How to write well - Norway Today - improve your writing skills

How to write a well-formulated text

In this article, I’m going to describe one of the most important communication skills, namely writing. If you are interested in writing and enhancing your mastery of the art, you should read on!

Among the four language skills: speaking, listening, reading and writing, the latter is maybe the most important. Writing is often compared with being able to participate in an important event.

In the 1990s, the emergence and popularity of email, the Internet, and text messages have entailed a major advance in written communication. Many universities, especially at higher education levels such as PhDs, emphasise writing skills above the others. The reason for this is that the level of information sharing through writing is considered essential.

Proficiency in writing is an overshadowing component of many tests, such as IELTS, TOEFL and GRE. The importance of good writing is so large that many students and professors spend a lot of time on developing this skill. Articles, theses, and scientific research are, for example, all primarily submitted in writing. This is the most important reason for learning how to write well.

The basic rules of writing

Good writing consists of the following key points:

KISS. – Keep It Short, Simple. Avoid redundancy (non-essential repetition).
Effective and specific. Beware of weak linguistic structures.
Verifiable. Ensure that it can stand up to scrutiny.
Enticing. Shun tediousness, lighten up!

Seven steps to compose a well-written text

These 7 steps are required in many different contexts in all types of writing.

Select a topic
Develop new ideas
Limit your scope
Write a synopsis
Group the ideas
Arrange the order of the groups
Prepare the final layout

Make a draft of the text

Before writing the actual article or the like, we have to prepare a draft text and edit it. Lastly, we have to finalise the draft.

The draft process consists of the following four steps:

Make a rough draft
Formulate a good and enticing introduction.
Scribble down the content.
Write a strong and effective conclusion.

How to write a dissertation

Writing a dissertation is, as mentioned earlier, one of the most important skills for Masters and PhD students. The reason for this is that students, at this level, need to compose and submit their thesis or similar. Writing of such papers consists of the following steps: