Literacy – Good Writing Skills

Writing skills are an important part of communication

Good writing skills will allow your child to communicate their message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or text message conversations. Writing skills are applicable to most areas of their life and future careers.
Below are some reasons as to why we need to help our students to improve their writing skills and some tips to help them do this:

1. Improve Creativity
The more your child writes, the more creative they will become. This will be helpful when they need to solve work problems or come up with new ideas for work.

2. Be The Go-To Person
If your child is the best writer in their class, their peers will turn to them for help with editing and proofreading their work.

3. Be More Valuable at Work
Good writers are more valuable in all areas of work. No matter where your child works or at school they will need to write. They may write reports, emails, or long presentations. The better their writing skills, the more responsibility they will be able to take on or be given.

4. Write Better Cover Letters and Resumes
Their job search will always include resumes and cover letters. A strong resume and cover letter can go a long way toward their career success. Strong writing skills will help them master this task.

5. Be More Influential
If our students can write persuasively, they can use their skills to influence others about causes and issues that matter to them.

6. You Can Have a Career On The Side

Tips to Help Develop Writing Skills:

1. Write Every Day
Practice makes perfect! It’s important that our students write every day, so they don’t end up having a long ‘dry spell’. Writing daily will allow them to see improvement in their style.

2. Read Every Day
In addition to writing, students need to make it their goal to read every day. Reading increases their vocabulary and improves their grammar and creativity.

3. Learn From the Best
Ask your child, ‘Who is your favourite author?’ Have them read their work and analyse what it is that makes them love their writing. Ask the following questions,

• Do they write with simple or complex language?
• Is it descriptive?
• Is it full of action or more passive?
• Do they like the word choice, rhythm, or content?
• Then encourage them to try and incorporate these traits into their writing.

4. Make An Outline
Encourage your child to create an outline, explaining that it gives structure to their writing. It will give them a map to follow as they write and a direction to push their message. Creating an outline also forces them to really think about their message before they write, which will help clarify what they hope to accomplish with each piece.

5. Write Several Drafts
Remind your child that they shouldn’t expect their first draft to be perfect. Think about how many drafts they think their favourite authors write to get the words just right? Encourage them to be patient. Great work takes time.

6. Do the Research First
Encourage students to do as much research as they can before they start writing. This will help them create their outline and plan the structure of their text. It will also allow them to sit down and write without having to break for research in the middle.

7. Use Writing Tools
There are so many tools online that can help master the writing process. For instance, Grammar Girl has a huge selection of grammar rules and a helpful Q&A section featuring common questions from readers. The Elements of Style is a free online version of the massively popular style guide used by writers across all genres.

Now you know why writing skills are so important to our students schooling and career success. Have them use these strategies and tips to improve their writing skills and their future career trajectory.

Happy writing to everyone!

Karen McDougall, Literacy Coordinator