Learn About Writing by Teaching Others

About 25 years ago, just after I had completed a master’s program, a college called and invited me to campus to learn about an opportunity to teach a writing course there. I thought it was a job interview. Instead, they handed me a book and a syllabus and told me the class I would teach was starting that night.

At the time, I was writing for an advertising agency. I had previously been a newspaper reporter. I thought I knew a lot about writing. But then my students started asking why different forms of writing are written a certain way. They taught me that I was still learning about writing, too.

During the 10 years that I taught others how to write, I became a better writer myself. It’s been 15 years since I last walked into a classroom, but those lessons have stayed with me in my work as a PR professional.