Recently, a student asked me for advice concerning how to improve his writing skill. In hopes of getting some discussion on the topic (and some further help for my student), I will reproduce my answer below.
There are several features of good writing at a university level.
most important of these is careful thinking about the subject of the
writing. Most students spend little time actually thinking clearly,
carefully, and deeply about the things they write as they complete
The second aspect of good writing is to make
yourself very clear to your readers. Instead of trying to be subtle,
good writers try first to be easily accessible to readers who are
distracted, unskilled, or otherwise hampered from the sophistication
that many university students attempt.
A third aspect of solid
writing is proper organization. Many students have no idea how to write a
paragraph topic sentence and then support it with a few other sentences
that cohere properly in the remainder of the paragraph. Inexperienced
students often think that the mere topic of each sentence should be
enough for readers to follow their line of thinking as they write. This
is not the case.
The final area that needs attention as students
better their writing skills concerns the actual mechanics of writing,
spelling, punctuation, grammar, and such factors. Not only do many
students spend little time reflecting upon issues before they write,
they also spend too little time in editing their work. One of the great
benefits of written communication is the lack of time pressure to get
things right. Writing allows communicators to pause over phrasing,
vocabulary choice, and many other issues as they make their messages as
clear, as succinct (as Voltaire wrote, "If I had had more time, I could
have written a shorter letter), and as careful as they possibly can.
are many other ways in which people can hone their writing skills. But
these four serve as a start. Ultimately, great writers start out being
much less great, and their greatness comes to fruit only with much
I would like to ask my readers to add suggestions or interact with what I have written, so that my students may become better writers.