DUB blogger musings

I was asked by DUB to write a segment for the upcoming annual Campus Columnist competition. Who better to advise prospective columnists on how to win the competition than the person who didn't manage to win it right? But in all seriousness, it was nice to still land a gig as a “blogger”, and I do care about writing. With the few pieces I've written (a.k.a. “sufficient experience”), I'll share my thoughts on writing for DUB; first, looking at going through the competition, and then what comes after that.

I heard about the competition through Professor José van Dijck, who pitched the competition at the end of her honours seminar module. You would not have read a word of mine if not for her encouraging demeanour. At the time, I read the occasional DUB article and had also read some of the articles from Groningen University’s counterpart, UKrant. I had always considered writing for some sort of outlet, only to push that idea aside to do something else, or decide that I wouldn't be good at it anyway.

The competition format intrigued me. I found it a more encouraging environment to pitch oneself as a writer than to email a sample off-handedly, at the risk of being promptly sent to the trash (or labelled as spam). The competition felt like a warm invitation to show what you've got. I would encourage any prospective entrant to view it similarly, and I think the DUB is genuinely interested in what you have to offer.

A blessing and a curse
Onto the practical matters of getting through the competition. You effectively have 2 raffle tickets as you're allowed to submit 2 columns, with a word count of 500 each. Having to write two columns can be seen as a blessing and a curse. The downside is that you need to do twice as much thinking, twice as much writing, editing, proofreading, etc. You might have a really good idea for an article, but then struggle to come up with a second one that is on par with it. The upside is that you are given an entire dimension to showcase yourself in a different light.

My approach was to position my two entries along a sort of spectrum. The first article was sombre and reflective, recounting my first days in the Netherlands and the challenges of settling into a new country. On the other side of the spectrum, I opted for a piece that was a bit more brash, a rant. This approach allowed me to show a greater variety of writing, incorporate different styles of humour, and show range. An alternative framing is that one piece can represent your ability to write something standard that you would already see within DUB's pieces, and the other can show that you’re not afraid to go off-kilter. Funnily enough, I expected the first piece to be the stronger one, fearing that my second entry was a bit too risky. Make of that what you will.

Naturally, you would like your entries to stand out from the crowd. The jurors are going to have to comb over a fair few articles, with relatively little time to gather a good impression of yourself and what you would bring to the table as a columnist. You want your text to make an impression and to pique their interest. It may be tempting to exaggerate your personality or your stories in pursuit of this goal. I would advise against doing so, unless you wish for your presence as Campus Columnist to be a caricature of sorts.

Your own voice
One of the main things to convey within your entries is your personality. The presence of personality in columns or blogs distinguishes impersonal writing, done solely to inform or tell a story, from personal writing, done to communicate with an audience. One of the more positive bits of feedback I’ve ever gotten was when a friend of mine said that they could hear my voice as they read one of my blogs. Your columns are a reflection of who you are, how you perceive the world, what you stand for, and what you find important. 

Consider your social interactions with friends and family, be it in person or online. What are the things such people associate with you? Why do they enjoy talking to you and hearing what you have to say? Is it your cheek, your empathy or your insight? What kinds of interactions yield value to you and those you know? Is it raising awareness for issues, or sharing your inner musings, or making people laugh through unconventional ways of looking at ordinary things? Figuring these things out is very helpful in directing what you’d like to write about and how you should go about writing them.

The writing process
Now onto writing the entries. We all have our own process, so I wouldn’t prescribe a method for that. I personally found it useful to have at least one other pair of eyes review my texts, specifically to see whether certain jokes land and whether my writing makes sense to the broader world. It’s not as fun travelling around your world if your reader is standing awkwardly at the entry sign, perhaps even looking backwards. 

I’m also the kind of person who keeps trying to tweak things until they’re perfect, even if perfection never comes or seems to move continuously. At a certain point, it’s good enough to be sent, and the general public will not be as affixed to the details of your text as you are. It’s fine. Even after writing many texts, I still close, nay slam, my laptop shut after emailing them off to be published. At worst, it’s mediocre and nobody cares.

What if you win?
Now with all the stars aligned, one of your entries makes it to the final 3, and at the reception, you are announced as the next Campus Columnist. You get your flowers, your scholarship, your praise. Life is good for a while. Then the hard work begins of being consistent and living up to the standard you promised in the competition. The main promo piece reassures you that there’s no shortage of topics to write about. However, a multitude of topics does not necessarily entail a multitude of perspectives and new insights. Sometimes, you just don’t really have anything to add to a conversation; either you’re not that personally invested, or someone has already said what had to be said. 

I would say that coming up with topics and the manner you want to tackle them is the most difficult aspect of the position. There can be weeks where you just don’t have much. Sometimes you’re also just busy with your regular workload. Campus columnists publish twice a month, while blogger only post once a month. Either way, you should have confidence in your ability to deliver consistently.

Finally, if your pursuit is primarily driven by engagement—such as shares, likes, and comments —I would perhaps advise against pursuing the role. This medium isn’t like Instagram or Twitter, where you see hundreds of likes, comments, reposts and whatever else. Most of the texts have only a few comments, sometimes none. This can be a bit underwhelming at times. It can feel like you’re speaking into the void, and the void never responds. As such, your ambition has to be, at least to some extent, driven by the love of the game.

In short: give it a go, but be aware of what you’re signing up for. Good luck!

Do you want to become our campus columnist? See what you can do here