Writing: The Most Important Skill
By: Mackenzie O’Gara
Effective communication is something that is deeply ingrained in our society. Therefore, understanding and constantly working towards becoming a better writer is a very important step in our lives.
From learning your ABCs to writing an essay to get into college, writing helps us as humans express our feelings, thoughts, emotions, and ideas in a solid and organized form. Communicating our values, beliefs, ideas, and more helps not only ourselves, but those around us grow and learn how to communicate effectively.
Going beyond putting words on paper, college students must learn technical skills to be considered efficient and effective writers, no matter what their major may be. Even though some majors may differ in the amount of writing one may do, it is still necessary that all students partake in a writing course before graduating. For example, Elon University requires students to take a 100 level writing course in order to graduate, along with several literature classes. Because, like my teachers have always told me, the more reading you do, the better writer you will become.
If you find yourself hearing the same advice over and over again, it must be true. Right? I believe so and when it comes to writing, it is important to not only practice your personal weakness but also analyzing those of others along with their strengths. When reading good writing, one will absorb the information unconsciously, while following the flow of the article or whatever it is they may be reading. However, when one is reading bad writing, it is obvious where the mistakes are laying and what needs to be fixed for the reader to have a clear understanding.
While reading and writing often can help college students become better writers, there are also some other factors that they may want to consider that go beyond the words themselves. These other factors are listed below.
- Set goals for your writing
- Research and know your topic
- Write for a set amount of time
- Write everyday
- Create a focused environment
These factors may help students create a clear headspace and an environment that allows them to write freely and consciously. While setting goals allows a writer to meet the requirements along with having a set amount to do. Researching the topic allows the writer to stay on track and not stray from the set idea. Writing for a specific amount of time allows the writer to include time management along with making sure they are getting right to the point. Writing every day helps writers keep their wheels spinning and thinking about writing, along with making sure they don't feel rusty as one might feel when not having written in a while. Finally, creating a focused environment allows the writer to stay focused and free of distractions.
As a college student, writing is essential and one of the most effective ways to communicate our learned knowledge, whether it is through a research paper or an email to a professor. These skills will allow students to flourish in their future work environments while also looking professional, intelligent, and organized. With the technology we have in this day and age, it is important to keep up and stick with the trends. This is similar to the skill of writing as now we have many more platforms than just pen and paper. And if we're being honest, it is a blessing in disguise as spellcheck is something I couldn’t live without.
