We get it! How taking a writing course at
USC helped improve my writing
by Nancy Yuen

Nancy Yuen (second from right) poses with classmates at University of Southern California.

About eight years ago, University relations sent several staffers to a writing workshop, and that was the last writing course I took. I was inspired recently when Dick Schaefer, LLU historian, who is helping write the School's 50th Anniversary book, mentioned that he registers for one writing course a year.

When I received an invitation to take part in a summer writing program sponsored by University of Southern California, the School was very supportive, and using the LLU employee tuition benefit I signed up for a course taught by faculty from the master's degree in writing program from the USC School of Cinema.

Along with other marketing and PR professionals on the LLU campus, I'm a member of Public Relations Society of America. In addition to sharpening writing skills, the USC course interested me because of recent seminars offered by PRSA demonstrating how organizations can use good writing and storytelling techniques to encourage people to finish reading what is published by an organization, as well as remembering the message and and sharing it with others.

Ten students were in my class. Our teacher, Sandi Berg, received her master's degree in screenwriting from UCLA.

We attended lectures, listened to interviews with 10-15 successful writers, and critiqued each other's work. Many of us also purchased and read books about writing that were not required for the class.

We soon learned that when Ms. Berg said “I don't get it” after we read our work to the class, this could mean: what you've written is unclear; what you've just read is substandard; your writing doesn't make any sense.

Another one of our teacher's favorite sayings was “We get it.” This was pronounced “we get it,” and could mean: you've repeated yourself and we understood it the first time; or you're talking down to (underestimating) your audience.

An important part of how the class helped improve our writing was the immediate feedback we received from our classmates. And they are pretty amazing—a USC communications student who is moving to London to complete his final year in his master's degree program; an engineering graduate who moved back east after the class ended to begin work as a technical writer for the CIA; a retired teacher; a concert violinist from Japan with a master's degree from a university in Norway. Also in the class was a Harvard graduate who moved to California to attend the class (he is in final talks to be hired by NBC for their executive training program).

We turned in our final assignments on August 6, and Sandi told us to expect to see criticism when we receive them back; and that this will help us improve our writing more than if she writes insincere, glowing comments. “If you don't see something written by portions of your work, assume they are OK,” she told us.

Many incredible things are happening in our School; and may we continue to strive to tell our story in a way that makes us proud to work and study here; the public come to us for treatment; the media ask our opinion on oral health care topics; and people want to choose our alumni as their doctor or dental hygienist.