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Amy Wood (Class of 2011)
Amy Wood insures her future In 2007, I began my employment as an insurance agent. I had no real intention of staying in the insurance industry for more than a split-second in my time as a working woman; however, I got this crazy idea to go back to school and had to fund it somehow. My studies started off with a stab at copy editing and proofreading. As I began absorbing what I was being taught, I also began looking at the pieces of communication I encountered differently. I found myself frantically looking for a pen to practise my copy-editing marks on a monthly ICBC newsletter. The letter from the president allowed me ample opportunity to use the swirly, convicting marks. Just for kicks, I keep a red pen in my desk now. The class I most enjoyed focused on writing for magazines and trade publications, of which the insurance industry has many. I stopped myself mid-bite at the lunchroom table to admire the abstract night sky painting on the cover of Canadian Underwriter. I stroked the cover enviously and nearly salivated at the thickness and quality of the paper. Did I sniff the air as I fanned the pages? I'll never tell. Technical writing was something I'd never thought of as a career, but when I started learning about effective technical communication, I figured I should keep my options open. When a new home or condo policy came in, I flipped through the attached wording booklet -- not because it was interesting, but because I thought that one day, writing that booklet could be my job. Certain factors, however, have influenced my decision not to pursue a career in policy wordings. Such factors shall include but are not limited to using the word shall. In document design, I learned all about kerning and leading and placement, things I never thought I cared about until today. Today, I opened a customer file and immediately cringed. One of my fellow employees had sent out a letter requesting that an overdue balance be paid. The beginning of the letter was formatted normally; there was an address and a date and a dear such-and-such. It was what followed that made me writhe uncomfortably -- bolded, underlined, 18 point, Arial font "Overdue Balance." And it was off centre. Really off centre. The more I learn and observe, the more I realize how essential the written word is within the insurance industry and within other industries also. The time I have spent in Print Futures has prepared me to be a professional writer, but it has also prepared me to be just plain professional.Amy Wood is interning in 2010 with alive magazine. She will graduate from professional writing in 2011.
Posted April 2010
