I have been interning as a Creative Writing and Journalist Intern at Aiken House for a few weeks now and I have learned so many things in this short amount of time. As an English major I am used to writing analytical and research-based papers, and as a Creative Writing minor I have had a lot of experience writing in different genres, such as fiction. However, I have never had much experience writing for online databases or journalistic writing. This internship has allowed me to step outside of my usual styles of writing and has allowed me to gain some experience writing for specific audiences and clients. Being an English major, I have always seen writing as a way to analyze my understanding of a text or to create my own piece of work. However, with my internship I am writing articles that are for other people. With this new style of writing, I am no longer just writing for myself, but I have to factor in the audience I am trying to reach, the client I am writing for and what they stand for, and the topic for the article I am given. This has been both challenging and fun. I am enjoying being challenged in different genres and learning more about what it is like to write for an online audience. I have been learning the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as well as how to use online sources to post my articles. A lot of what I have been learning is all new to me but will be very beneficial to my goals after graduation. These new findings have made me think about how different writing is outside of my discipline and how writing for businesses changes the approaches to writing that I take. I have been enjoying learning all these new aspects through my internship and I am excited to see where the next few weeks lead me!
A blog dedicated to current, past, and future students of Duquesne University's Department of English and Theater Arts
Building Bridges 