outlet. Selecting appropriate sources and verifying information obtained from those sources, referred to as fact checking, can help minimize inaccurate writing. Accuracy also means using proper grammar and language appropriate to the audience.

Ensuring accurate reporting and writing can be challenging. Fast-paced media environments make it tremendously difficult to thoroughly gather information and fact check it in a short amount of time. For example, in 2013, during coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, reports of five additional explosives found in the area were later found to be false. In addition, the  New York Post  ran a photo on its front page of two men that it alleged were the suspects that federal investigators were searching for at the time. The men were innocent, and while the Post  apologized for the error, the men later sued the media outlet for defamation (Wemple, 2014).

Outstanding attention to detail is necessary in order to catch errors in content, grammar, and punctuation. Taking the time to slowly review your message will save you from the consequences of misinformation or careless errors. Similarly, a big part of the writing process involves editing and revising your work, either by you or by an editor. Few writers can produce material that cannot be improved or does not need to be altered for style or content reasons.

Objectivity

Objectivity is one of the principles of journalism, according to the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists (2014). Media writing should provide well-rounded analyses and stories that include all major perspectives. If you present one organization’s point of view, you should also quote one of its competitors or discuss the contrarian perspective for balance. With the exception of opinion columns and blogs, writers should not express their personal opinions on a story or event. Instead, they should write objectively, presenting the facts and leaving it up the audience to decide how to feel about the information.

Some professionals believe that objective journalism does not exist because humans are innately biased creatures (Hare, 2013). It is true that a writer’s biases can become apparent in his or her writing. However, media professionals should aspire to absolute objectivity. To achieve this, it helps to have a third party read your article or message to minimize biased writing.

Media professionals generally write for a large, mainstream audience. Clear and concise writing makes it easier for a wide variety of groups to understand the core message. Complex sentence structures and jargon that you might find in traditional academic writing are not appropriate for diverse populations. Use simple sentences to get your point across.

Writing for Strategic Communication Industries Copyright © 2016 by Jasmine Roberts is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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2.4: Media writing skills and characteristics

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 25124

• Jasmine Roberts
• The Ohio State University

Writing for the media can be difficult, especially for beginners. Practicing the following skills will help you improve the quality of your work.

Knowledge of AP Style

Most media outlets use AP style—the style established and constantly updated by the Associated Press—as the foundation for basic news and media writing. AP style provides consistency in writing across media outlets and publications. You should purchase the latest edition of the AP stylebook and familiarize yourself with it because you will be required to write in this manner for messages intended for media outlets. The stylebook is available both online and in hard copy. In general, AP style has evolved to ensure that media writing is accurate, impartial, and clear to the audience.

Knowledge of grammar and punctuation

Audiences hold media and strategic communication professionals to a high standard when it comes to knowledge of grammar and punctuation. To assist you in learning how to write for the media, here are a few basic grammar and punctuation rules:

• Use simple sentences that follow the subject, verb, object order (example: Maria attended the press conference).
• Use active, not passive voice. Active voice helps with clarity and concise writing. (Passive voice: The press release was completed by Brian. Active voice: Brian completed the press release.)
• affect, effect
• its, it’s
• they’re, their, there
• accept, except
• Set off modifiers (words or clauses that provide further description) The publicist, who works for Ogilvy, arrived late to the meeting.
• Separate an introductory phrase or word While studying, I listened to music.
• Before a conjunction I want to go, but I have to study.
• When writing a series of items (three or more) She bought shoes, food, and a movie.

Watch the video below of Jenny Patton, senior lecturer in the English department at The Ohio State University. She discusses common grammatical errors and tips to improve your writing.

Grammatical Errors with Jenny Patton

Ability to simplify information

As a media or strategic communication professional, you will need to synthesize and make sense of a great deal of information for your audience, often under a strict deadline. This takes strategy, good storytelling skills, and the ability to focus on the essential information. Audiences respond better to information that is presented in a logical order that supports the overall narrative.

Focus on accuracy and details

When you write for the media, you represent not only your personal brand but also the broader organization for which you’re producing content. Precise writing and transparency give newsrooms credibility; misinformation can severely diminish the integrity of the media outlet. Selecting appropriate sources and verifying information obtained from those sources, referred to as fact checking, can help minimize inaccurate writing. Accuracy also means using proper grammar and language appropriate to the audience.

Ensuring accurate reporting and writing can be challenging. Fast-paced media environments make it tremendously difficult to thoroughly gather information and fact check it in a short amount of time. For example, in 2013, during coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings, reports of five additional explosives found in the area were later found to be false. In addition, the New York Post ran a photo on its front page of two men that it alleged were the suspects that federal investigators were searching for at the time. The men were innocent, and while the Post apologized for the error, the men later sued the media outlet for defamation (Wemple, 2014).

Outstanding attention to detail is necessary in order to catch errors in content, grammar, and punctuation. Taking the time to slowly review your message will save you from the consequences of misinformation or careless errors. Similarly, a big part of the writing process involves editing and revising your work, either by you or by an editor. Few writers can produce material that cannot be improved or does not need to be altered for style or content reasons.

Objectivity

Objectivity is one of the principles of journalism, according to the code of ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists (2014). Media writing should provide well-rounded analyses and stories that include all major perspectives. If you present one organization’s point of view, you should also quote one of its competitors or discuss the contrarian perspective for balance. With the exception of opinion columns and blogs, writers should not express their personal opinions on a story or event. Instead, they should write objectively, presenting the facts and leaving it up the audience to decide how to feel about the information.

Some professionals believe that objective journalism does not exist because humans are innately biased creatures (Hare, 2013). It is true that a writer’s biases can become apparent in his or her writing. However, media professionals should aspire to absolute objectivity. To achieve this, it helps to have a third party read your article or message to minimize biased writing.

Media professionals generally write for a large, mainstream audience. Clear and concise writing makes it easier for a wide variety of groups to understand the core message. Complex sentence structures and jargon that you might find in traditional academic writing are not appropriate for diverse populations. Use simple sentences to get your point across.

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Copywriting

What are the different types of media writing?

Read Time 6 mins | Written by: Jess Thistlethwaite

Working in media is both exciting and challenging, and no two days are the same. Although the rise of new publishing platforms means the journalism world is evolving at a rapid pace, we still rely on it to inform, educate and entertain us, influencing the way people look at the world and encouraging them to change their views for the better. However, writing for the media has developed into a number of styles and forms, which is why we're going to take a closer look at the different types of media writing below.

The different types of media writing examples

Take a look at eight types of writing for media examples:

1. News writing

News writing is a particular style of prose that is used to report on the basic facts of a particular event. Whether for newspaper publication or broadcasting, it answers the five Ws in the first few sentences or lines. This structure, which focuses on the who, what, when, where, why and how, is also known as the inverted pyramid (the most important information is communicated first).

News writing is both precise and direct, so it's rare you'll find any jargon - it's a very formal style. As a rule of thumb, news writers won't use long words or phrases when short ones will do, nor will they use the same word more than once in a sentence or paragraph if it can be avoided.

2. Feature writing

Feature writing presents newsworthy events through a narrative, but it differs from news writing in the respect that it relies on creativity and an element of subjectivity to emotionally connect with readers. Its purpose is to entertain, which is why it covers a lot of 'soft' news - think art, entertainment, sport and lifestyle.

Feature stories also build on news that has already been reported, aiming to humanise the person behind the story while offering more depth and insight. Examples of features include profiles, spot features and live-in stories. Spot features run alongside breaking news events, so are often produced to a tight deadline, whereas live-in stories are more in-depth, providing a closer look at a particular place that readers wouldn't usually experience. Reporters spend a lot of time at the places they're writing about, which can include A&E departments, hospices, police stations and homeless shelters.

3. Review writing

Reviews are a staple of writing media and journalism, and the aim is to offer an opinion or recommendation to readers. Unlike news writing, you can be subjective and adopt a more informal tone; creating a good rapport with your audience is essential if they're going to take your views into consideration.

More specifically, the role of a reviewer is to inform, describe, analyse and advise, covering almost any topic, product or event. Some common examples include TV shows, films, restaurants, concerts, books and products. The Guardian newspaper is renowned for its reviews, covering everything from stage and culture to TV and radio.

4. Column writing

A column is a recurring article or piece most commonly found in newspapers and magazines, and the writer is free to express their own opinion in the space allocated to them. What separates a column from news pieces and reviews is that it is typically written by the same journalist on the same theme or subject each time, making it a regular feature in popular tabloids and broadsheets.

There are many different types of columns, including advice, fashion , food, gossip, sport and music. Good columnists write the way they talk without sacrificing good grammar and English usage . While it's important to be informal and friendly, columnists don't have a lot of space to communicate what they want to say, so it's best to avoid jargon and including too much material or detail. Victoria Coren Mitchell and Mariella Fostrup are among the most popular columnists writing today.

5. Investigative writing

Investigative writing often uncovers political corruption, serious crimes or corporate wrongdoing, so it requires a writer to spend many months researching and planning their story before publication. Due to the sensitive nature of investigative journalism, it's important for writers to maintain high standards of accuracy at all times, with any claims backed up by evidence they have verified themselves.

Investigative writers will usually receive tips about stories, and will spend time developing hypotheses and planning additional research before deciding to investigate them fully. An excellent example of investigative writing is the Boston Globe's Pulitzer prize-winning story covering the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston's sex abuse scandal back in 2010.

6. Content writing

Online content consumption around the world is growing exponentially, and while the basic principles of writing apply, including accurate reporting, fact-checking, and proper grammar and spelling, it requires writers to craft copy that best suits this medium.

Whether it's news, blog posts, article writing or reports, concise and clear content writing is particularly important in the digital space. This is mainly because internet users want information fast and in an easily digestible manner. However, headlines also need to be considered carefully. Why? Because straightforward headlines work better online than indirect headlines, and they will not be picked up by search engines at all if they don't include any keywords .

7. Sports writing

Richard Nordquist puts it perfectly when he says:

"Sports writing is a form of journalism or creative nonfiction in which a sporting event, individual athlete, or sports-related issue serves as the dominant subject."

Sports writing has increased in importance as sport has diversified in scope and grown in power, wealth and influence. Although day-to-day sportswriters don't usually cover the ‘serious’ current affairs explored by investigative or news writers, they sometimes inadvertently capture the politics of the age or changes in culture and society at large. For example, the recent Tiger Woods and Justin Thomas story reveals how societal attitudes have changed and the impact they are having on sports writing. 

Some sportswriters specialise in one particular sport, while others cover matches and events within any given area. Sometimes sports writers will branch out into investigative journalism to understand an issue in their field, such as when Sunday Times journalist David Walsh exposed Lance Armstrong's doping in cycling.

8. Editorial writing

An editorial is an article, usually opinion-based, that is written by a senior member of a publication's editorial staff. Although it can be about any topic, it usually covers an issue within society and is backed up by evidence and facts to build credibility. Many writers find editorials difficult to master, but having passion or knowledge about a certain subject often makes it much easier.

Francis P. Church’s reply to 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon's question about Santa in The Sun of New York is considered one of the most famous editorials of all time. In 1897, she asked “Is there a Santa Claus?", to which Church replied, "Yes, Virginia...”.

We've only touched on the main types of media writing above, and there are many more examples of excellent writing to explore online.

✏️ If you'd like to learn more, discover how to write for different media in our blog post. Or speak to us about our content writing services .

Image Credits

Main image credit: Matthew Guay

Internal image credits: Nicole Angelova , Roman Kraft , Yura Fresh

Jess Thistlethwaite

Jess is Content Director at Copify. Her main interests include writing, copy editing, and social media marketing. Holding a journalism degree from the University of Chester, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 2016. With a passion for both art and music, Jess enjoys playing the clarinet and sketching or painting when she’s away from her desk.

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Writing for the Media

Introduction.

In the previous sections, we have discussed the various forms of creative writing. Writing for the media may not seem to be in the same category. This is because we normally associate creative writing with fiction, poetry and drama, and the media with facts. But, as has been pointed out in the section on fiction in Unit 3, creative writing can be fact-based as well. Then how is writing for the media different?

The simple answer is that there is not much difference at all. Any difference which can be observed is generated by the specific needs of the various media in question. So, there will be differences in the way one would write for the print media, and for the broadcast media because of the formats adopted ...

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ENGL210: Technical Writing

Introduction to new media writing.

Literacy practices are undergoing major transformations. Thanks to new writing spaces, today's college students are redefining reading, research, collaboration, writing, and publishing practices. In addition to altering writing processes, new writing spaces are stretching the boundaries of academic writing, creating new genres and new conventions for structuring texts.

Everyone has an opportunity to be a Gutenberg or a Thomas Paine, to espouse an individualized common sense through a blog, online forum, wiki, or fan fiction site. Aphorists pen new witticisms on Facebook for their "friends" to see, and e-mail is seen by first-year students as an "old" way to write. In addition to having more choices than ever when it comes to available writing spaces, today's college students have the potential to reach broad public audiences. Using ubiquitous, often free, open-source tools, college students can broadcast their views to the world, potentially reaching millions of readers with video mashups, Twitter poems, or even cell phone novels.

So much material is shared and reused on the Internet that it's tempting not to worry much about copyright infringement or your public, digital footprint. Even so, to avoid unnecessary and potentially serious trouble, check out Digital Ethics (Netiquette), Negotiating Virtual Spaces: Public Writing, Copyright, and Writing.

Because some readers limit their access to information by subscribing to select information sources (what's sometimes referred to as the information silo problem) – perhaps by subscribing to particular RSS feeds or restricting reading to a handful of websites, some writers find it useful to redistribute texts in various genres and media. The terms "remediation" or "remixing" refer to this process of telling the same story in multiple genres or media. For example, a company's new patent or product could be discussed via a news release, a blog, a Twitter stream, or a video commercial. Furthermore, remediation has always been a popular invention technique. To learn more about specific remediation strategies, see Text-to-Text Remediation and Text-to-Visual Remediation at the bottom of the Remediation page.

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The Basics of Media Writing A Strategic Approach

• Scott A. Kuehn - Clarion University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Andrew Lingwall - Clarion University of Pennsylvania, USA
• Description

The Basics of Media Writing: A Strategic Approach helps readers develop the essential writing skills and professional habits needed to succeed in 21st-century media careers. This research-driven, strategy-based media writing textbook digs deeply into how media professionals think and write in journalism, public relations, advertising, and other forms of strategic communication. Authors Scott A. Kuehn and Andrew Lingwall have created two comprehensive writing models to help students overcome their problems in finding and developing story topics by giving them “starting points” to begin writing. The Professional Strategy Triangle model shows students how to think critically about the audience, the situation, and the message before starting a news story or persuasive piece and the FAJA four-point model asks students a series of questions about their story type (Fact, Analysis, Judgment, or Action) to guide them to the right angle or organizational structure for their message. Rooted in classical rhetorical methods, this step-by-step technique enables readers to strategically approach each writing task, no matter the format.

See what’s new to this edition by selecting the Features tab on this page. Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email [email protected] . Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html .

For assistance with your order: Please email us at [email protected] or connect with your SAGE representative.

SAGE 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, CA 91320 www.sagepub.com

Supplements

SAGE edge for Instructors supports teaching by making it easy to integrate quality content and create a rich learning environment for students.

• Test banks provide a diverse range of pre-written options as well as the opportunity to edit any question and/or insert personalized questions to effectively assess students’ progress and understanding
• A sample course syllabus provides suggested models for structuring one’s course
• Editable, chapter-specific PowerPoint ® slides offer complete flexibility for creating a multimedia presentation for the course
• Multimedia content appeals to students with different learning styles
• Chapter-specific discussion questions help launch classroom interaction by prompting students to engage with the material and by reinforcing important content. 
• Lively and stimulating ideas for class activities can be used in class to reinforce active learning. 

SAGE edge for Students provides an easy-to-use learning environment, featuring:

• mobile-friendly eFlashcards and quizzes to strengthen your understanding of key terms and concepts;
• a complete online action plan to keep you on track and enhances your learning experience;
• learning objectives that reinforce the most important material; and
• multimedia resources , carefully chosen to support and expand on the concepts presented in each chapter.

“I really love the layout and design of the text… I have found a lot of the content is what I currently use in Writing for Media, but have to seek out and find on my own… I think the opening chapter sets the tone. I found it to be warm, positive and encouraging. I love the approach of this textbook and would find it a valuable resource not only for the students, but for me as an instructor.”

This book has numerous examples and exercises for the students to learn how to write for all styles of media writing. The resources are great for someone that has to create a new course.

This book helps the instructors how to guide students to develop the basics of writing skills for the media across the platforms. Skills are needed to succeed as professionals and choose the best media career in this competitive age of 21st-century--that could be either in basic journalism (print to online), public relations, (media) marketing, advertising, online reporting and other forms of communication/mass communication strategies. The step-by-step technique enables students to approach writing writing tasks for different formats.

KEY FEATURES

• The Professional Strategy Triangle model shows students how to use their situation, audience, and message to shape their news and persuasive pieces .
• The FAJA model guides students through a serious of questions about their story type (Fact, Analysis, Judgment, or Action) to help them select the right angle or organizational structure for their message .
• Real-world examples demonstrate how media professionals use digital and social media tools for research, networking, and crafting messages.
• Equal treatment of news writing and persuasive writing illustrates the differences between the two types of writing and demonstrates strategy-based techniques for each.
• Frontline Media Writing profiles inspire students by reviewing samples from leading media practitioners and discussing the strategies that made their writing successful.
• Pro Strategy Connection profiles offer students career-based guidelines and tips for becoming professional media professionals.
• Craft Essentials skill-building exercises allow students to practice their writing skills individually or in groups.
• The War Room skill-building exercises place students in real-world writing scenarios to give them an in-depth look at common situations experienced by media professionals.

Writing for Social Media in 2024: Tips and Tools

Writing for social media takes talent, creativity, focus, and a deep understanding of your audience. Here are a few tips to help you get started.

Writing for social media: 7 tips for 2024

Writing for social media is not an easy job. 

You work with strict character limits and tight turnarounds. You speak the language of memes and microtrends that your boss and coworkers might not understand. You have to quickly — and wittily — react to trending topics. And, if you ever publish a post with a typo, people will notice and call you out. (Looking at you, Twitter meanies.)

But it’s also fun and rewarding. Great content can help you start inspiring conversations, build engaged communities, create buzz around your brand, and even directly influence sales.

Keep reading for expert tips and tools that will help you become a more confident and effective social media writer in no time .

OwlyWriter AI instantly generates captions and content ideas for every social media network. It’s seriously easy.

What is social media content writing?

Social media content writing is the process of writing content for social media audiences, usually across multiple major social media platforms . It can include writing short captions for TikTok or Instagram Reels, long-form LinkedIn articles, and everything in between. 

Writing for social media is different from writing for blogs and websites — it requires expert knowledge of social platforms and their audiences, trends, and inside jokes. 

Social media writing is a crucial element of any brand’s social presence. It can make or break a campaign or your entire social media marketing strategy. When done right, social writing directly influences engagement and conversions, and contributes to strategic business goals.

7 social media writing tips for 2024

The tips below will help you create content that will inspire your target audience to interact with you, take action, or simply spend a few seconds contemplating what they just read. 

Try some (or all) of these in your next 10 social media posts to build good habits and strengthen your writing muscle. You’ll be amazed at how clear you’ll write, and how you’ll zero in on your voice.

Bonus: Download The Wheel of Copy , a free visual guide to crafting persuasive headlines, emails, ads and calls to action . Save time and write copy that sells!

1. Just start writing (you’ll edit later)

Writer’s block is real, but there’s an easy way to blast past it: Just start writing without overthinking it. 

Start typing whatever comes to mind and forget about sentence structure, spelling, and punctuation (for a moment). Just keep your fingers moving and power through any blockages. Editing will come later. 

This is how John Swartzwelder, legendary Simpsons writer, wrote scripts for the show : 

“Since writing is very hard and rewriting is comparatively easy and rather fun, I always write my scripts all the way through as fast as I can, the first day, if possible, putting in crap jokes and pattern dialogue […]. Then the next day, when I get up, the script’s been written. It’s lousy, but it’s a script. The hard part is done. It’s like a crappy little elf has snuck into my office and badly done all my work for me, and then left with a tip of his crappy hat. All I have to do from that point on is fix it.”

2. Speak the language of social media

This, of course, means different things on different platforms.

Eileen Kwok, Social Marketing Coordinator at Hootsuite thinks it’s absolutely crucial to “have a good understanding of what language speaks to your target audience. Every channel serves a different purpose, so the copy needs to vary.”

Wondering what that looks like, exactly, on Hootsuite’s own social media channels? “LinkedIn, for example, is a space for working professionals, so we prioritize educational and thought leadership content on the platform. Our audience on TikTok is more casual, so we give them videos that speak to the fun and authentic side of our brand.”

But this advice goes beyond picking the right content categories and post types for each network. It really comes down to the language you use. 

Eileen says: “On most channels, you’ll want to spell-check everything and make sure you’re grammatically correct — but those rules don’t apply for TikTok. Having words in all caps for dramatic effect, using emojis instead of words, and even the misspelling of words all serves the playful nature of the app.”

You can go ahead and show this to your boss the next time they don’t want to approve a TikTok caption mentioning Dula Peep or using absolutely no punctuation.

3. Make your posts accessible 

As a social media writer, you should make sure that everyone in your audience can enjoy your posts.

Nick Martin, Social Listening and Engagement Strategist at Hootsuite told me: “When writing for social media, accessibility is something you should be keeping in mind. Some of your followers may use screen-readers, and a post that is full of emojis would be nearly unreadable for them.”

Unintelligible posts won’t help you reach your social media goals. In fact, they might turn people away from your brand altogether. 

“The same goes for when you share an image that has text on it,” Nick adds. “You’ll want to make sure you write alt-text for that image so all of your audience can enjoy it.” 

Here’s a great example of how you can have fun writing creative and entertaining alt-text for your social post’s accompanying images:

Self-care routines and bear encounters both start with setting boundaries pic.twitter.com/reul7uausI — Washington State Dept. of Natural Resources (@waDNR) September 20, 2022

4. Keep it simple

Imagine you’re writing to an 8th grader. Like, actually .

This is a simple but super effective exercise that will force you to write clearly and ditch any unnecessary jargon that would likely only confuse your readers.

“Drive innovation.”

“Become a disruptor.”

LinkedIn, in particular, is home to some of the most over-used, under-effective statements of all time. And sure, it’s a “businessy” social media channel. But business people are, well, people too. And people respond well to succinct, clear copy — not overused buzzwords with little to no real meaning behind them.

To connect with your audience, you have to speak a language they understand. Say something real. Use plain language and short sentences. Practice on your niece, mom, or friend, and see if they get your message.

5. Write to the reader

Your social media audience isn’t dying to find out what your company is up to or what’s important to you (unless it’s super relevant). They want to know what’s in it for them. That’s why you should always write from the readers’ perspective. Make them the hero.

So, instead of posting a boring list of features that have just been added to your product, tell your audience how their life will improve if they use it.

Sometimes, “standing out” is nothing more than writing from the reader’s point of view — because most of your competitors don’t.

6. Have a clear purpose

… and write that purpose down at the top of your draft to keep your mind on the target while you write.

What action do you want the reader to take? Do you want them to leave a comment or click through to your website? Whatever it is, make it clear in a CTA (call to action). 

Note that a CTA doesn’t have to be a button or any other super explicit, easily identifiable element within your post. It can be as simple as an engaging question within your caption, or a sentence telling your audience why they should click on the link in your bio. 

7. Use (the right) pictures to enhance your words

This one speaks for itself. (One image is worth a thousand words, anyone?)

We’ve already talked about the importance of adding alt-text to images for accessibility, but the images you pick are very important. 

Some networks rely on words more than they do on images and videos. But whenever possible (and relevant), you should try to include visuals in your posts — they’re much more effective at grabbing the attention of scrollers than words. And without that attention, your words won’t get a chance to shine. 

Everything you need to make engaging content. AI support for captions, an AI hashtag generator, and access to Canva in Hootsuite.

3 writing tools for social media

1. hootsuite’s owlywriter ai.

Good for: Generating social media posts and ideas, repurposing web content, and filling up your social media calendar faster.

Cost: Included in Hootsuite Pro plans and higher 

Did you know that Hootsuite comes with OwlyWriter AI, a built-in creative AI tool that saves social media pros hours of work?

You can use OwlyWriter to:

• Write a new social media caption in a specific tone, based on a prompt
• Write a post based on a link (e.g. a blog post or a product page)
• Generate post ideas based on a keyword or topic (and then write posts expanding on the idea you like best)
• Identify and repurpose your top-performing posts
• Create relevant captions for upcoming holidays

To get started with OwlyWriter, sign in to your Hootsuite account and head to the Inspiration section of the dashboard. Then, pick the type of AI magic you want to see in action.

For example, if you’re not sure what to post, click on Get inspired . Then, type in the general, high-level topic you want to address and click Get ideas .

Start your free 30-day trial

OwlyWriter will generate a list of post ideas related to the topic: 

Click on the one you like best to move to the next step — captions and hashtags.

Pick the caption you like and click Create post . The caption will open in Hootsuite Composer, where you can make edits, add media files and links, check the copy against your compliance guidelines — and schedule your post to go live later.

And that’s it! OwlyWriter never runs out of ideas, so you can repeat this process until your social media calendar is full — and sit back to watch your engagement grow.

2. Hemingway app

Good for: Writing anything succinctly and clearly.

Cost: Free in your browser, one-time $19.99 payment for the desktop app.

The Hemingway app will make you a better, more engaging writer. It flags over-complicated words and phrases, long sentences, unnecessary adverbs, passive voice, and so much more. It also gives you a readability score. 

Pro tip: On the Hootsuite editorial team, we always aim for grade 6 readability. Some topics are simply a bit complicated, so stay flexible and don’t beat yourself up if you’re not always able to reach this benchmark — but it’s a good score to shoot for.

Here’s how it works:

• Write your copy.
• Paste it into Hemingway’s online editor .
• Visually see what works and what doesn’t.
• Make your changes.
• Watch your score improve!

Good for: Distraction-free writing.

Cost: Free.

There’s plenty of clutter in life. ZenPen is one small corner of the distraction-free-universe to help you write without outside interference.

• Go to zenpen.io .
• Start writing posts for social.
• Enjoy the noise-free editor until you’re done.

Compose, schedule, and publish your expertly written posts to all the major social media channels from one dashboard using Hootsuite. Try it free today.

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Karolina Mikolajczyk is a Senior Inbound Marketing Strategist and associate editor of the Hootsuite blog. After completing her Master’s degree in English, Karolina launched her marketing career in 2014. Before joining Hootsuite in 2021, she worked with digital marketing agencies, SaaS startups, and international corporations, helping businesses and social media content creators grow their online presence and improve conversions through SEO and content marketing strategies.

Nick has over ten years of social media marketing experience, working with brands large and small alike. If you've had a conversation with Hootsuite on social media over the past six years, there's a good chance you've been talking to Nick. His social listening and data analysis projects have been used in major publications such as Forbes, Adweek, the Washington Post, and the New York Times. His work even accurately predicted the outcome of the 2020 US presidential election. When Nick isn't engaging online on behalf of the brand or running his social listening projects, he helps coach teams across the organization in the art of social selling and personal branding. Follow Nick on Twitter at @AtNickMartin.

Eileen is a skilled social media strategist and multi-faceted content creator, with over 4+ years of experience in the marketing space. She helps brands find their unique voice online and turn their stories into powerful content.

She currently works as a social marketer at Hootsuite where she builds social media campaign strategies, does influencer outreach, identifies upcoming trends, and creates viral-worthy content.

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The Emergence of New Media Writing

If we consider writing as part of a dynamic ‘ecosystem’, what new possibilities does writing in a digitally networked environment open up?

The concept of writing ecology presents innovative opportunities for audiences to interact with multimodal platforms and create new exhilarating experiences. It is the understanding that writing is an environment where writers, readers and sharers co-exist, collaborate and communicate and adapt to technological advancement and the evolution of human cognition. Multimodal literacy involves communicating meaning through a combination of two or more modes. Modes include written language, spoken language, and patterns of meaning that are visual, audio, gestural, tactile and spatial. The purpose of technological change and advances in communication technology is to impact the potential of writing in a digitally networked environment such as through the interactive web documentary Welcome to Pine Point  as a result of the expansion of a dynamic writing ecosystem. The interactive web documentary by Michael Simons and Paul Shoebridge chronicles the story of a mining town called Pine Point and the memories of the people who used to live there. The text is an exemplar of the interactive possibilities for writing that have been enabled by technological change through the use of multimodality, interactivity and remediation.

Welcome to Pine Point indicates the changes in writing style, presentation and articulacy. The level of interactivity in digital texts has shifted alongside technological change but is not a new concept for writing, as flipping through pages in a book is an interaction between the reader and the text itself (Horowitz & Leland, 2015). It is the immersive nature of interaction that sets digital texts and printed texts apart (Page & Thomas, 2011). The interactive web documentary falls into the level 1 category of “Peripheral Interactivity” (Ryan, 2011). It is on this level where the digital text allows the audience to control the pace of the story; choosing when to interact with objects such as playing video clips, looking through photographs, and reading onscreen text. When interacting with the web documentary, the audience becomes unaware of the interface. It is not transparent, but it does require active participation. However, this level of interaction does not affect the outcome of the story as it only permits minimal control over the order of presentation. Despite the lack of control, the reader is still able to connect with the town’s story and its former residents in a unique way, possibly on a deeper level than more traditional modes of communication. The original part of the attraction of digital texts is interactivity because it helps “to counter the passive experience of watching by requiring audiences to make decisions at regular intervals” (Butchart, 2013). This interaction means that the audience has fully immersed themselves in the vital continuation of the digital text. The development of communication technology has enabled peripheral interactivity between the audience and the web documentary and demonstrates the change of the dynamic nature of the writing ecosystem in what it means to read and write.

The emergence of new media writing has brought into being the combination of the multimodal use of new digital technologies. The interactive web documentary involves a unique grasp of language and contexts that transform the spaces of writing but also our sense of space and our place within it. Multimodality plays an essential role in distinguishing between pre-digital and modern texts and provides Welcome to Pine Point with an engaging and nostalgic experience of revisiting and immortalising the past. Ecologies are inherently dynamic; in real time, their structure and content are continually changing, limited only by parameters subject to change over a long period due to technological change. In interacting with this text and its multimodal elements, the audience has a sense of falling into Pine Point itself and creates an experience where the audience can actively participate in the interactive documentary. Through the use of new digital technologies, Welcome to Pine Point provides the opportunity to engage in the text through the possibility of developing an intimate relationship between the reader and Pine Point itself. This effect is heightened through the combined media style to evoke emotion through the use of music, voice-overs, video clips and photographs so that the audience can connect with their senses to see and hear the residents of the town – and provides a sense of social reality. The domain of ideas activated and supplemented in the digital text creates an interpersonal interaction despite not providing direct links to other sources. Digital works “recall the corporeal energies that drive inscription” (Noland, 2009) and calls forth the possibility of associating memories with behaviours suppressed or sublimated by typographic cultures of text. The use of multimodality and new media writing creates a visual and aurally engaging experience for readers to interact within a digital environment with all their senses, something not achievable through more traditional means of writing.

The creation of digital texts similar to Welcome to Pine Point relies on previous forms of communication technology to develop innovative ways of writing. The process of remediation “ensures that the older medium cannot be entirely effaced: the new medium remains dependent on the older one in acknowledged or unacknowledged ways” (Bolter & Grusin, 1999, p.47). It is the expansion of writing ecologies and pre-digital modes of communication that the web documentary “could have been a book, could have been a movie, could have been a website” (MacKie, 2011). The storytelling project draws its inspiration from these media forms to create an interactive platform in a digital environment. It is through the combined use of interactivity and multimodality in which the process of remediation of media ensured the effective communication of the text. The project became a book, photo album, and a film all at once and even echoed the design imitating scrapbook form. These forms of media expand on writing as part of a dynamic ecosystem, one influenced and shaped by technological change, offering new possibilities of interaction in a digitally networked environment.

Ultimately, Welcome to Pine Point provides a sense of social reality to exchange ideas through a new textual form that will affect other communications as time alters with the expansion of writing ecology. Although little more than eight years old, the interactive web documentary continues to offer an exciting experience for internet users to engage with story and multimedia as a result of the advances in communication technology. The multi-platform storytelling project in the form of a ‘liquid book’ is an incredible narrative work that incorporates text, music, videos, and images into an interactive, utterly engrossing digital story. While some might desire a non-linear narrative with more open interactivity for the audience, Welcome to Pine Point ’s strength mostly lies in its narrative form, and visual presentation as the documentary examines objects, time, and place. New possibilities for interactivity and multimodality have presented themselves through the process of remediation to create this exemplary digital text to capture the attention of the audience through a vital and innovative form of storytelling.

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37 Comments

Memory and nostalgia being the theme of the experience, you can’t go wrong.

Powerful narrative form and visual presentation. Any other new media like this documentary?

Yes! Snow Fall: The Avalanche at Tunnel Creek 🙂

The embrace of nostalgia is huge in this one.

My memories of testing this was that it was pretty intimate.

I like how much of the content is of poor quality, but adds to the overall feel of the experience.

This is incredibly true. It’s crazy how quickly and constantly the world of writing is always changing.

Oh I remember this documentary. Wish I could try it now but the site did not work for me!

There’s a youtube version of it you can watch if you like!

They let you explore the now-vanished Canadian town in a really creative way.

Lovely article.

The whole experience of Welcome to Pine Point felt in some sense overwhelming, which is certainly not a bad thing.

Definitely a major breakthrough in online storytelling.

It will be interesting to see where this kind of storytelling goes in the future!

The doc is quite extraordinary to look at.

I feel like a wanted to move in different directions within the town and the overall story.

I enjoyed the haunting aspects which highlighted the manufactured and fleeting nature of mining towns.

Dear Authortoria, I should admit that I have researched and written extensively on multimodal writing-in fact I wrote my dissertation on evaluating multimodal compositions back in 2007. I should also admit that I never watched Welcome to Pine Point-and when I tried to now, my Mac wouldn’t load the Flash to allow me to! If I remember correctly Flash isn’t being used anymore. This brings me to my questions for you-will multimodal writing ecology as you’ve described it be easily phased out and lost to distant places on the internet like old shoes whenever the newest technology comes along? I know that print manuscripts have survived for thousands of years but I worry that the newest flashiest forms will be endangered “ecologies?” From the comments above especially from Mull, I wondered if there really is the authorial freedom to make anything new from within the frameworks of a multimodal form at this point given technologies limitations-say for example if someone wanted to introduce a character who “saved” the town? I I have noticed in my teaching career in writing that there are very few apps that truly allow for creating story but most are dedicated to consuming story. What do you think about the balance between creating/consuming in new media writing? Thanks for writing about an important subject-I’m especially interested in how new AI apps might influence our writing-do you think a robot story would be a social ecology? Cheers, Tom Ferstle

Great comment!

There are not many interactive elements and I was kind of sad about that.

Here is to more creators creating art using new media.

It offered a great examination of objects, time, and place.

I’m intrigued and will look at their other work right now. Thank you!

Good job on covering this subject.

An interesting essay, I knew nothing about Welcome to Pine Point. It seems this article will need at least a follow-up article that addresses the impact or broader application of Pine Point since this article is more of an introductory explanation, since as pointed out, this is relatively new.

I love to write different stuffs and it really helped me.

I didn’t know about this documentary, that’s really neat! I can’t remember the name of it but I came across a short story once that was just an entire website, and it was an interactive scroll with simple text and moving background. It’s interesting seeing story telling shaped by new media possibilities!

Interesting stuff!! I think this a quite dynamic method to enjoy reading again. In this time it seems that our minds get bored reading the sea of grey and adding different forms of media to enable a better experience for the reader is phenomenal!

Word is a king! Especially today, when so many people are online. Especially today when people online read only titles (mostly) so every word should be considered.

This is an articulately written article that explains a complicated concept in plain language so all can understand. Interesting concept.

This article was very well written and articulates this concept of an ecosystem.

This article was very well written. Absolutely superb!

Have never heard of Welcome to Pine Point until now, but will definitely look into it now.

I whole-heartedly agree. It’s interesting to look back and watch the evolution of storytelling!

The college I attend requires multimodal “artifacts” instead of the traditional essay. Mostly, I never felt like I was able to totally finish a thought. The constant manipulation of media made me feel scattered. But mandatory freshman English classes are never great.

What college did you attend? Were these requirements imposed by the program/college or by a specific professor?

This is super interesting. I hadn’t heard of this till reading this article. I am definitely going to be doing further research into this.

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Creative Writing for Mass Media

The term mass media refers to the means of public communication reaching a large audience. Media access refers to the ability of members of the society to make use of a particular medium to send messages of a particular medium. Writers often develop their own methods for creating their stories. Most successful writers work through a number of steps as they write and these comprise what is known as the writing process. Story tellers deal with both fiction and nonfiction. Story teller journalists must confine their attention only to non fiction, that which is real, factful and relatively objective. Creative writers, as you know, employ elements of of story telling in short stories and novels both of which are strong narrative forms. The big idea is the creative concept around which the entire writing materials and advertising campaigns revolves and behind the creative concept is the execution of the idea, which also has to be handled creatively.

Related Papers

LUMS, Social Sciences course on Media writing.

Seena Joseph

Janet M Fulton

The idea that print journalism is creative is one that is not universally accepted: ‘making a story up’ goes against the fundamental understandings of journalism. Further to this, society’s understanding of creativity is that a producer must have no limitations to be able to create and the rules and conventions a journalist works within are seen to constrain their production of creative media texts. However, by using a Rationalist framework, it can be argued that creative activity in print journalism is not only possible but plausible. By using Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s systems model of creativity to examine the creative practices of print journalists, this paper argues it is the structures a journalist works within that enables production and it is by their agency that journalists can produce creative media texts. Interestingly, a literature review has revealed that creative and creativity are frequently used within journalism’s literature but the terms are rarely defined. Therefore, this paper presents rational arguments for how a print journalist is a creative producer of media texts as well as providing a definition for creativity in a journalistic context.

International Journal of Communication

Elizabeth Paton

Lyubomira Konstantinova

Journalism Practice

Janet M Fulton , Phillip McIntyre

Print journalism, particularly hard news, is a form of writing that is seldom thought of as a creative practice. This situation may result from the idea that cultural and social structures journalists work within are often seen as constraints on journalists’ professional practices. Despite this common understanding, if a rationalist approach to creativity is used, it can be demonstrated that the structures of the practice of journalism, and the knowledge of these structures, not only constrains but also enables journalists to produce their work. Using the systems model of creativity developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, this paper provides evidence that by investigating print journalism within a rationalist framework, print journalists of any genre can be seen to be producers of creative cultural texts. Analysis of the literature demonstrates that by marrying theories and definitions from creativity research with literature from the domain of print journalism, creativity can be identified within the print journalism domain. Analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with print journalists in Australia and observation carried out in Australian newsrooms demonstrates that journalists are very aware of the devices used, and the requirements of the field, to produce texts in their professional practice that are novel and appropriate, or creative.

Academia Letters

Stoycheva Katya

Gloria Gomez Diago

The new technologies and specially the possibilities offered by the internet, multiply the capabilities to write and to tell stories, to create them collectively, to redesign them, to cite them, to amplify them, to link them, to comment them, et cetera. Having available a multitude of resources not only for being storytellers but for accessing to diverse information and contents, changes the possibilities and conditions in which storytelling is generated in comparison with before internet and prompts us to focus on the importance of storymaking abilities in the classroom. In a context where storytelling can be performed without spatial or temporal constraints and where algorithms like Narrative Science's natural language generation programme 1 can write original stories by drawing down content from big data sources, the act of writing and of sharing ideas by using words is still essential to participate in the construction of our societies. Written communication is especially important in academic contexts because it is through texts that contents are created. Aimed to improve the abilities and skills of pupils to generate contents, we designed and applied an experience which consisted of using storymaking as a context for learning, by giving students of the last year of the Advertising and Public Relations Degree at the University of Vigo a role in the building of the contents delivered in the course " Advertising and Cultural Industries ". Students co-created a collective book named Cultural/Creative Industries in an Environment in which the Physical and the Virtual Merge. 2 During the four months of the course, we applied an action research framework 3 similar to the one we developed to identify and to assess the consequences of using privative software in the classroom (Gómez-Diago, 2004), which consisted on collecting impressions in the classroom through direct observation and

International Journal of Criminology and Sociology

Lifescience Global Canada

The article is devoted to study of storytelling models in media communication in the context of globalization and postmodernism of information space. This article is of interest because recently storytelling as a special type of communication has become an object of research in science. Advertising has modified, turning into art of storytelling and brand-image. In this article, the specifics of storytelling are analysed, its definition is provided, functions and types are pointed out. The authors also consider such phenomena as landing and longread inseparable from storytelling in online space. In the article, there is characteristic of each component of technique of transmedia narration in the context of postmodernism information community and globalisation changes. The author analyses how the story in advertising is tool of reflection and experience transfer, value and cultural identification and how affect the audience. Using the example of popular commercials, the author studies how storytelling and myth are connected and how it is implemented within media space.

ijaresm publication

PARINITA BORA

Mass communication can be defined as a process of creating, sending, receiving and analysing messages to huge audience through verbal and written media. These media are wide ranging. It includes print, digital media and the internet, social media, radio and television. Writing for Newspapers or magazines refers to the meaning of Journalism. It is information communication through writing in journals and newspapers.

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Why choose this course?

• Giving you up to date media skills and a great speaker programme
• Accredited by PRCA (Public Relations and Communications Association)
• Be taught by award-winning poets, writers and media practitioners

Find your voice, both critically and creatively, as you develop an in-depth understanding of the world of media. Today’s media is becoming more diverse and dynamic as digital and social media platforms thrive. Hone the skills you need to play your part.  

Our practical course nurtures your hands-on technical skills, original creativity, and entrepreneurial attitude, giving you the versatility for a successful media career. You’ll develop the ability to critically comment on media practice and produce new creative work for websites, blogs, print, video, audio and multimedia. We’ll help you develop research, editorial, storytelling and targeting skills, building your confidence in creating, editing and submitting work.  

You’ll learn about media both in the UK and internationally, starting with general modules such as Global Media and Telling Stories through Sound and Image, progressing to the opportunity to create your own media project with a client before you leave or studying how to create a PR campaign as well as the fascinating world of celebrity media. 

You'll be taught by leading poets, fiction, and non-fiction writers. All your lecturers are active writers in their field - some are even internationally published authors. This means you’ll be learning from writers who have excellent industry connections and have the latest knowledge when it comes to trends, styles, and publishing guides giving you everything you need to become a published author yourself. Partner this with gaining the latest insights and skills within media, from podcasting to learning about PR.  

You can take part in industry events and say your course is affiliated to the  Public Relations and Communications Association  (PRCA), one of Britain's top trade organisations for PR professionals. You can attend our Media Matters guest lectures given by a range of media speakers from top journalists to our recent graduates. You'll have the opportunity to network with inspirational and well-known screen writers, biographers, poets, novelists, nonfiction authors and playwrights at our Creative Conversation events. 

What's the course about?

The delivery of teaching varies according to the characteristics of each module. Workshops are used for modules where the degree of practical skills taught is enhanced by the supervision of experts in their field but there are also seminars and lectures. Attainment of learning outcomes is also assessed in a range of formats from traditional essays to presentations, creating adverts or campaigns or working in a small group to create a documentary. 

In the first year , you’ll study the media industry now and the theories of communication and globalisation that underpin it alongside gaining practical skills in visual awareness, blogging and video. In Creative Writing you’ll start learning how to become a writer and how to write for films, as well as gaining a deeper insight into genre.

In your second year , you’ll study the publishing industry, choose between brand awareness and creating a video feature, magazine design and design for mobile, while in Creative Writing, you’ll learn about the art of telling non-fiction stories and how to write for the stage.

Work placement/study abroad option *: Between your second and final year, you’ll have the option to study abroad or complete a work placement for up to a year. Not only will this give you an amazing experience to talk about, but it will also give your CV a boost. If you would rather go straight to your final year, that’s fine too. You can decide in your second year with us, so there is still plenty of time to think about this.

In your final year,  you’ll get the option of specialising in practical media modules, such as creating a project for a client, or learning about the PR and Advertising industry or the theory of celebrity and identity within media. In Creative Writing, you’ll get the chance to specialise in either poetry, prose or scriptwriting and think about how writing and reality conflict and complement.

For a full list of modules, see the section under ‘What will I study?’    

Guest speakers and networking (Media Matters and Creative Conversations).   

Each year the School of Humanities hosts a range of industry professionals, giving talks on their experience in the media and publishing industry. These lectures are recorded by our final-year students and available on our  Taster Hub . Some of our previous speakers have included:

• Andrea Thompson, Editor in Chief of Marie Claire
• Richard Keith, Journalist for Edge Magazine and Publisher, PCGamer
• Georgina Lawton of online ezine Gal-Dem for women and non-binary people of colour
• Damian Barr, writer, literary editor and TV host
• Steve Swann, investigative journalist, BBC
• Inua Ellams, poet
• Nell Leyshon, novelist and playwright
• Tom Edge, screenwriter
• Carl Rollyson, biographer

Your main campus is College Lane

This is where the creative arts, science and health-related subjects are based. This means you’ll share the campus with future nurses, scientists, artists and more. You can use the common rooms to relax with friends, work out in the 24-hour gym or have a drink in our on-campus pub or cafes. We also have restaurants for you to eat in or grab something on the go. Our Learning Resources Centres are open 24/7, which means you can study whenever suits you best. Want to pop over to the other campus? You can take the free shuttle bus or walk there in just 15 minutes.

What will I study?

Degree programmes are structured into levels, 4, 5 and 6.  These correspond to your first, second and third/final year of study.  Below you can see what modules you’ll be studying in each.     

An opportunity for an amazing experience, which will help make you stand out from the crowd. With more and more companies working internationally, experience of living in another country can make a great impression on future employers.

This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a sandwich year abroad. The University has partnerships with universities around the world, including the USA, Canada, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America and closer to home in Europe.

If you study abroad between your second and third year of study, you’ll pay no tuition fee to the partner university and no tuition fee to us either. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.

Find out more about Study abroad opportunities

Please note Erasmus+ funding is only available until May 2023. For students starting their course in September 2022 and wishing to study abroad in 2023-24 or 2024-25, please refer to the Turing Scheme .

Graduate with invaluable work experience alongside your degree and stand out from the crowd.

This course offers you the opportunity to enhance your study and CV with a work placement sandwich year. It’s a chance to explore career possibilities, make valuable contacts and gain sought after professional skills.

Our dedicated Careers and Employment team are here to help guide you through the process.

If you take up a work placement between your second and third year of study, at the University of Hertfordshire you’ll pay no tuition fee for this year. We’ll ask you to make your decision in your second year, so there is plenty of time to think about it.

Find out more about work placements

You will be allocated a personal tutor to monitor and advise on overall academic and personal development supplemented with drop-in skills sessions and specialist tutors to refine and polish your writing.

For help with study skills, including referencing, essay writing and presentations, you will also have access to our Academic Support Services (ASU). You can attend workshops, 1-to-1 sessions and online tutorials. Both our Learning Resources Centres (LRCs) run drop-in study skills sessions.

Alumni Stories

Kate Stephenson

Meet Kate Stephenson who has excelled in the publishing industry since graduating. She currently works as the Education Editor at National Geographic Kids magazine.

University experience

Kate always knew that she wanted to work in the media and her unique degree gave her the flexibility to understand the logistics behind magazines as well as develop her writing and communication skills. The variety of topics and modules covered in her course enabled her to understand a lot about her dream career and enable her to develop valuable skills for working in the industry.

While studying, Kate took every opportunity offered to her. Her lecturers gave her opportunities to network with their colleagues for the industry enabling Kate to secure work experience and explore different career opportunities upon graduation.

She also worked as part of the Students’ Union student media, called Triden Media, writing regularly for their newspaper and magazine. Kate says, ‘Take advantage of every opportunity while it’s on offer and dive in as much as possible.’

In the future, Kate hopes to further develop and grow the project she is working on at National Geographic and their educational content. One of her recent projects was launching their Primary School resource service by writing the curriculum.

Eleanor Pilcher

Meet Eleanor Pilcher who since graduating in 2016 has taken the publishing industry by storm. Eleanor currently works as a Marketing Manager at Avon, HarperCollins Publisher.

University experience and employability

Eleanor is a keen writer with great creative ambitions. During her degree she undertook a six-month internship at a literary agency in her final academic year. In 2016, shortly after her studies, Eleanor landed a placement at Penguin before getting a job in publishing recruitment. After developing her skills within the industry and amassing and impressive amount of knowledge and experience, Eleanor began her current role at HarperCollins Publishers.

Eleanor's degree encompassed a broad spectrum of critical, analytical and evaluative skills and helped shape her as a writer. Throughout her studies she had been writing a novel, which she submitted to literary agencies after being encouraged by her tutor to do so. It was Eleanor's passion for writing that uncovered her interest in working for a literary agency. Due to the fantastic lecturers on her course and the invaluable industry networks available to students, Eleanor managed to secure impressive opportunities in her chosen industry that have informed her career.

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Novel & Intelligent Digital Systems Conferences

NiDS 2023: Novel & Intelligent Digital Systems: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference (NiDS 2023) pp 308–314 Cite as

Social Media to Develop Students’ Creative Writing Performance

• Loubert John P. Go   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0002-1546-7343 12 ,
• Ericka Mae Encabo   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0002-2410-8756 13 ,
• Aurelio P. Vilbar   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2241-674X 13 &
• Yolanda R. Casas   ORCID: orcid.org/0009-0000-9780-7190 12  
• Conference paper
• First Online: 23 September 2023

113 Accesses

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems ((LNNS,volume 784))

After a two-year suspension, the Philippine Department of Education resumed limited face-to-face (ftf) classes in May 2022, replacing modular distance learning. Nonetheless, the threat of COVID-19 transmission and the infrastructure damage caused by Typhoon Rai compelled us to transition to a blended learning mode of instruction. This mode of instruction paved the way for the incorporation of social media into education and displayed encouraging results for fostering student engagement. According to the results of the pre-test, students performed poorly in creative writing. To address the issue, we used Instagram as an intervention to improve students’ writing performance. During the implementation of blended learning, the teacher taught the concepts in ftf modality for three days while students wrote their works on Instagram online. This study examined the impact of using Instagram as an e-portfolio on the creative writing performance of students. The t-test results demonstrated a significant mean gain in their pretest-posttest performance after using Instagram. Social media enhanced their creative writing skills, grammar, vocabulary, self-awareness, and motivation, according to qualitative research. Students indicated that Instagram’s self-editing capabilities enhance metacognition and self-development via real-time comments and feedback.

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Go, L.J.P., Encabo, E.M., Vilbar, A.P., Casas, Y.R. (2023). Social Media to Develop Students’ Creative Writing Performance. In: Kabassi, K., Mylonas, P., Caro, J. (eds) Novel & Intelligent Digital Systems: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference (NiDS 2023). NiDS 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 784. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-44146-2_32

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How to Resist the Temptation of AI When Writing

Whether you're a student, a journalist, or a business professional, knowing how to do high-quality research and writing using trustworthy data and sources, without giving in to the temptation of AI or ChatGPT , is a skill worth developing.

As I detail in my book Writing That Gets Noticed , locating credible databases and sources and accurately vetting information can be the difference between turning a story around quickly or getting stuck with outdated information.

For example, several years ago the editor of Parents.com asked for a hot-take reaction to country singer Carrie Underwood saying that, because she was 35, she had missed her chance at having another baby. Since I had written about getting pregnant in my forties, I knew that as long as I updated my facts and figures, and included supportive and relevant peer-reviewed research, I could pull off this story. And I did.

The story ran later that day , and it led to other assignments. Here are some tips I’ve learned that you should consider mastering before you turn to automated tools like generative AI to handle your writing work for you.

Identify experts, peer-reviewed research study authors, and sources who can speak with authority—and ideally, offer easily understood sound bites or statistics on the topic of your work. Great sources include professors at major universities and media spokespeople at associations and organizations.

For example, writer and author William Dameron pinned his recent essay in HuffPost Personal around a statistic from the American Heart Association on how LGBTQ people experience higher rates of heart disease based on discrimination. Although he first found the link in a secondary source (an article in The New York Times ), he made sure that he checked the primary source: the original study that the American Heart Association gleaned the statistic from. He verified the information, as should any writer, because anytime a statistic is cited in a secondary source, errors can be introduced.

Jen Malia, author of  The Infinity Rainbow Club  series of children’s books (whom I recently interviewed on my podcast ), recently wrote a piece about dinosaur-bone hunting for Business Insider , which she covers in her book Violet and the Jurassic Land Exhibit.

After a visit to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Malia, whose books are set in Philadelphia, found multiple resources online and on the museum site that gave her the history of the Bone Wars , information on the exhibits she saw, and the scientific names of the dinosaurs she was inspired by. She also used the Library of Congress’ website, which offers digital collections and links to the Library of Congress Newspaper Collection.

Malia is a fan of searching for additional resources and citable documents with Google Scholar . “If I find that a secondary source mentions a newspaper article, I’m going to go to the original newspaper article, instead of just stopping there and quoting,” she says.

Reece Rogers

Your local public library is a great source of free information, journals, and databases (even ones that generally require a subscription and include embargoed research). For example, your search should include everything from health databases ( Sage Journals , Scopus , PubMed) to databases for academic sources and journalism ( American Periodical Series Online , Statista , Academic Search Premier ) and databases for news, trends, market research, and polls (t he Harris Poll , Pew Research Center , Newsbank , ProPublica ).

Even if you find a study or paper that you can’t access in one of those databases, consider reaching out to the study’s lead author or researcher. In many cases, they’re happy to discuss their work and may even share the study with you directly and offer to talk about their research.

For journalist Paulette Perhach’s article on ADHD in The New York Times, she used Epic Research to see “dual team studies.” That's when two independent teams address the same topic or question, and ideally come to the same conclusions. She recommends locating research and experts via key associations for your topic. She also likes searching via Google Scholar but advises filtering it for studies and research in recent years to avoid using old data. She suggests keeping your links and research organized. “Always be ready to be peer-reviewed yourself,” Perhach says.

When you are looking for information for a story or project, you might be inclined to start with a regular Google search. But keep in mind that the internet is full of false information, and websites that look trustworthy can sometimes turn out to be businesses or companies with a vested interest in you taking their word as objective fact without additional scrutiny. Regardless of your writing project, unreliable or biased sources are a great way to torpedo your work—and any hope of future work.

Author Bobbi Rebell researched her book Launching Financial Grownups using the IRS’ website . “I might say that you can contribute a certain amount to a 401K, but it might be outdated because those numbers are always changing, and it’s important to be accurate,” she says. “AI and ChatGPT can be great for idea generation,” says Rebell, “but you have to be careful. If you are using an article someone was quoted in, you don’t know if they were misquoted or quoted out of context.”

If you use AI and ChatGPT for sourcing, you not only risk introducing errors, you risk introducing plagiarism—there is a reason OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is being sued for downloading information from all those books.

Audrey Clare Farley, who writes historical nonfiction, has used a plethora of sites for historical research, including Women Also Know History , which allows searches by expertise or area of study, and JSTOR , a digital library database that offers a number of free downloads a month. She also uses Chronicling America , a project from the Library of Congress which gathers old newspapers to show how a historical event was reported, and Newspapers.com (which you can access via free trial but requires a subscription after seven days).

When it comes to finding experts, Farley cautions against choosing the loudest voices on social media platforms. “They might not necessarily be the most authoritative. I vet them by checking if they have a history of publication on the topic, and/or educational credentials.”

When vetting an expert, look for these red flags:

• You can’t find their work published or cited anywhere.
• They were published in an obscure journal.
• Their research is funded by a company, not a university, or they are the spokesperson for the company they are doing research for. (This makes them a public relations vehicle and not an appropriate source for journalism.)

And finally, the best endings for virtually any writing, whether it’s an essay, a research paper, an academic report, or a piece of investigative journalism, circle back to the beginning of the piece, and show your reader the transformation or the journey the piece has presented in perspective.

As always, your goal should be strong writing supported by research that makes an impact without cutting corners. Only then can you explore tools that might make the job a little easier, for instance by generating subheads or discovering a concept you might be missing—because then you'll have the experience and skills to see whether it's harming or helping your work.

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2025 Call for Proposals

Submit a Proposal

The proposal submission database is now open.

Proposal deadline for the 2025 CCCC Annual Convention is 9:00 a.m. ET on Friday, May 31, 2024.

Full Call for Proposals

Criteria and Guidelines

General Information

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Area Clusters

Information Required to Submit

Volunteer to Review Proposals

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Important Dates

Proposal database opens: April 6, 2024

Proposal submission deadline: 9:00 a.m. ET on Friday, May 31, 2024 Proposal notifications: Early September 2024 Session schedule notifications: December 2024 Convention dates: April 9–12, 2025, Baltimore, MD

Questions and requests for coaches can be sent to [email protected] .

“Computer Love”: Extended Play, B-sides, Remix, Collaboration, and Creativity

2025 CCCC Program Chair: Kofi J. Adisa

Where do music and writing intersect for you, dear reader?

If you are like me, music holds a significant place in your life. Whether it’s rock, R & B, country, classical, pop, rap, jazz, techno, funk, reggae, or Afrobeat, my love for music is as eclectic as my reading lists. In fact, reading and listening to music underpin many of my creative and intellectual endeavors. When I compose fiction, assignment prompts, or student evaluations, I often have some kind of music playing in the background. There’s something neurological happening as Miles Davis plays or as Dave Grohl sings. I’m listening and listening as my mind focuses on and ponders the tasks at hand.

I don’t think I’m alone.

One of my favorite songs is “Computer Love” by the funk band Zapp. The song is from the band’s 1985 album The New Zapp IV U . My late mom played it often when I was a teen. She especially liked how Roger Troutman used the “talk box,” which was a device hooked up to a keyboard or guitar that made his voice sound, well, computerized. The synthesization of his voice and the instrument did not end with him or with the talk box. Teddy Riley, an experimentalist musician in his own right (Corbett; Miller), also used it, and many artists—including Cher, T-Pain, Kanye West, and others from the late 90s and early 2000s—used Auto-Tune, an even more computerized processor to mask and alter their singing voices (Reynolds).

Though the oversaturation of Auto-Tune turned me off, those earlier Zapp songs never failed me. As I am writing this call for proposals, Zapp’s song “More Bounce to the Ounce,” off the band’s 1980 self-titled debut album, plays—computerization and all. In fact, the version I am listening to is an extended play, meaning the original 5:11 version has a longer instrumental that extends the song to 9:27. This extended mix is not new or original to dance music. B-sides of songs and albums have a long history, too much for the purposes of this writing (see Eaton; Elkhwad; Paphides; Wald) and give listeners another level or version of the music.

If we think about the nature of music, with its the syncopation, blending, and sampling of sounds, and if we extend our thinking to writing, with its incorporation of visuals, graphics, and other designs, we can remix and play with them and create a sociocultural practice within the genre (Church; Jordan and Miller; Tinsley). For example, remix writing assignments with an attention to music or integrate music into the creation stage of composing; have students create a visual and musical autoethnography or a rhetorical soundtrack for their previous or current semester; collaborate with other disciplines to develop a curriculum that samples, remixes, or bridges reading, thinking, writing, music, and technology. Countless possibilities exist in the remix.

Likewise, the B-side or 33⅓ offers another sociocultural practices. B-sides are the songs not on the original albums and are themselves cultural phenomena (Elkhwad). Kind of like Solange being the B-side to Beyoncé, the 33⅓ reveals something hidden, unique, unexpected, novel—the type of music where you wonder why it wasn’t on the original or as popular. This isn’t to say that the B-side is better or worse than the A-side of an album or, in my example, of the sisters. (Of course, both sisters have their A- and B-sides.) My point is that the B-side plays, experiments, and distinguishes itself from the usual, the norm. If we think of our classrooms as spaces to play the B-side of teaching and learning, for instance, what could that look like? In what ways can the incorporation of technology distinguish student writing or its labor from traditional approaches to research, self-expression, or argumentation? B-sides to writing pedagogy might look completely different than A-sides or traditional writing education.

Because this technological writing collaboration exists in movies, animations, and, of course, writing, our position as teacher-scholars, theorists, writers, and lifelong learners should be as cautious practitioners of this creative moment. Technologies such as generative AI (GAI) offer possibilities but also ethical dilemmas. Remixing or sampling GAI in writing assignments might create opportunities to expand digital and AI literacies for all students. Finding the B-side to Information literacy skills may sharpen students’ understanding and transfer across disciplines. Still, students will need to learn how to distinguish disparate voices coming together to make a new song (think about “That’s What Friends Are For”) from artificial ones (think “Heart on My Sleeve” [Shanfeld]). Student voices should not be supplanted by GAI or other technologies. Instead, their voices, our voices, should blend in a rhythm and style of collaboration, like with a talk box, or a computer love.

Area Clusters to Remix

The following question clusters are examples that might help you organize your proposals and create a program. The full list of area clusters is available here . To ensure fairness and equal representation, proposals are generally accepted in proportion to numbers received in the clusters. Selecting a particular cluster neither advantages nor disadvantages your proposal. Sometimes, a single proposal might fit into two or three areas, or a proposal might not fit well into any area. However, if you do not choose a category, your proposal will not be reviewed and therefore will not be accepted for the program. Please consider these categories as a heuristic and understand that in making a selection, you emphasize the primary focus of and the best reviewing audience for your proposal.

First-Year Writing as a Space to Remix

• How might first-year writing (FYW) curricula be remade so that music, technology use, and play occur organically?
• How can peer review become another kind of collaborative remix?
• What would sampling other disciplines do for FYW?

College Writing and Reading as a B-side to Literacy

• How do we flip the script on corequisite and developmental writing and reading to engage the creative side of literacy?
• How do we collaborate with a technology that assures student readers and writers?
• How would this B-side be measured? Can it be measured?
• Where do our K–12 partners fit into this extended play of music, culture, and collaboration?

The Extended Play of Inclusion and Access

• What spaces can open for LGBTQIA+ students to compose and create a holistic dataset that may be absent from current models?
• What possibilities remain hidden on the B-side of technology that can support neurotypical and neurodiverse students?
• Where can prior knowledge and learning for nontraditional students be another kind of extended play of access and opportunities?

Remixing Writing Programs 

• How can generative AI, music, and assessment work together to inform creativity in writing?
• How might writing program administrators leverage technologies to remix their institutional contexts?
• What would distinguish an undergraduate’s remix of a research project from a graduate student’s project?
• How might Writing Across the Curriculum and Writing in the Disciplines be better served as an extended play, a remix, or a B-side collaboration with other curricula or disciplines?

A Mixtape of Language, Literacy, and Culture

• Can remixing, extending the play, and collaborating present new opportunities for World Englishes speakers, non-English speakers, or L2 readers and writers?
• How might cultural music be a source of collaboration, analysis, or literacy practice?
• Where do community and cultural literacy intersect with the remix?

The following range of topics is not exhaustive, and I hope it inspires a kind of play between composition, remix, collaboration, and creativity:

• Autoethnographic Playlist: Historical, Cultural, and Political Meaning of the Personal Soundtrack
• The Rhetorical Nature of Vinyl, Turntables, Sound, and the Typewriter
• Reading with Machines: How Neurodiverse Students Learn with AI Assistant Tools
• Translating Words, Images, and Sound
• Fly Gods, Fly Girls, and African American Vernacular English in the Age of AI
• Remix, Collaborate Black Womanism/Feminism Technology, Vernacular
• For the Love of Reading, Writing, and Machine Learning
• Displacing Authentic Voices and the Subjectivity of Algorithms
• The Composition of House, Techno, Afrobeat, and the Computer: Creating New Ways of Feeling and Thinking about the Language of Music
• Literacies Needed: Posthuman, AI, and Digital Discourses
• Queer the Turntables: Sexuality, Identity, and Extended Play, Remix, and Creativity
• Turn It Up: Language Acquisition, MTV, and Cassette Tapes

General Information about Proposals

Members of the Conference on College Composition and Communication, and others who are interested in the goals and activities of CCCC, are invited to submit proposals for sessions, posters, and workshops at the 2025 CCCC Annual Convention. Nonmembers are welcome to submit proposals but are urged to join the organization. CCCC is a nonprofit organization and cannot reimburse program participants for travel or hotel expenses.

Competition for a place on the program remains intense. Because of limited space availability, many good proposals will be left unaccepted. The practice of peer-reviewing proposals without names attached will continue, as will the practice of using the number of proposals received in each area cluster to determine the percentage of the program devoted to that specific area. Reviewers with special expertise in each area will advise the program chair on proposal acceptance.

Proposals must be submitted by 9 a.m. ET, Friday, May 31, 2024.

Cool Baltimore Attractions

Baltimore is home to a variety of attractions, notably the Inner Harbor and the National Aquarium. One of the other must-sees is the Sound Garden, located at 1616 Thames Street; this independent record store sells, buys, and houses “an immense and eclectic selection of music, movies, and real cool stuff,” according to its website . The 6000-plus-square-foot warehouse has vinyl, CDs, stickers, books, and so much more. Voted In Rolling Stone as the second-best record store in the US, it might be one of the best spots to find rare or vintage albums in the country.

The Book Escape is another attraction, especially for those looking for rare or vintage books. Located at 925 South Charles Street, the bookstore holds more than forty thousand titles, and shipping within the US is free.

B-side References

Church, Scott Haden. Introduction. Turntables and Tropes: A Rhetoric of Remix , by Church, Michigan State UP, 2022, pp. 1–14.

Corbett, John. Microgroove: Forays into Other Music . Duke UP, 2015.

Eaton, George. “Ming Your B-side.” New Statesman , 30 Jan. 2012.

Elkhwad, Halla. “The Function of the B-side in Modern Music Production: How a Relic of the Physical Music Format Era Became a Site of Experimentation.” 34th Street Magazine , 5 Oct. 2022, https://www.34st.com/article/2022/10/b-sides-sufjan-stevens-cd-tame-impala-gorillaz-beach-house-remix .

Jordan, Ken, and Paul D. Miller. “Freeze Frame: Audio, Aesthetics, Sampling, and Contemporary Multimedia.” In Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture , edited by Paul D. Miller, pp. 97–108. MIT Press, 2008.

Miller, Paul D., editor. Sound Unbound: Sampling Digital Music and Culture . MIT Press, 2008.

Paphides, Pete. “An Ode to the Joy and Madness of the B-side.” Vinyl Factory , 17 May 2017, https://thevinylfactory.com/features/an-ode-to-the-joy-and-madness-of-the-b-side/ .

Reynolds, Simon. “How Auto-Tune Revolutionized the Sound of Popular Music.” Pitchfork , 17 Sept. 2018, https://pitchfork.com/features/article/how-auto-tune-revolutionized-the-sound-of-popular-music/ .

Shanfeld, Ethan. “Ghostwriter’s ‘Heart on My Sleeve,’ the AI-Generated Song Mimicking Drake and the Weeknd, Submitted for Grammys.” Variety , 26 Sept. 2023, https://variety.com/2023/music/news/ai-generated-drake-the-weeknd-song-submitted-for-grammys-1235714805/ .

Tinsley, Omise’eke Natasha. Beyoncé in Formation: Remixing Black Feminism . U of Texas P, 2018.

Wald, Gayle. “‘Have a Little Talk’: Listening to the B-side of History.” Popular Music , vol. 24, no. 3, 2005, pp. 323–37. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261143005000541 .

Zapp. “Computer Love.” The New Zapp IV U , track 2, Spotify app, Warner Records, 1985.

—. “More Bounce to the Ounce.” Zapp , track 1, Spotify app, Warner Records, 1980.

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New journalism school in London sets out to improve diversity

Founder of Cocoa Girl magazine says children will also be taught creative writing, music and illustration

The founder of the first major Black children’s magazine in the UK is to open a journalism school to combat representation problems in the creative industries.

Serlina Boyd, who founded Cocoa Girl magazine with her daughter Faith, then aged six, during lockdown in 2020, will open the Cocoa School of Journalism and Creative Arts on Monday.

The school, based in Beckenham, south London , will teach children about news reporting, video editing and illustration.

“We don’t just teach journalism, we teach creative writing and music, and it will be a hub that champions creativity,” said Boyd.

“Doing this journalism school, it’s going to inspire the next generation to see that there is a whole new avenue that they can go down instead of the normal stereotypical routes that they may pick, and we do it in a fun way.”

The unique hub will also have a parents’ and guardians’ storytelling centre and offer a fashion styling course, with adult evening classes for people who want to learn a new skill.

Feeling disillusioned with the lack of representation in journalism and the creative industries, Boyd was moved to do something to challenge it. She said: “It’s the statistics that got me. They are quite shocking and I feel that there need to be more journalists telling our stories.

“According to the Sutton Trust, 80% of editors went to private school; only 11% of journalists are from working-class backgrounds, and a measly 0.2% of journalists are Black.”

Cocoa magazine is put together by a team of journalists aged 10 and above and is distributed in 500 schools across the UK. Soon after founding Cocoa for girls in 2020, a Cocoa for boys was launched.

Boyd said the impact of teaching journalistic skills to the next generation of Black children had been amazing.

“A group of our girls interviewed Halle Bailey, who starred in the recent Little Mermaid movie as the first Black depiction of Ariel, and that video went absolutely viral,” she said.

“It allowed children that are normally seen in a positive light to be seen as such and to tell their story, and basically fit their own narrative and not wait for the world to paint a picture which is not necessarily true.”

after newsletter promotion

The school, which will run every day during after-school hours and throughout the day during half-term, will have a “no phone” policy.

“With the school we are going back to basics, children are so used to just scrolling, and they are not picking up the pen and interacting, so we are changing that,” Boyd said.

The response to the announcement of the school has been overwhelming, Boyd says, with more than 300 signups from parents wanting to enrol their children.

“Parents have been crying out for this. This school is a chance for children from under-represented backgrounds to improve their social skills and we are all just really excited,” she said.

This headline has been amended to better reflect the content of the article.

• Journalism education
• Discrimination at work
• Halle Bailey

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Singer-Songwriter Cam Discusses Working on Five Tracks for Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’: ‘She’s Just Such a Creative Genius’

By Steven J. Horowitz

Steven J. Horowitz

Senior Music Writer

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In June 2021, Cam got a call from her publisher who told her that a different songwriter couldn’t make a session and asked if she could go instead. Details were scarce — she didn’t even know whose session it was — and off she went to the studio on a whim. Little did she know she’d be walking into sessions for Beyoncé’s new chart-topping album, “Cowboy Carter,” which inevitably would feature writing, production, engineering and background singing from Cam on five of its songs.

Since debuting in 2010, the 39-year-old has etched a name for herself as an artist and songwriter, releasing a pop album in 2010 before a heel-turn to country with 2015’s “Untamed.” That record spawned her highest-charting hit to date, the confessional “Burning House,” which landed her a Grammy nomination. But she hit a different stride with 2020’s “The Otherside,” working with longtime collaborator Tyler Johnson and Jack Antonoff for a collection of songs that conveyed a deeper sophistication in her writing and performance.

Cam recalls that she worked on the album for the latter half of 2021, encouraged to share her ideas to be threaded into the bigger picture. “I could show up with these pieces that were purely myself,” she says. For instance, she channeled her love of requiems, which she sang in choir as a kid, for some of her contributions. “There’s no way you could even guess where she’s going. That’s one of my favorite things about Beyoncé and about this album, is that even though there are so many ties to the past and you hear everything woven through, it’s so forward-facing. She’s singing to us about the future and where we’re going, and I want to go there. So I think spiritually, I definitely felt aligned once I heard it all together. I couldn’t even realize that that’s where this was going back then. I was just contributing these pieces and building blocks that came from me that obviously were on the same journey.”

Right as “Cowboy Carter” released, Beyoncé revealed that she initially intended to put it out before 2022’s “Renaissance,” the first of a planned trilogy that centered on house and dance music. Cam states that she was surprised when “Renaissance” dropped instead, unsure of when the music she worked on would see the light of day.

“I was like, no!” she says with a laugh. “But I absolutely love ‘Renaissance’ so it was a no with a smile and a dance at the same time. The difference between me as an artist and writing for myself and getting to control the timeline and how it all goes and then deciding you’re going to collaborate and be in service as a writer, it’s a whole different ride. I’d like to say I have more understanding and patience for it, because I know how hard it is on the other side of things when you’re trying to direct the flow of traffic, but I definitely was like, this album is so important… So yeah, it was a big sigh of relief when it was finally released.”

She beams as she talks about “Cowboy Carter,” and recalls listening to “Protector” as a finished product for the first time. Cam is mother to her five-year-old daughter Lucy, and identified with the nurturing message of the song. “I just remember I was flying on a plane with [Lucy] and she was probably two and I was so overwhelmed,” she says. “I just remember thinking, all our parents have done this for us. They did it for us and now I’m doing it for her, and I just bawled my eyes out when I first heard that.”

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