WRITING EFFECTIVELY

So much of writing is about sitting down and doing it every day, and so much of it is about
geting into the custom of taking in everything that comes along, seeing it all as grist for the
mill
Anne Lamott
1.Introduction: The skill of effective writing is no exception. To be a good writer, all you
need to do is learn and then follow a few simple rules. Writing skills are an important part of
communication. Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity
and ease and takes place to a far larger audience than through face-to-face or telephone
conversations. Because most of us think in groups of words, we need to be able to write in
groups of words for the benefit of our readers. To achieve this, every writer needs to be-
come something of a wordsmith. The words that we choose for our purpose must be se-
lected and assembled using corect syntax and grammar. In striving to write in an unam-
biguous vay, you need to select the correct words. ldeally, use short words instead of long
words. Sometimes long words are chosen in a thinly veiled attempt to appear academic. This
is a big mistake. In fact, it is scholarly to choose a short word with the correct
meaning
rather than choose a long word with the wrong meaning. Poor spelling must be avoided at

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n costs because il annoys readers, can be confusing if another meaning is attachcd lo a
word ancd, with the advent of compuler programs with dictionaries and spell-checkingg fn-
Cilities, is no longer excusable. Once you can write what you mean, ut your content in the
corrcet order, and make your document clear and pleasurable for others lo reac, you can
consider yourself an expert wriler.
2. Subjeet lines: The starting of effevtive wrting there are severnl general guidelines that
you can use to highlight the importance of subject lines in your written naterinl. The taclics
Ior cralting impactful subjecl descriptions vary, but by making an eftort lo incorporate the
ollowing characteristics into your emails/subjective matters, you can dramaticaly improve
the results you achieve from your writing skill efforts.
2.1. Short, simple and informative. Subject lines necd to quickly grab the recipient's atten-
away
tion. The subject line should be Short, simple and informative for readers. Stay
a hook that
Tom over-used words and clichés, and try to present your audience with
captures their attention.
2.2. Intrigue the Interest. Subject lines have to be interesting and unique.
The best subject
in reading
lines communicate the promise of value, that can enhance the concentration
to readers.
2.3.Your subject line has to convince the recipient that the written subject/email contains
information or messaging that will improve tyour knowledge and interest.
well with strong mes-
2.4. The Subject Lines gets right to the point. It works particularly
sage, recognized names, and work or service types with which the reader is familiar.
to
it's critical to make sure that your subject line is free of spelling or gramnmatical errors
preserve credibility with your audience. These writing skills will pick up faith of read-
ers.
2.5. Graphical/pictures/coloured pen and some other type of such obejectives also enhance
effective writing skills
2.6.Your Subject Lines must
1. Be useful to the reader

2. Provide him with a sense of urgency

3. Convey the idea that the main benefit is somehow unique
4. Do all of the above in an ultra-specific way.
3. Put the main Point: Teaching writing is DEFENDS, which is a task -specific writing
strategy used in conjunction with an organizer to prompt students through the effective
writing process. This strategy is elfective with sudents in the following manner IFigure-1.
Illustration followed as,

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T i Figure-1-Teaching writing task "DEFENDS" Different strategies

Example/task: DEFENDS
3.1Decide on goals and theme:
Decide what is written and what you hope will happen when they do.
Decide what kind of information you need of communicate.
Decide what your theme will be about.
Note the theme on your planning form.
3.2 Estimate main ideas and details
Think at least two main ideas that will explain your theme.
Make sure the main ideas are different.
Note the main ideas on your planning form.
Note at least three details that can be used to explain each main idea.
3.3 Figure best order of main ideas and details:
Decide which main idea to write about first, second, etc and on the planning form.
For each main idea note the best order for presenting the details on the planning
form.
Make sure the orders are logical.
3.4 Express the theme in the first sentence:
The first sentence of the essay should state what the essay is about
3.5 Note each main idea and supporting point.
Note your first main idea using a complete sentence, explain this main idea using the
details you ordered earlier.
Tell yoursclf positive statements about your writing and tell yourself to. write more.

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 Kepeat for cach of the other main ideas.
3.6 Drive home the message in the last sentence:
Restate what your theme was about in the last sentence.
Make sure you used wording different than thal in the first sentencC.
3.7 Search for errors and correct:
Look for different kinds of errors in essay and correct them.
4. Know your audience: The most important thing during the written communication i.e
type that will be
audience. When you're writing something, an awareness of the audience
that is dirccted to
atlracted lo the words writen must be in place. If you write something
you are Writing about
the wrong audience, then miscommunication is bound to occur. When
that you used, the out.
the participants whom you enrolled in your study, the equipment
comes yOu measured, or the results that you found, alway's use termns in your paper consis-
often writers frecly
tently. This seems a fairly obvious thing to say, but it is surprising how
is common to see the
switch between different terms to mean the same thing. For example,
it
all used interchangeably.
Words children, participants, respondents, persons, cases, and conrols
groups
However, chopping and changing suggests that you are talking about many different
terms, you need to select the
of participants and lcads to confusion. In standardising your
appropriate term for your audience. If you are writing for a journal that specialises aller-
in

gic discases, you would use the term allergic rhinitis, but if you were submitting
the same
paper to a general journal, you would use the term hay fever. Even more importantly, you
It
must always stick to the same point of view and use the same way of presenting data.
becomes quite confusing if you compare, for example, mortality rates in one group with
survival rates in another. Also, do nat compare risk factors for being underweight from one
study with risk factors for being overweight from another study. This switching does not
add interest but merely creates confusion. Always reword the work you are citing from
other researchers' papers or rework their results if necessary, for example by changing mor-
tality rates to survival rates, so that direct comparisons can be made. So it is very important
that we are writing for what typy of audience/readers/1listeners etc. there is some type of
audiences that prejudiced our writing skills.
4.1 Expert-has substantial previous knowledge of the your topíc. Example: If you are using
an e-mail message to send a new idea to a colleague who has been working with you to
improve the communication system at your workplace, chances are that the colleague
knows a great deal about the project-what's been done so far, what the goals are, etc.
In that sense, your audience is an expert. There's no need to cover the basics, just the
new idea.
4.2 Executive-has decision-making power (perhaps even over the writer's career) Example:
You are writing a letter to your supervisor recommending that he
or she adopt the new
experimental procedure that you and your committee have hammered out. Since your
supervisor will make the final decision, he or she is an
executive audience. You'll wan
to provide enough inlormation so that your supervisor
can make an informed decision.

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 You'll also neea to demonstrate respect and tact, since this reader is above you in thne
workplace hierarchy.
4.3 Technician-a hands-on operator of equipment or one involved in the execution of
a
technical process Example: you are writing a set of instructions to someone for operat-
If
ing a new piece of equipment, you are writing to a technician.
4.4 Layperson-has little or no previous knowledge of the topic. Example: If you are writ-
ing a scientific letter to a journal about a new technique of your experiment, that journal
probably knows nothing about the experiment because it is not. In this case, your audi-
ence is a layperson. You'll need to be careful to explain even the most basic details about
the new service.
4.5 Complex-a combination of an expert and an executive Example: If your supervisor
from the executive example happens to have worked with you on the project or has dealt
extensively with such policies before, then you have a complex audience on your hands.
Not only will you need to be informative and respectful, but you better know your stuff
and be careful not to waste space on details with which your reader is already familiar.
5. Common Grammatical Mistakes: Effective writing does not contain errors. Here are
some commnon grammatical errors that people make:
Affect and effect "Affect" means "to influence' and it is a verb, like "It affected his
work." "Effect" is a noun and means "result" like in "side effects."
Then and than "Then" is an adverb which refers to a time, like "We ate and then saw
a movie". "Than" is used in a comparison and is a conjunction, like "My car is bigger
than yours."
Your and you're - "Your" is possessive, like "is that your boat?" "You're" is a contrac-
tion for "you are" like "You're so funny."
Its and it's - "Its" is possessive, like "Its shape is oval." "It's" is a contraction for "it is"
like "It's time to go."
Company's and companies "Company's" is possessive, like "The company's logo is
colorful." "Companies" is plural, like "He owns three companies."
There, their, and they're - "There" is an adverb meaning in or at that place, like "There
it isl" "Their" is the possessive form of the pronoun "they", like "Their hair was soaked."
"They're" is a contraction for "they are" ike "They're going to get in trouble"
6. Proofing: The enemy of good proofreading is speed. Many people rush through their
documents, but this is how you miss mistakes. Follow these guidelines to check what you've
written:
Proof your headers and subheaders People often skip these and focus on the text
-

alone. Just because headers are big and bold doesn't mean they're error free!
Read the document out loud This forces you to go more slowly, so that you're
more likely to catch mistakes.