Writing Skills

1. Introduction and Definition:

Writing skills allow you to communicate with internal and external parties in the
workplace through many channels. When you excel at writing in the workplace, you can share
information better, collaborate with coworkers, give feedback and represent the organization to
customers or clients. Learning about valuable writing abilities and how to develop them can help
you become a stronger writer, no matter the industry or role in which you work
Writing skills are the abilities used to clearly communicate ideas through writing in
various forms. Technical knowledge about writing conventions, style guides and formatting for
different situations is also an important part of writing abilities. Knowing what situations call for
different styles of writing and being able to set an appropriate tone over text are both good
writing abilities that any person can use at work. Having strong skills in writing requires
understanding the five major elements of writing, which are:
A. Purpose: The purpose of your writing is the main idea(s) you want the reader to take
away. In most professional writing, you directly state the purpose in the first sentence or
two.
B. Audience: your audience typically includes the readers you want to read the piece, and in
some cases, you may consider a general audience who may come across your piece as
part of your secondary audience.
C. Clarity: Clarity is how easily and accurately readers can understand your purpose and the
supporting features of your piece.
D. Unity: Unity addresses whether every segment of the piece at the word-level, sentence-
level, paragraph-level and section-level all relate to one another and emphasizes or
supports the purpose.
E. Coherence: A coherent piece is one that is well-organized on every level, where the ideas
expressed in the piece relate and each segment leads the reader to the next segment.
2. Importance of Writing Skills
Writing skills are important because they allow people to communicate without being
physically present. Well-written documents, reports, emails and marketing copy can persuade
customers to purchase a product, convince investors to partner with a company or instil loyalty
among employees. That's why these skills are in high demand in nearly every industry.
These skills also help you make a good, professional impression on others in the workplace.
Many employers get their first impression of future employees through the writing abilities they
display in their resumes, cover letters and email communications. Clients and customers expect
concise and well-intentioned correspondence from everyone they interact with at an organisation.
Colleagues use professional writing abilities to share accurate information, delegate tasks and
collaborate on projects.
3. Types of writing abilities
Here are some examples of important writing abilities you may use in an educational or
professional setting:
A. Research: Research allows writers to find accurate information and best practices related
to writing in a particular style or about a particular piece of content. Writers often write
about subjects that they are not familiar with, so finding quality sources quickly is an
important skill. The information from research may also inspire you to write more
content.
B. Organization: Organization in writing refers to the ability to put ideas into an easy-to-
understand and logical order, which you do by outlining. Outlining is creating a plan for
the structure and flow of a piece of writing. Good writing needs to have a logical
structure in order to make sense to a reader. Your ability to organize sentences and
paragraphs in the most interesting way influences how others perceive you and
understand the point of your writing.
C. Reading comprehension: This skill is your ability to read a passage, understand the
context, content and subtext and retain the information you've read. Reading
comprehension skills help you respond to prompts, reply to messages and learn about
new content. People use reading comprehension skills to assess the tone and main idea of
a piece of writing. Having good reading comprehension also helps you edit your own
work by determining if you communicate a point effectively from the perspective of a
reader.
D. Editing: Editing refers to being able to review your work for issues with clarity,
structure, coherence, accuracy and language. Editing also involves reading your own
writing from another perspective and considering how well it suits your goals. You may
write multiple drafts of a piece because you keep editing and revising to make it easier to
 read, clearer, more concise and better organized. When editing your own work, think
about your word choice and tone, removing any irrelevant phrases.
E. Proofreading: Proofreading is the ability to review a piece for sentence-level items, like
grammar, punctuation, spelling, word choice and other minor errors. Being able to
proofread your own work is a highly sought-after skill because some writers find it
challenging to catch smaller errors in their work. And being able to proofread others'
work is an equally important skill because your employer or colleagues may ask you to
proofread documents.
F. Critical thinking: Critical thinking in writing involves carefully considering a topic or
passage and determining if it meets the overall goals of the piece. A few goals may
include clarity, accuracy and relevance. Critical thinking in writing can also mean using
research to support your points or craft arguments against research.
4. Improving your writing abilities
While some people are naturally talented at writing, anyone can develop their writing
abilities over time. Use the following strategies to develop your writing abilities:
A. Revisit grammar: Review grammar concepts you may have learned in school to remind
yourself of the proper ways to construct sentences and paragraphs. Then, consider taking
grammar quizzes online. They may test your application of these rules in an engaging
way.
B. Review your work with different techniques: Use different reading techniques, like:
Reading the whole piece from the end to the start, sentence by sentence, to proofread
Reviewing only the topic sentences and concluding sentences of each paragraph to check
your structure Reading your work aloud, can better help you find spelling, grammar and
punctuation errors as well as readability issues.
C. Vary your sentence structure and vocabulary: Improve the readability of your work and
diversify your writing abilities by using different sentence structures, sentence lengths
and vocabulary words in your work. For example, you can review your piece for
repeating sentence structures like complex sentences that start with prepositional phrases
and then adjust the structure to some of those sentences. Or, you might use the search
function in your word processor to identify words that you use frequently, then replace a
few of them throughout your piece to ensure the use of rich and varied vocabulary.
 D. Learn new words: Having a robust and diverse vocabulary can help you craft engaging
pieces and use words in new ways. When looking for new words to use in your writing,
keep a dictionary or thesaurus nearby or visit an online dictionary/thesaurus. You can
also make it a habit of reviewing one passage in the dictionary or thesaurus to learn a new
word or revisit the meaning of a word you think you know. When you're reading, and you
come across a word you don't recognize, look it up in the dictionary to learn the meaning.
Then, try to use it in your writing that day, whether that be work-related writing or the
writing exercise you do on your own time to improve your skills.
E. Read different kinds of writing: One of the best ways to improve your writing is to read
a variety of writing styles daily. The more exposure you have to quality writing, the
better you can produce great writing yourself. Reading helps you understand how to
apply the skills in writing you have learned.
F. Practice writing every day: Even if you don't write every day at work, practice writing in
some way every day. Focus your time on the types of writing where you most need to
improve. Give yourself writing prompts and challenge yourself to try out different skills.
5. The Writing Process
The writing process is something that no two people do the same way. There is no "right
way" or "wrong way" to write. It can be a very messy and fluid process, and the following is
only a representation of commonly used steps.
Step 1: Prewriting
 Think and Decide
 Make sure you understand your assignment, topic or the assigned writing task.
 In case of free will, decide on a topic to write about. Use Prewriting
Strategies and narrow your Topic
 Consider who will read your work. Consider your audience and voice.
 Brainstorm ideas about the subject and how those ideas can be organized. Make an
outline.
Step 2: Research (if needed)
 Search and research
 List places where you can find information.
 Do your research. Consult different library resources and helpful guides
 Evaluate your sources. Include only authentic and first hand references in your writing
tasks.
 Make an outline to help organize your research.
Step 3: Drafting
 Writing itself
 Write sentences and paragraphs even if they are not perfect.
 Create a thesis statement with your main idea. Thesis Statements reflect the core of your
writing tasks and gives an insight to the reader about the topic and issue that you will
discuss in your writing tasks.
 Put the information you researched into your essay accurately without plagiarizing.
Remember to include both in-text citations and a bibliographic page.
 Read what you have written and judge if it says what you mean. Write some more. Read
it again. Write until you have said everything you want to say about the topic.
Step 4: Revising
 Make it Better
 Read what you have written again. Revising gives you an opportunity to correct if
something is not written well. Similarly, it can also help you to include some after
thoughts as well.
 Rearrange words, sentences, or paragraphs into a clear and logical order.
 Take out or add different parts if you consider them appropriate to do so.
 Replace overused or unclear words. Words should be clear and without ambiguity. Use
clear expression and avoid using the same words again and again, instead try different
synonyms.
 Read your writing task aloud to be sure it flows smoothly.
Step 5: Editing and Proofreading
 Make it Correct
 Be sure all sentences are complete. Proofreading is an effective process that allows you to
get rid of slang expressions, over used words and helps you to identify different mistakes
if any.
 Correct spelling, capitalization, and punctuation.
 Change words that are not used correctly or are unclear.
 Make sure you are using the appropriate style formatting.
  Locally, we use APA formatting in writing process in all academic writings and formal
writing. Be sure to acquaint yourself with APA guidelines.

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