Writing skills success - LearningExpress 2009

Introduction

Since you bought this book, you probably want or need to learn more about the process of writing and how to become a better writer. This book will help you acquire the coveted power of the pen in 20 easy steps. It covers the basics of writing: punctuation, usage, diction, and organization. You’ll find no fluff in this book; it’s for busy people who want to learn as much as they can as efficiently as possible. Each lesson contains enough illustrations for you to get the idea, opportunities to practice the skills, and suggestions for using them in your daily life.

Many people fear a blank sheet of paper or an empty computer screen. “I just don’t know what to write. Even when I know what I want to say, I’m afraid it will come out looking wrong or sounding stupid.”

But that’s one of the things to love about writing. Writing is a process. The first time you write a draft, it doesn’t matter if your writing comes out wrong or sounds stupid to you because you can change it as often as you want. You can go over it until you’re completely satisfied or until you need to shift gears. You can show your draft to your friends or family and get a response before you ever make it public.

Don’t put pressure on yourself by thinking you’re going to write a perfect first draft. No one can sit down and write polished memos, reports, or letters without changing (or revising) them at least slightly. Even professionals have to revise their work. For instance, writer Ernest Hemingway had to revise the last page of his famous novel A Farewell to Arms 39 times before he was satisfied. You probably won’t want to revise anything that many times before the final copy, but even if you write two or three drafts, you certainly aren’t alone in your need for revision.

Writing has three distinct advantages over speaking:

1. In writing, you can take it back. The spoken word, however, cannot be revised. Once you make a statement verbally, it affects your listeners in a particular way, and you can’t “take it back” or rephrase it to the point that the first statement is forgotten. However, if you write a statement and, after looking at it, realize that it sounds offensive or incorrect, you can revise it before giving it to the intended audience. Writing is a careful, thoughtful way of communicating.

2. Writing forces you to clarify your thoughts. If you’re having trouble writing, it’s often because you’re not yet finished with the thinking part. Sometimes, just sitting down and writing whatever is on your mind helps you discover and organize what you think.

3. Another advantage is permanence. Ideas presented in writing carry far more weight than spoken ideas. Additionally, they can be reviewed and referred to in their exact, original form. Spoken ideas rely upon the sometimes inaccurate memories of other people.

Writing is nothing more than thought on paper—considered, organized thought. Many people are protective of their thoughts and, therefore, prefer to keep them hidden inside their heads. Many great ideas and observations are never born because their creators won’t express them. This book can help you express your ideas in clear, grammatically correct ways. After you learn how to insert commas and semicolons correctly, use verbs to create strong images in your writing, and the other basic skills taught in this book, you’ll gain confidence in your writing ability. In fact, you’ll be able to move forward and master more complex writing concerns after you get the basics down. More and more jobs these days require at least some writing, so the skills you learn in this book will be put to good use.

The lessons in this book are designed to be completed in about 20 minutes each. If you do a lesson every weekday, you can finish the whole course in about a month. However, you may find another approach that works better for you. You’ll find you make more progress, though, if you complete at least two lessons a week. If you leave too much time between lessons, you’ll forget what you’ve learned. You may want to start with the pretest that begins on page 1. It will show you what you already know and what you need to learn about grammar, mechanics, and punctuation. Then, when you’ve finished the book, you can take a posttest to see how much you’ve improved.

If you practice what you’ve learned in this book, it won’t take long for other people to notice the new and improved you. So dive into the first lesson and get ready to improve your writing skills. Good luck!