Posted in: how to improve writing skills

If you think that the purpose of professional writing is to useas many words as possible, think again! Rather, the goal is to document information concisely and “use the most effective words.” The article “ Conciseness ,” published by Purdue OWL , outlines many important steps for a writer to take to write clearly. Use specific words Many times writers use a long phrase...
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So many people claim that they hate writing — even authors and professional writers. Why? What is it about putting pen to paper or finger to keyboard that suddenly makes cleaning out the refrigerator or talking to an irritating coworker seem so appealing? Everyone knows that starting is the hardest part, but does it really have to be that difficult? And why do so many of us feel this way about writing? It’s...
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Most of us are very adept at problem-solving--we solve problems every day, from small problems such as figuring out the best route to take to work to larger issues, such as dealing with difficult people. In fact, most of us are so good at solving problems that we may not even realize when we're actively involved in that problem-solving mode! If we are so good at solving problems, why are there so many of us...
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In our classes, we always discuss reader-centered writing; that is, writing that fully considers readers and what they want and need and how they're going to use the document. Another element of this is "noise." "Noise" can be categorized as the distractions readers face when reading. Some of these, of course, are caused by the writer and some are the result of noisy offices,...
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A lot of writers don't think much about writing logically and how it can affect scientific or technical writing; that is, they often simply assume that their readers will understand what they're trying to do and why. The problem with this, of course, is that our readers may not understand the point we're trying to make or why we're making it. Recently, we illustrated logic by using a paragraph that...
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