Academic

Writing
The Importance of
Developing Your Writing
Skills
The Importance of Writing Well

“When I go around the country talking with big

corporate clients, I am astounded at the number of
managers who bewail the fact that nobody who
works for them can write a simple paragraph. You
can have the greatest ideas in the world, but
they’re no good to your company, or your career, if
you can’t express them clearly and persuasively.” –
Gary Blake, Communication Workshop leader
 More quotes

When hiring someone, Paula Goodman, a vice

president and senior recruiter at Citigroup in New
York City, finds that strong writing skills are “a
tiebreaker. If I have two job candidates in front of
me, equally qualified except that one can write
well and the other can’t, I’ll hire the one who can
—every time.”
 Some Statistics

Of the 1,000 largest employers in the U.S., 96% say

employees must have good communication skills to get
ahead. Stephen Reder, a linguist at Portland State, found
that among people with a college degree, those in the
highest quintile in writing ability earn, on average, more than
three times what those with the worst writing skills make.

(Fisher, A. The high cost of living and not writing well.

Fortune, 138 (11), 244.)
 Let’s get started!
Improve your writing
skill!
Academic
Writing
Why do you
write?

To compare or contrast two topics

To argue for a solution to a problem
To describe a project
To summarize information
To report on a laboratory experiment
or research
How do you
write?

Format: paragraph & essay

Style of writing:
 Formal
correct grammar
spelling
punctuation
To whom do you
write?

Various audience/reader
Starting to write
 My first day of school
The example of brainstorming/ free writing:

First day-preschool-4 years old-don’t remember

Kinder garten-5 years?
First grade-6 years old-teacher Mrs. Grant
Dad took me-mom was sick
Scared- didn’t want to leave sick mom
New school-new kids-one boy pulled my hair
Holding dad’s hand tightly
Trying not to cry
Mrs. Grant was nice
My own desk-lots of crayon
Coloring made lots of noise
Chocolate in lunch bag from mom
Felt better
 My first day of school
The example of an outline:

My first day of school was good and bad

1.The good stuff
a.Mrs. Grant
b.Coloring
1.Lots of crayons
2.Impressive noise of all the kids working
c. Chocolate in lunch
2. The bad stuff
a.Mom sick
b.A boy pulled my hair
c.Dad late
d.I cried
 An example of mind map:

my first day of school was good and bad

Good bad
mom sick
Mrs. Grant

coloring chocolate boy pulled hair dad late cried

Lots of crayons noise of crayons

 An example of writing the first draft

My first day of school was both good and bad. One of the good
things was my teacher Mrs. Grant. She was very nice. Another
good part of that day was when Mrs Grant had us all be quiet and
listen to the sound of the crayons while we were coloring. I was
surprised that it was such a loud noise. The last good memory
that I have of that day is finding the chocolate in my lunch bag. It
made me remember that my mom loved me. there were bad
things, too. The worst was that my mom was sick and couldn’t
take me to school. I didn’t want to leave her alone. But my dad
insisted that we go to school. One boy there kept pulling my hair.
Then, my dad was late picking me up, and I cried. I’m glad I don’t
have to relive that day
Thank you........
 Assignment 1:
Write down your problems in writing!