Edit desk: An entrepreneurial approach to writing

I sat down late at night ready to write my edit desk. It was the day before it was due. I was certain that the time crunch would pressure me into quickly deciding what to write about, but I was wrong. There were infinite possibilities. I could spark a political debate or I could talk my life experiences. The more I thought about what I should write about, the more I couldn’t figure out where to begin. What topic would be the most relatable for a reader? What would inspire people the most? Three hours went by and I still had not a clue.

Gabrielle Pomerantz

It was at this point when I started to realize what the real problem was. I was given so much freedom in writing this edit desk and this is simply something that I am not used to.

This sensation can be applied to life at large. I consider myself a creative person and I very much enjoy having the freedom to craft my own assignments, but I find it much more difficult to organically create my own piece of work instead of answering a question generated by someone else. All of these years at school have taught me to solve the problems and face the challenges that are presented to me, and not as much to generate my own topics and then decide on which one would be most meaningful and impactful in the eyes of an audience.

School teaches us to think a certain way. In math class, we are told to solve problems to get the correct answers. In design class, we are told to create something that must fit certain guidelines and expectations. In English class, we are told to respond to a specific prompt and structure an argument around that. It is incredibly rare to encounter an assignment or a class where we are completely left on our own to determine what we want to do and how we want to do it. When this occurs, we are often left blank-minded, merely because this is so different from the way in which we are conditioned to think.

The exception to these classes in which we are presented with already-existing problems and work to solve them is entrepreneurship. I have completed two entrepreneurship classes at Lehigh so far and they both exposed me to a completely different and innovative way of thinking.

In the field of entrepreneurship, hopeful entrepreneurs are not given a list of problems that they can solve to become successful. If that were the case, we would be seeing thriving start-ups left and right. Instead, entrepreneurs must find problems that exist in the lives of their target market and then work to solve those. Entrepreneurs are essentially starting from nothing and identifying problems within their audience that could be turned into opportunities to change lives. This process is incredibly similar to the process I am undergoing in writing this edit desk, since I was not given a definite starting point.

In order to create things that may have great impact on the lives of others in entrepreneurship as well as creative writing, we must apply qualities that are rather unconventional to be taught. We must be able to to see life from the perspective of others. We must look at what others want and find a way to give it to them to hopefully change their lives.

Writers often seek to inspire others with their words and entrepreneurs often seek to better the lives of others with their products. This cannot be accomplished without a great deal of compassion and the ability to understand others.

When given the opportunity to create something for an audience when given limited guidelines, it is important that we do more than simply look to express ourselves. It is just as important that we create a final product that allows others to further their identities or learn something new about themselves. It is important that we look toward our audience to see what they desire that we can provide for them. With this approach, both the audience and the innovator will both benefit, and together we can create a better world.

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Gabrielle Pomerantz, ’18, is an associate lifestyle editor for The Brown and White. She can be reached at [email protected].