Writing Traits

Ideas and Content

Good writers set out with a main idea and a purpose in mind. The main idea is the point they want to make. The purpose is how they will make that point. Will the writing inform, persuade, or entertain readers? Details support and develop your main idea. Details can also make writing lively and interesting. Everything you write should support your main idea. Details that are off the subject or unimportant weaken your writing.

Stategies:

  • Choose a topic that you can work with.
  • Choose a purpose that fits your topic.

Organization

When you write, you need to put ideas in an order that makes sense. Organization – the way ideas are put together – is like the skeleton of a body. It holds things together and gives shape. Some ways to organize your writing are:

  • a story with a beginning, middle, and end
  • a comparison-contrast
  • a step-by-step explanation
  • a description from top to bottom

Stategies:

  • Save the most important idea until last and build up to it
  • Use sequence words such as “first”, “next”, “tomorrow”, and “finally”
  • Use connectors such as “but” and “however” to show differences and “too” and “also” to show likenesses
  • A graphic organizer such as a web, Venn diagram or outline can help you organize your ideas

Voice

Voice is the “you” that comes through in your writing and makes it interesting. Voice reveals tone and style, as well as your personality. Writers with a strong voice engage their readers and speak directly to them. Voice shows that the writer knows a topic and cares about it. Voice makes writing come to life. Depending on the topic, voice may be lively, honest, excited, humorous, or suspenseful.

Strategies:

  • Know your purpose and audience
  • Choose words to match your voice
  • Remember that all good writing needs a voice to hold a reader’s interest.

Word Choice

Good writers choose their words carefully. Strong verbs, exact nouns, and vivid adjectives make their writing clear and lively.

Strategies:

  • Use specific nouns
  • Use strong verbs
  • Appeal to the senses
  • Consider rewriting sentences that have “is”, “was”, “were”, “am”, and “are”.
  • Replace words such as “nice”, “great”, “thing”, and “stuff” with exact words
  • Get rid of wordiness

Sentences

Good writing flows smoothly. It is a pleasure to read aloud. Different lengths and kinds of sentences create a rhythm and style.

Strategies:

  • Vary sentence length. Avoid having all short simple sentences.
  • Vary sentence types. An interrogative, imperative, or exclamatory sentence can add excitement.
  • Use different beginnings. Too many sentences beginning with “I”, “he”, or “the” make for a dull style.
  • Use connectors. Words such as “first”, “but”, “and”, “although”, “while”, and “however” make sentences flow smoothly. However, do not connect too many ideas with “so”, “and”, or “because”.

Conventions

Conventions are the rules for written language. They are signals that help readers understand writing. For example, sentences begin with capital letters and end with punctuation. Paragraphs are indented. Grammar and spelling follow patterns.

Stategies:

  • Use a dictionary to check spelling
  • Make sure sentences are complete, with correct capitalization and punctuation.
  • Check that subjects and verbs agree
  • Make sure you have used the correct forms of pronouns, especially pronouns that are compound subjects or objects
  • Make sure you haven’t changed verb tenses by mistake
  • Check the use of apostrophes in possessive nouns and contractions