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WRITING SKILLS
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• Academic writing is a practice that can be learnt and improved

• The processes that form the basis of effective writing starts with selecting your topic and ends with
the handing in of your final draft.

• The stages in the writing process are recursive and include thinking, gathering, drafting, revising
and editing.

• Feedback is part of the refining process to ensure that what you have written is clear and correct.
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• Academic essays are usually written in a style that is objective and analytical, and the
work of others is referred to, using accepted conventions to support points made
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4 STAGES IN THE WRITING PROCESS

• To succeed as an academic writer, u need to understand the key features of academic writing
including:
• Summarising -ideas are reduced to their essence and precisely conveyed
• Analysing-ideas and arguments are broken down into their principal parts and examined in detail
• Evaluating-evidence is weighed to establish whether it supports the line of argument and to test
its reliability
• NB: An academic writing style is typically both objective and logical and avoids jumping to
hasty conclusions.
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5 STAGE 1 (THINK)

• Think about your topic, purpose and audience.

• i. TOPIC SELECTION
• When selecting a topic ,try to choose what is called an area of dissonance. This is an
issue that is a genuine problem, a problem that needs solving or at least a thorough
thinking through. Make sure that the topic is of interest to you.
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• Before tackling your essay topic ,identify the 3 different keyword types that are usually
contained in most essay questions:

• CONTENT WORDS-tell u what the question is about

• INSTRUCTION WORDS-tell u what to do with the content words .e.g. discuss, compare,
evaluate or analyze
• LIMITING WORDS-help u limit the question’s focus e.g. a particular time period, theory,
location or number
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• Discuss reasons (instruction word/s) for collaboration dysfunction (content words) in teams (limiting
word/s).
• Whether responding to a set topic or creating one, the following instruction words suggest a specific
approach to a topic.

• INSTRUCTION WORDS
• Analyse-
• Assess-
• Compare-
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• Contrast-
• Critisize-
• Describe-
• Discuss-
• Evaluate-
• Examine-
• Explain-
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9 11. PURPOSE

• U need to think about your purpose: why you are writing.

• Think about the instruction word/s in your writing task.
• These will lead to your purpose, which mite be for e.g. to evaluate, assess, convince etc
• Your purpose will affect your entire writing approach-style, tone, content etc
• If you have determined your purpose you will know:
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• How to begin
• What kind of information you need
• Why your information is important
• What specific details to choose
• How to organise and develop the information
• How to conclude

• N.B: PURPOSE DIRECTS AND CONTROLS ALL THE DECISIONS THAT YOU MAKE WHEN WRITING
YOUR ESSAY!!!
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11 III. AUDIENCE

• YOURSELF-successful students are demanding and critical readers of their own writing
• PEERS-further insights will be gained and thinking sharpened
• LECTURER-He /She will require u to demonstrate the ability to:
• Find and use information sources to argue a point of view
• Think critically
• Construct a logical argument
• Represent other’s ideas accurately
• Adhere to academic writing conventions
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12 STAGE 2:GATHER

i. Information sources
• Writers are required to gather info. from a range of sources-i.e. journal articles, reference
books, internet, speeches, observations, documents, pictures, images etc

ii. Recording information

• After sources have been located, information that is to be included in an essay should be noted
• Information sources should not be plagiarised
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13 STAGE 3(OUTLINE,PLAN,STRUCTURE)

• Organising info.- it is often helpful to use various planning techniques to outline and
organize the essay. Some of these techniques include mind mapping/listing/outline
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14 STAGE 4 (DRAFT,REVISE,EDIT)

• DRAFT-
• writing is an intellectual activity that requires a flexible and recursive(constantly going over) approach
• You may have to repeat activities in one stage several times b4 you are ready to move on to the next.
• There is no correct way of composing a 1st draft HOWEVER
• Many experienced writers write their 1st draft without editing
• The advantage is that you concentrate on outlining the argument without being distracted by detail or
quality control
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• The disadvantage of trying to be too precise by going over each sentence for logic and
grammar is that your ideas often become stalled and your language development can be
restricted
• Do not struggle for the right word and the best sentence at this stage otherwise you will
lose momentum and have difficulty maintaining flow of ideas
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POINTS TO NOTE WHEN WORKING ON DRAFT
• Discussion-when including sources relevant to the essay, do not simply list them.
• Show that you understand them and that you can incorporate them into a conceptual
outline by discussing their relevance
• Quotation-use quotations wisely and sparingly
• Too many quotations overwhelm rather than enhance
• Avoid stringing quotations from different authors together; these usually lack coherence
because of style differences
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• Paragraphing-the main points of the essay will fall naturally into paragraphs
• Each main point of a paragraph must be fully developed with supporting details and clear
transitions between ideas
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18 REVISE(PROCESS OF SEEING AGAIN)

• Make sure your essay makes sense

• Read it aloud so that the ear will catch any careless repetition of words

• EDIT
• Once all revisions have been completed, u must proofread very carefully.
• Proofreading is a close reading of the final version to eliminate errors in
grammar,spelling,and punctuation as well as typographical errors
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• Proofreading should be done slowly, preferably aloud

• If possible allow some time to lapse between your final typing/writing and proofreading.
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20 STAGE 5:FINAL COPY

• A neatly typed and professionally formatted paper creates an initial favourable impression
on the marker and readers.
• Marks maybe be lost for sloppy and untidy presentation.
• Typing-type your essay
• Ensure that your typing is accurate and use double spacing for greater legibility
• Length-the length limit is an indication of the amount of detail required
• Do not exceed the maximum length set for the essay.
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