More than at any other time in human history, we live in an age of written communication. Go to any coffee shop, and you’ll see a platoon of people plunking away on their phones or laptops, tapping out words, composing sentences, writing.
Despite all of our technological advances, and in some cases because of them, we also live in a time when miscommunication costs lives and money. Google “miscommunication costs business,” and you’ll discover that businesses in the United States collectively lose billions of dollars per year because of employee miscommunication. In hospitals and on battlefields, poor communication can literally kill people.
Despite all of our technological advances, and in some cases because of them, we also live in a time when miscommunication costs lives and money. Google “miscommunication costs business,” and you’ll discover that businesses in the United States collectively lose billions of dollars per year because of employee miscommunication. In hospitals and on battlefields, poor communication can literally kill people.
Careless or faulty writing also affects our personal affairs. Who has not inadvertently offended someone with a slipshod text or email? We write a sloppy, quick note to a friend, and suddenly there’s a chill in the air that would make a polar bear happy.
Ironically, our schools and universities are failing to equip students with the tools needed to meet the challenges of this great age of communication. Many young people leave school ignorant of basic grammar, one of the keys to writing well. In middle school and high school, many teachers for whatever reason—laziness, perhaps? —neglect composition to such an extent that colleges and universities across the land are forced to offer remedial classes to incoming students.
Our institutions of higher learning often fail the writing test as well. Former students returning home from college have told me they had written only one or two papers for the entire academic year. (If this is true of anyone reading this essay, particularly if you are a liberal arts major, your teachers are cheating you out of an education.)
To become a competent writer will open many doors for you. Businesses everywhere are looking for young people who can write well. A policeman I know once told me that the best course he ever took after becoming an officer was a composition class at his local community college. By improving his writing skills, he found that his evidence stood up better in the courtroom. A student of mine entered the Marines after high school graduation, attended sniper school, and made the cut for Marine Corps Force Recon. Once his sergeant asked him to write a report. Will did so, and the sergeant read over the report with Will standing before him. He looked up and said to Will, “Your fiancé wrote this for you, didn’t she?”
Will laughed. “No, Sergeant,” he said. “I wrote the report. And I help my fiancé with her college papers.”
Other students I have taught, many of them, have gone off to college and found work in the remedial centers mentioned above. Still others have told me of the compliments paid them by their professors for essays and papers written. They thank me for teaching them to write.
Their words are gratifying, but I’m not sure I “taught” them to write. I taught them some basics—the structure of the essay, the importance of a hook and a strong conclusion, and other such essentials—and I read and corrected their essays. But I was more coach than teacher. Mostly, the students became effective writers for one simple reason: they composed essay after essay in my home school seminars.
So students, home schooled or otherwise, if you want to acquire the skill of writing, you do so the way you acquire any other skill: practice, practice, practice. Write essays. Find someone who will edit and grade them for you, and who will hold you accountable to write more essays. Practice clear, concise composition in your emails and texts. Keep a journal, if it suits you. Write letters to relatives and friends. Fiddle around with words and sentences, paragraphs and papers.
You’ll be developing a talent that will last you a lifetime.
Next up: Ten Tips For The Essay
Ironically, our schools and universities are failing to equip students with the tools needed to meet the challenges of this great age of communication. Many young people leave school ignorant of basic grammar, one of the keys to writing well. In middle school and high school, many teachers for whatever reason—laziness, perhaps? —neglect composition to such an extent that colleges and universities across the land are forced to offer remedial classes to incoming students.
Our institutions of higher learning often fail the writing test as well. Former students returning home from college have told me they had written only one or two papers for the entire academic year. (If this is true of anyone reading this essay, particularly if you are a liberal arts major, your teachers are cheating you out of an education.)
To become a competent writer will open many doors for you. Businesses everywhere are looking for young people who can write well. A policeman I know once told me that the best course he ever took after becoming an officer was a composition class at his local community college. By improving his writing skills, he found that his evidence stood up better in the courtroom. A student of mine entered the Marines after high school graduation, attended sniper school, and made the cut for Marine Corps Force Recon. Once his sergeant asked him to write a report. Will did so, and the sergeant read over the report with Will standing before him. He looked up and said to Will, “Your fiancé wrote this for you, didn’t she?”
Will laughed. “No, Sergeant,” he said. “I wrote the report. And I help my fiancé with her college papers.”
Other students I have taught, many of them, have gone off to college and found work in the remedial centers mentioned above. Still others have told me of the compliments paid them by their professors for essays and papers written. They thank me for teaching them to write.
Their words are gratifying, but I’m not sure I “taught” them to write. I taught them some basics—the structure of the essay, the importance of a hook and a strong conclusion, and other such essentials—and I read and corrected their essays. But I was more coach than teacher. Mostly, the students became effective writers for one simple reason: they composed essay after essay in my home school seminars.
So students, home schooled or otherwise, if you want to acquire the skill of writing, you do so the way you acquire any other skill: practice, practice, practice. Write essays. Find someone who will edit and grade them for you, and who will hold you accountable to write more essays. Practice clear, concise composition in your emails and texts. Keep a journal, if it suits you. Write letters to relatives and friends. Fiddle around with words and sentences, paragraphs and papers.
You’ll be developing a talent that will last you a lifetime.
Next up: Ten Tips For The Essay
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