Some people enjoy writing, some hate it, but we all need this incredibly important skill. The power of effective writing is immense in that it allows us to properly communicate to inform, persuade, convince, entertain, and evoke emotions. Yet that is only the tip of the iceberg. Developing good writing skills also helps us become better readers which aid in becoming better learners. Effective writing can also improve our ability to reflect, which has been shown to assist emotional intelligence and mental health (Kennison, Lamb, Ponder, Turner, Karpinski, & Dzurec, 2019; Rtor, 2019) as well as help us to become better critical thinkers (Luo, 2019; Stephenson, & Sadler-McKnight, 2016). Additionally, the act of regularly writing has a way of building upon itself increasing one’s creativity (Kenny, 2019).
But why do some people hate writing? I have always had a special relationship with writing in that it has served as a creative outlet and a means of reflection for me for as long as I can remember, but it can be hard work. Many others haven’t embraced writing from an early age. It takes considerable effort to learn the many rules to write properly and it requires thinking and creativity to properly and effectively express oneself. Now, thankfully, we have many excellent tools to assist students in improving their writing. Microsoft Word offers a lot of assistance while writing and online apps such as Grammarly (https://app.grammarly.com) also offers great tools to help students and writers in general, to help them see their errors along with possible solutions. There are now also many free online writing courses that are available (90 Free Online Courses to Improve Your Writing Skills: www.classcentral.com/report/writing-free-online-courses).
Yet tools and resources in and of themselves won’t help anyone become a good writer; proper motivation is needed for students to take action and improve their writing capability. Beyond the information already presented and the extrinsic reward of getting better grades, students need to be aware that time and time again being able to write well (effective communication) comes up as a top needed skill to be employed as expressed by organizations such as Forbes and others (Liu, 2019; Marr, 2019). The National Association of Colleges and Employers states that “…employers responding to NACE’s Job Outlook 2019 survey said they will seek evidence of solid written communication skills on their candidates’ resumes” (NACE, 2018, para 1). Additionally, researchers who analyzed previous studies and conducted their own investigations also determined that one of the most important skills needed by students to be marketable and maintain successful employment is effective communication, specifically good writing skills (Woods, Briedis, & Perna, 2019).
As teachers, professors, and facilitators we must work to incorporate appropriate writing assignments as often as possible in as many ways as possible. We must always require correct abilities in essay writing, but we need to go beyond that and also ensure our students can write an effective email, a proper text message or Facebook post, do they know the value of journaling, can they appreciate and write a poem? As expressed at the beginning of this post, writing has many different benefits and students need to know about them so that they can see the relevance of needing to write well so that they can help themselves and improve society as a whole.
What are your thoughts on the need for effective writing? Do you believe it is underrated or overrated? Why or why not?
Reference
Kennison, M., Lamb, C., Ponder, J., Turner, L., Karpinski, A. C., & Dzurec, L. C. (2019). Expressive Writing: A Self-Care Intervention for First Year Undergraduates. Building Healthy Academic Communities Journal, 3(1), 44-55.
Kenny, T. (2019). Tom Kenny Design. 7 ways writing improves creativity. Retrieved from https://tomkenny.design/articles/7-ways-writing-improves-creativity
Liu, J. (2019, ). The 10 most in-demand soft skills to master if you want a raise, promotion or new job in 2020. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/21/10-top-soft-skills-to-master-for-2020-if-you-want-a-raise-promotion-or-new-job.html
Luo, N. (2019, April). Research on the Reading and Writing Integrated Teaching Model of College English Based on Critical Thinking. In 3rd International Conference on Culture, Education and Economic Development of Modern Society (ICCESE 2019). Atlantis Press.
Marr, B. (2019). The 10+ most important job skills every company will be looking for In 2020. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/10/28/the-10-most-important-job-skills-every-company-will-be-looking-for-in-2020/#4d6e521067b6
NACE. (2018). Employers want to see these attributes on students’ resumes. National Association of Colleges and Employers. Retrieved from https://www.naceweb.org/talent-acquisition/candidate-selection/employers-want-to-see-these-attributes-on-students-resumes
Rtor. (2019). How writing can improve your mental health. Resources to Recover. Retrieved from https://www.rtor.org/2019/06/12/how-writing-can-improve-your-mental-health
Stephenson, N. S., & Sadler-McKnight, N. P. (2016). Developing critical thinking skills using the science writing heuristic in the chemistry laboratory. Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 17(1), 72-79.
Target. (2019). What are the top 10 skills that’ll get you a job when you graduate? TARGETjobs. https://targetjobs.co.uk/careers-advice/career-planning/273051-the-top-10-skills-thatll-get-you-a-job-when-you-graduate
Woods, D. R., Briedis, D., & Perna, A. (2019). Professional skills needed by our graduates.