Writing Skills

Effective written communication can cover a wide range of roles and responsibilities including:

• Presentation skills

• Negotiation skills

• Influencing skills

• Report writing

• Word processing

• Selling skills

If you’ve done any of the following you will have used writing skills:

• Written a report or summary (which could include Writing your C.V.)
• Summarised a set of ideas (whether your own or someone else's)

Stages in the writing process

If you’re writing a report or summary there are some basic steps you can follow:

• Work out what your conclusion is and write it down.

• Brainstorm initial ideas onto the computer.

• Organise these into headings with main points underneath.

• Organise these headings-and-points into the best order.

• Write in other headings that will structure your writing, depending on the nature of the assignment (such as introduction, conclusion, references, abstract, methodology, results, etc).

• Allocate a word limit for each point - check whether you have enough or too many points for the word limit you have allocated.

• Select the strongest points and save the rest elsewhere.

• Write up your points - you may find it easier to start with the conclusion.

• Read through and fine tune - check it makes sense, check one point seems to lead naturally to the next.

• Leave the writing for a day - read and fine tune again

• Print out and read aloud - look for typing errors and other mistakes: correct these

You will develop your own strategies and find short cuts as the process becomes more familiar to you. For example, some people find that they develop their ideas as they write whereas other people cannot write until they have worked out what they need to say.

Source

• From Writing skills (Skills4Study)

More Information

• Writing (BBC Skillswise)

This content comes from The University of Essex