If we're going to learn how to do something, it makes sense, doesn't it, to understand exactly what the activity is? But it's not so simple to come up with a comprehensive definition of writing. Is it the kind of writing we learned how to do in school: academic writing, or what some people call “thinking on paper ”? Is it “expressing yourself ”? Is it the writing we have to do at work: reports, memos, and so on? Is it keeping a journal? Is it writing a poem or a novel?
The activity of writing can include all of these things. But learning how to write an academic paper does not teach you how to write a poem, or vice versa. Is there any way, then, to find a comprehensive definition of writing?
I think there is—if we change the way we think about writing. Instead of thinking about it as a product, we can think about it as a certain kind of doing, as an activity, as a particular kind of work. And what is this work? It's the work of communication, the work of transferring what's in our minds to the minds of readers, through the medium of the written word.
This work of communication can be done in different ways, depending on the kind of writing we are doing. In an academic paper, for instance, we use ideas and information to make an argument we hope will convince our readers. But in a piece of fiction we use a different kind of material—images and scenes—to tell a story we hope will entertain and move our readers. In all cases, though, the basic work is the same: to communicate what we have to say to others so that they "get it."
To do any kind of work—to build a piece of furniture, to edit a manuscript, to cook a meal—we need particular skills. The same is true with writing. The most important thing to know about writing skills is that they can be learned.
When you set out to learn skills in a certain field—say, cooking, or car repair—you soon discover that it's easiest to learn the basic skills first; then, after you've mastered the basics, you can move on to more advanced techniques. For a number of reasons I believe that many people who want to become better writers lack the basic skills they need. So when they try to acquired more advanced skills, they just get confused.
The lessons provided here are designed to help you develop some basic skills so that you have a solid foundation from which you can then move on to more advanced learning.
If the term writing skills makes you think of grammar drills, then let me assure you that's not what you'll find in these lessons. Instead you'll get a chance to practice doing the things that professional writers do when they write, in the process building some of the skills you need to communicate clearly and powerfully.
Recommended next lesson: Learning Through Practice
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