How to Write Well
| Why should I learn to write well? Writing is important to many areas of your life. At school, you have to write reports, papers, and exams. You probably write letters to friends and relatives. At a job you may have to write memos and letters. You may buy something that does not work and want to write to the company that made it. Good writing skills can make these things easier. If you have good writing skills, readers are more likely to understand your ideas. Can I learn to write well? Good writing can be developed with practice, practice, and more practice. Don't give up if your writing isn't bestseller quality on the first try. You can improve your writing skills by following some simple rules for good writing, and by practicing. The more you write, the better your writing will be. Basic Writing Skills No matter what you are writing, you have one main concern. You want the reader to understand what you are trying to say. To do this use good grammar, correct punctuation, and neat presentation. If you need to review your grammar, your teacher can help you find a book to help you. Here are some simple rules that can make your writing clearer and easier to read. Write complete sentences. A complete sentence is a sentence you can say to someone, and the person will understand it. You have included a subject and a verb; it is a complete thought. Use correct punctuation. Punctuation doesn't have to be complicated. Use common sense as a guide. Sentences end with a period. Questions end with a question mark. Use exclamation points for exclamations and commands. Commas tell readers when to pause. They separate items in a list, or clauses in a sentence. If you are having trouble with punctuation, your sentence structure may be too complex. Start over and phrase what you want to say more simply. Be clear and brief. Say exactly what you mean. Think about the words you use. Does each word add something to the sentence? Does each sentence add to your message? If not, take out the unneeded words. Stick to the point. Brief, clear writing lets you make your point faster and keep your reader interested. Brief, clear writing is usually interesting to read. Write in a natural style. Writing, like conversation, should flow naturally. Don't try to impress your reader with long words or complex sentences. Write so that readers will understand your ideas. Develop an ear for good writing style. Good writing is more than following rules about grammar and punctuation. To be a good writer, you need to be aware of style. You can develop this awareness for good writing style. How? Read a lot. Read about many different subjects. Read different kinds of writing _- novels and poetry, as well as nonfiction. Practice writing. The more you read and write, the better you will be at it. Revise and rewrite. Don't expect your first draft to be perfect. Your writing can always be improved. When you write something, put it aside for at least a day. Later, when you read it again, you are likely to have a fresh point of view. You may see ways to improve it. Try to cut out extra words, make sentences shorter, and make your idea clearer. Have other people read what you have written and make suggestions. Revising should be a regular part of your writing process. Revise. Revise. Revise! Neatness counts. Sloppy handwriting is hard to read. Your readers won't understand the point you want to make if they can't read the words. To make writing papers easier for you to do and easier for the reader to read, learn to use a word processor. Use a word processor if you have one. It can be frustrating to carefully copy a paper over, using your neatest handwriting, only to discover you left out a word, or want to make a change. You then are left with two choices. You can copy the paper over again, or you can make the change and hand in a messy paper. The advantage of word processing is this: it is easy to make changes. You can send a copy to the printer, read it over, then decide to make a change. It is easy to make the changes you want, then just send it to the printer again. This means that the papers you hand in can be better written. It also means you save a lot of time while you produce better work! Writing A Paper Organization and clear sentences are the most important parts of writing a good paper. How do I start? You can start by brainstorming. To brainstorm, simply think about your topic and write down all the ideas that come to your mind. Don't decide whether the ideas are good or bad yet. Just write them all down. Then, go through the list and think about each one. Decide which ones to include and which to leave out. Brainstorming is a good way to begin because it helps you be creative. Organize your ideas... Before you start to write, organize the ideas that you brainstormed. Which ideas should you keep? Which ideas should you ignore? You can help yourself organize your ideas if you write an outline. The outline can simply be some notes that tell you which ideas to write about first, second, third. It helps you decide how many paragraphs you will need to get your ideas across and what will go into each paragraph. An outline can help you put your ideas in an order that your reader will understand. Then organize your paper There is a simple formula you can follow which will make your writing more clear. It says that to get an idea across to your audience, you should "Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. And then tell them what you've told them." You can do this in a short essay that is three to five paragraphs long. There are three basic parts to a paper: 1. The Introduction: The first paragraph is called the introductory paragraph. This is where you introduce your topic. You use this first paragraph to tell your reader what the essay will be about to "tell them what you're going to tell them." Here, you should state clearly the points you are going to make in the essay. This is called the statement of purpose. It explains to the reader why you are writing the paper. 2. The Body: The next paragraph or paragraphs give the reader the information about your topic. This is called the body of your essay. It is where you "Tell them." If you are giving the reader your opinion, you will use these paragraphs to give examples that support your argument. If you are describing something, here you will put in the details. If you are explaining a process, this is where you will give the steps to follow. How do I organize each paragraph? When you write a paragraph, the first sentence should inform the reader about the subject of the paragraph. The following sentences will include the details you want to include. The last sentence of the paragraph should lead the reader smoothly into the next paragraph. This is called a transition sentence. Whether you need one paragraph, or three, or ten, depends on the topic you have chosen. It also depends on the amount of detail you want to give the reader. If your process has three steps, you may decide to use three paragraphs, one for each step. If you are describing a time period, such as a century, you may cover the century in one paragraph. Or, you might cover the first half of the century in one paragraph and the second half in another paragraph. Think about how to divide your topic before you begin to write. 3. The Conclusion The final paragraph is your conclusion. Here you will sum up your idea. With a few short sentences. you will "tell them what you told them" in the body of your essay. Make sure that your introduction and conclusion agree. That is, make sure you have done what you said you would do in your statement of purpose. This is also the place to add any insights or final thoughts you have on the topic. Good writing skills will help you throughout your life. It is worth spending time to develop these skills return |