By Joe Link, AAEA Freelancer

After winning the Writer of the Year award in July, the editors of the Byline asked me to offer some advice on writing. For me, that’s difficult because I know I could just as easily NOT have won. I know—as I hope you do as well—that judges are only human and have certain quirks about what’s “good” writing and what’s “bad.”

Many years ago I wrote a short piece that was personal and touching and pertinent, and I thought at the time, and still do, that it was one of the best things I’d ever written. Friends agreed. The judge that year, a former agricultural editor, panned it. Oh well.

Losing a contest happens to everyone, and you just have to keep going. The reason is that you are writing for your audience—and for yourself—not for an award.

You can find plenty of books about writing, but to get started, buy a good, simple book such as The Elements of Style by Strunk and White. You’ll undoubtedly add to your collection of books from the experts, but in the meantime, here are a few tips I hope you find useful:

— Consider all criticism seriously. Listen to readers, other writers, editors, and even judges, then be prepared to make changes to your writing—or ignore what they say altogether. In the end, you have to decide because it’s your writing, your style. You might have to fight for a word, a phrase, an entire story if you have a supervisor, but if you feel strongly, stick with it. Just know you might be right, you might be wrong. When you realize you’re wrong—sometimes realized years later—just smile and admit it. This is how we learn.

— Don’t be afraid to cut your copy. You’ll undoubtedly improve your story.

— Read good writing. I read quite a bit, mostly nonfiction, and I try to be selective. There is plenty of good writing in agriculture, but I suggest you don’t limit yourself to that topic. If you must, check out Wendell Berry. He rubs a lot of people in big ag the wrong way, but when you read him, have your pencil ready. You won’t find anyone in agriculture who writes better.

— Read it again. When I find something good, I’ll sometimes read it a second time to study how the writer did it. I just pulled an old book off the shelf, something I read probably 25 years ago,  “Up In the Old Hotel,”a collection of Joseph Mitchell’s fascinating portraits from The New Yorker. I can hardly wait to get started. Many artists (T.S. Eliot, Igor Stravinsky, William Faulkner) have said “good artists borrow, great artists steal” but it’s true that you learn from studying others. The same is true for photography; to become a good photographer you must see what good photographers do, immitate it, then develop your own style.

Write for content—when you can. Not every piece you write can win an award. The press release and other simple stories won’t let you stretch your style, but all have to be written well because it comes with the job. Just remember that, in the end, your story can only be as good as your subject. I like to say I find a good story and then do my best to not screw it up.

For me, it’s not that different from photographty. You can take a picture of a barn in the morning, in the afternoon, even at night. With a short lens or a long lens. You can take 500 pictures, but in the end, it’s still just a barn (though some people will claim it’s “art”). When writing, try to choose a subject that means something to you.

To me, having something to say is what makes writing worthwhile.

Joe Link won the 2017 AAEA Communications Writer of the Year Award. Click here to view his winning portfolio.