How To Get Writing Experience in College
Because writing is an essential skill for everyone to develop, it makes sense for every student to devote some time to improving their writing skills in college.
By Ceanna Hayes Daniels — September 26, 2023
Some students enter university eager to read and write as much as is humanly possible. Whether they're poets, aspiring authors, or investigative journalists in the making, they seek out every opportunity they can find to try their hands at a new genre or improve their editing skills.
If you're one of these students, you might already have some leads on the opportunities there are to get writing experience in college, but you also might wonder if there are any you're missing. Here are a few ideas you can look into as you get settled into your dorm and begin the new semester!
Try Your Hand at Writing for the School Paper.
Even if you don't intend to become a journalist, you'll learn valuable skills from writing for a newspaper — you'll improve your ability to synthesize information, your comfort with collaborative work, your ability to work on a tight deadline, and more. If you're used to a different format, like fiction or poetry, developing the appropriate "voice" for news can include a bit of a learning curve. However, learning to write for multiple audiences and formats will provide you with new perspectives and tools, helping you to adapt to a variety of styles with ease and to think outside of the box when you approach a new project.Pitch a Piece to a Student Publication.
If your school has a recurring student publication, such as a poetry journal, try pitching a piece! While getting your work published is the obvious end goal for pitching, other elements of the process — developing a new piece, honing an existing one, reworking your draft based on the feedback given to you by the editing team, and more — will be even more valuable in the long run than seeing your writing in print. Depending on the styles of writing you most enjoy and the options for student publications on campus, you might also consider becoming a regular contributor or applying to join the editing team!Enroll in Additional Courses.
If your schedule can accommodate extra classes, scour the English department's course offerings for anything that seems promising. Both literature classes and dedicated composition classes will help you to gain additional writing experience, so try to sign up for courses that will help you to grow in a new way or refine a fledgling skill, not just the courses that appeal to your comfort zone.Sign up for a Writing Seminar.
If you don't have the time to enroll in an additional three-credit writing class but still want to add a few new skills to your toolkit, see if a professor in the English department offers a writing seminar. Seminars are often easier to integrate into busy schedules because they can last for only a few days or weeks, or they might meet for just an hour per week through the entire semester. Some are quite intensive despite the brief timeline, so be sure you know what your semester's workload will allow for before you enroll.Embrace Rough Drafts.
Although you won't be able to add it to your resume or CV, embracing rough drafts is the simplest way to get more writing experience in college. Try scheduling deadlines for yourself ahead of the paper's final deadline so that you have time for at least one round of editing and rewriting. Print out your first draft and give yourself the kind of feedback you'd appreciate from a tutor or teacher — note where you think an argument is lackluster, where a quote from the text would strengthen your argument, or where a sentence should be shortened. Then, use that feedback to fuel your next draft in the short term and your goals for growth in the long term.Go to the Writing Center.
If you don't yet feel confident analyzing your drafts alone, or if you just want another set of eyes on your paper, head to your college's Writing Center. The tutors there will be able to not only give you feedback on your project, but also direct you towards helpful resources for building specific skills!Ask Your Professor How to Improve Your Paper.
Like embracing rough drafts, this tip won't boost your CV, but it will boost your writing ability. Your professors have decades of experience writing and grading essays, and they will be able to help you identify where your shortcomings are. You should always pay attention to the red-ink feedback your professors give you on papers and use it to improve your next project, but, if you want additional feedback, sign up for office hours and ask for specific guidance.Volunteer to Write First Drafts at Work.
If you have an on-campus job that includes a form of professional writing, ask your supervisor if you can put together the first draft of an upcoming project during your next shift. Whether you write a report, prepare interview questions, or volunteer potential phrasing for the social media posts of the company account, you'll gain experience in a new writing format, which will make you a stronger, more versatile writer over time. Plus, depending on the job, you'll be able to add that writing experience to your resume and cover letter when you apply to future jobs or internships.Write in a Journal.
Whether you're developing the drafts of future projects or just reflecting on your day, writing in a journal is one of the best ways for anxious individuals to gain writing experience. All too often, writers with anxiety or self-doubt dismiss the potential in their work and throw away ideas, or even complete drafts, because the work isn't yet "perfect." However, to grow as writer, you need to keep your projects around so you can learn from their mistakes and celebrate their successes. Sometimes the easiest way to start that is in a private journal, where you can try your hand at different formats, different writing "voices," different schedules, and different topics, to slowly build your confidence in your own ability and your tolerance for allowing others to read your writing.Join or Start a Writing Group on Campus.
If you want to develop some community around writing, join a writing group on campus, or start one yourself! Finding a few friends who share your interests and want to grow in the same skills that you do will help you to maintain the motivation necessary to pursue your goals. Plus, you'll have a built-in group of collaborators when you need help refining an idea, workshopping a project, or editing a draft.If there are multiple writing groups on campus and you only have the bandwidth for one, join the one that relates most to your primary interest so that the feedback will be applicable to the genre or format of your project. For example, if you're an aspiring novelist, the advice of other writers in the same boat will be more applicable to your work than the advice given by the members of a poetry workshop. However, if you have the bandwidth for multiple, or don't yet know what your primary interest is, sign up for the email list of any writing group you're interested in and rotate between the groups, depending on the project you're currently working on. You might eventually decide to narrow to one because of the friendships you've built in a particular group, or you might decide that spending time with a wide variety of writers increases your creativity. Whatever the case may be, remember to plug into that community so you can give back to the other members, uplifting and inspiring them as well.
Start a Blog.
If there aren't any writing groups on your campus and you don't have the time (or social energy) to oversee a new one, you might decide to start a blog to gain writing experience. Starting a blog provides you with a public platform where your work can be seen, appreciated, and critiqued, helping you to grow in specific skills as well as overall confidence. It also provides you with the opportunity to hone in on a niche topic, if you feel like operating a blog dedicated to a particular subject. Alternatively, you could use the blog as a landing platform for a broad swathe of projects, only connected by the fact that you're interested in them. Either way, you'll build your tolerance for being perceived and for receiving feedback, while also writing about subjects that matter to you. Plus, you can select a few of your best pieces if you need a writing sample for a future job application.Talk to Upperclassmen.
Talking to upperclassmen is one of the best ways to learn about writing classes and opportunities you might have overlooked, or not even heard about, on your own. If there's an upperclassman whose writing you admire — perhaps they write your favorite column in the school paper, or perhaps they've published the type of poem you want to branch into in multiple editions of the student poetry magazine — then ask if you can grab a coffee together and get their recommendations on the courses that freshmen should seek out, the professors that made a strong impact on them, and the programs they wish they'd known about sooner.Conclusion
Because writing is an essential skill for everyone to develop — you'll need it for tasks ranging from preparing a quarterly report for your boss to putting together a thank you note for your grandparents — it makes sense for every student to devote some time to improving their writing skills in college. If you plan to make a career of writing, though, or if it's one of your primary hobbies, seek out as many opportunities as you can to gain experience, boost your confidence, and make connections with other writers during your time in college.
Ceanna Hayes Daniels
Ceanna Hayes Daniels is freelance writer and editor. In 2022, she graduated Hillsdale College summa cum laude with a degree in politics. In her free time, she continues to enjoy studying philosophy, political theory, and literature. She and her husband live in Michigan, where the two enjoy perusing bookstores together for new books and old records.
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