From Classroom to Career: Learning From Writing Mistakes

“You don’t get what you don’t ask for.” This has been a recurring theme in my life, and it’s not always easy advice to follow.

When I was trying to finish up my college experience, there were two classes I was supposed to take successively: a print publishing class and the capstone for my major. I wanted to take them concurrently so I could graduate sooner. I was nervous to ask and unsure if I was qualified to take the capstone class without having finished the other class first, but I decided to ask the professor of the capstone class anyway.

He agreed and indirectly taught me the first lesson of that class: don’t shy away from asking for what you want.

In my career, I’ve had a lot of opportunities that were only possible because I asked for something. I’ve applied for positions I wasn’t sure I was a good fit for and gotten them, I’ve negotiated with clients when I wasn’t sure they would like it, and I’ve asked for new projects when I felt bored or stagnant. Opportunities can arise if you are willing to put yourself on the line, work through uncomfortable feelings, and ask for the things you want.

Whether you’re still a student or you’re fulfilling your freelance dreams, here’s a dive into some other things I learned from this class and how you can apply them in your career.

Using Timely Communication

Communication is one of the most important aspects of any career. Whether you’re communicating with a client, with a supervisor, or with a direct report, giving people information in a timely manner is crucial.

The editing capstone class for my program was designed to model a small publishing company for a magazine, and my role was the Head of Advertising. One of my assignments was to contact various departments at the school and ask if I could put flyers up in their buildings — these flyers advertised the magazine’s photography contest. Some buildings required advanced notice for these flyers to be put up, so sometimes, because of when I made the request, the flyers would be posted after the due dates were past. After making those mistakes, I learned to check deadlines early so we could use that space to advertise our products or events.

Since then, I prefer to communicate with people early and often. Effective communication can help make clients and coworkers happier. If you’re behind on a project or struggling to understand instructions, it’s much better to ask for accommodations or clarification early on instead of leaving something unfinished by the due date.

Accepting Feedback Gracefully

The best editors will focus on the positives rather than only pointing out flaws, but editors still need to give negative feedback for their work to be effective. As a writer, how you deal with that negative feedback is important. During my class, I learned how to accept feedback better because my fellow classmates were editing my work and returning it to me for revisions. I needed to learn to take feedback that was negative and use it to create plans on how to improve.

However, sometimes, I disagreed with feedback I received or didn’t understand it. When that happened, I had to make a point to communicate with the editor to ask them to clarify or explain their reasoning. That way, we could come up with a solution to the problem that they saw while still leaving me happy with the finished piece.

At WritersDomain, things work a little bit differently than the way they did in my class, but you can still communicate with the editors by emailing Support to ask for clarification. This is especially important if you’re getting the same feedback over and over again — the Support team can let you know what it is specifically that the editors are looking for and how you can improve your writing to match. As a freelancer, it’s important to be flexible no matter what kind of communication lines you have available and to use what you’ve got wisely.

It’s a fact of life as a freelancer that sometimes, no matter how hard you work, a piece still gets rejected. That can be difficult to deal with because it’s time that you can’t get back, but there’s usually nothing to be done except to try harder the next time you write something.

For myself, I like to proofread multiple times, including reading through my entire piece every time I get it back from editors. In addition to making the revisions they suggest, I make sure my work is as polished as possible. It’s easy to make mistakes with online writing, so I make sure to edit my own work carefully instead of just using a spell checker before I turn anything in. By using these tactics, you can avoid having things rejected for silly mistakes and let the editor focus on more substantive matters.

Dealing With Mistakes

Probably the most important thing I learned was that expertise does not equal perfection. In one instance, after writing an article, proofreading it myself, and handing it over to at least one other person to edit, I noticed that the published version included a fairly obvious misspelling. Unfortunately, by the time I noticed it, it was too late to change it.

At first, I was distraught. After all, that article is part of my portfolio and is what I send to potential employers. I can’t have a mistake in there! But then I realized that it speaks to my humanity. Multiple experienced editors read through my piece and didn’t catch this error, and there’s nothing to be done about it now. The people reading through my portfolio won’t assume I’m incompetent; they’ll know I’m not a robot. Even experts in their fields sometimes make mistakes, and editing is just an avenue to get multiple pairs of expert eyes on a project before it goes out to the mass public.

Learning From Mistakes

A lot of what I learned from my class, I learned through making mistakes, and that’s probably why the lessons stuck so well. I got to make mistakes on a real-world project without being shielded from the fallout. Instead, I learned from those mistakes and committed myself to doing better in the future. That has made me a better editor and, I think, a better person.

The next time you’re looking for something to learn from, consider trying out a project you’re not sure you’re qualified for — maybe you can make some mistakes to learn from too.