Writing Skills

Writing Skills

Writing skills are an important part of communication.  Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or telephonic conversations.

You might be called upon to write a report, plan or strategy at work; write a grant application or press release within a volunteering role; or you may fancy communicating your ideas online via a blog.  And, of course, a well written CV or résumé with no spelling or grammatical mistakes is essential if you want a new job.

Today, when anyone can be their own publisher, we see more and more examples of poor writing skills both in print and on the web.  Poor writing skills create poor first impressions and many readers will have an immediate negative reaction if they spot a spelling or grammatical mistake. As just one example, a spelling mistake on a commercial web page may cause potential customers to doubt the credibility of the website and the organisation.

Important Writing Skills

1.      Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation : Grammar, spelling and punctuation are key to good writing habits. The reader can form an idea about the author from what is before him, and these are the features that are most prominent in a piece of writing. When you commit these errors, the reader does not take you seriously. From these features, you can identify a serious and reliable person from the one who is not. In today's internet age, you can identify a 'phishing mail' from these features. While it presents a bad picture of the writer, the reader too has to invest more time in decoding the message if there are such errors. Therefore, make sure to read and re-read all your writings before you finalise and send them.

2.      Language and Composition Style : You should set your style of writing keeping the target reader in mind. If you are writing for your friend, you can very well use an informal language, but when you write formally, such as to a teacher, principal, government officer, company or business installation, you should adopt a sobre writing style.

3.      Identify the Main Theme : While writing, you must be aware the purpose of your writing, so that you can adopt your writing material according to your theme or purpose.

4.      Create an Outline : When you sit to write, create an outline of what you are going to write. For this, you may note the important points, the line of arguments, reasoning and interpretation, your demands and so on. You should keep all these before you when you start to write, so that you can write comprehensively and for the purpose you are writing for.

5.      Introduction of Empathy : While writing, you should try to get the reader's empathy towards what you are writing. Therefore, it is necessary that what you write interests your reader. Your writing style should ensure that what you write continues to draw his attention to the last, so that your purpose can be realized.

6.      Reader-friendly Composition : If you write a long piece of writing, such as a report or book, divide it into suitable units, lessons, headings, group headings and sub-headings, so that your material can be put in order and the reader can deduce the facts according to the sub-topic. Here are some points that will help you :

·         Avoid excessively long sentences.

·         Do not use a difficult word where a simple one will do.

·         Use punctuation correctly to aid the sense of your writing.

·         Use paragraphs to break your text into logically self-contained units.

7.      Using Questions : Using questions in the middle of your text alerts the reader, so you can use this style often. You must ensure that the questions used in the text pertain to the topic being described at that particular point of time. It should be relevant to the text and should encourage the reader to think about it.

8.      Keep Writing : The best way to develop good writing skills is to keep practising how to write. Because 'practice makes a man perfect'. The more you write, the more perfect you are.

9.      Imitate Writers You Appreciate : If you are widely read, you will have some people who are your favourite writers. In the beginning, you should try to imitate their style. If you have more than one writer as your favourite, it would be quite better, as you would be able to assimilate the two styles, and this will help your own unique style to emerge.

10.  Proofread and Edit Your Writing : Before submitting/sending your manuscript/letter/article etc., you must proofread and edit your piece of writing so that there are no errors left. Errors pertaining to material, arguments, facts and conclusion should not be allowed to go forward. You can also seek others' help in these tasks.

Critical Writing

One of the skills that regular writing will help you to develop is your ability to write critically, that is, to write in a way that is characterised by :

·         a clear and confident refusal to accept the conclusions of other writers without evaluating the arguments and evidence that they provide.

·         a balanced presentation of reasons why the conclusions of other writers may be accepted or may need to be treated with caution.

·         a clear presentation of your own evidence and argument, leading to your conclusion.

·         a recognition of the limitations in your own evidence, argument, and conclusion.

·         It is important that you can demonstrate a critical writing style in your thesis.

Essence of Writing Material

Your writing material is very important because it is this which is going to determine the fate of your writing. You can plan your writing material into the following categories :

1.      Introduction : Introduce your topic at the outset so that the reader knows what is coming for him.

2.      Relevant Information : After the initial brief introduction, let the reader know about the relevant information, such as context, reference, need, significance and such other points/factors/aspects.

3.      Uses : Acquaint the reader with the use or likely use of the topic or theme.

4.      Merits and Demerits : Discuss the merits and demerits of the topic in an objective manner.

5.      Conclusion : Your writing should end with the conclusion which should be based on the facts you have presented before.  Never base your conclusion on any facts that you have not discussed or mentioned in your writing.

Essence of Writing Skills

All writing skills can be summarised under the following headings, which this writer likes to describe as ABCLR :

1.      Accuracy : Be accurate whatever you write. If you are writing facts, you should be sure about the truthfulness and reliability of them. If you include inaccurate facts and arguments, they are sure to bring a bad impression about you.

2.      Brevity : Use as much length of your writing as is needed. At times the word-limit is given, you should adhere to such limits. 'Brevity is the soul of wit', said Shakespeare. But keep in mind not to 'sacrifice clarity for the sake of brevity'. You should prefer to write long if it is the demand of clarity.

3.      Clarity : Clarity is the soul of writing. If you are not able to communicate your points clearly, there is no point in writing it. Therefore, be clear. For this purpose, you should use the words and sentences you are comfortable with. You should try to use exact words; and if there are available two or more words for the same sense, you should opt for the easier one. Simple writing is better than complicated writing. When a person can understand your writing without making much effort, he will love to continue to read it to the last, and it will realize your purpose.

4.      Logic : When you are about to introduce a fact or argument or statement in your writing, ask yourself if it is needed in the text. If you think, you should include it, else simply discard it. If you include the points which are not directly related with your subject, they will only make your writing burdensome, and the reader will lose interest in it.

5.      Reasoning : Beginning from the introduction, the final stage of your writing is conclusion. It should be based on the inference that you draw from the facts and arguments that you have presented in the main body. You should ensure that your conclusion is in keeping with the facts you have mentioned earlier, and is not preconceived, biased or prejudiced in any way.

Role of Critical Reading and Critical Thinking in Enhancing Writing Skills

From the discussion in this and the previous chapters, it becomes amply clear that reading and thinking are very crucial aspects of writing. If you are not able to read well, if you are not able to think well, you are sure not to be able to write your text well. Therefore, as discussed in the preceding chapters too, reading critically and thinking critically are very vital for learning writing skills. If you find a writer better than others, the first thing you should look how he has included facts and how he has argued about the relevant points, and this will make widely clear that critical reading and critical thinking are very important in enhancing writing skills, and you must practise these skills well.