Writing Tips

Basic Writing Tips “High writing skills proficiency” is required for teacher certification by the Indiana Professional Standards Board. Writing is also an important life skill that can be improved with practice. Prospective employers will judge you based on your ability to write clear, error free letters and resumes. I expect your papers to be written in concise, appropriate English with minimal spelling and grammatical errors. The following simple suggestions can help you improve the quality of your writing:

• Know your topic and the basic requirements. Use a highlighter to identify requirements. If necessary, create a check list and check each item as you include or complete it. (This tip also works for answering essay test questions!) Go over the rubric and focus on items worth the most points. Use the rubric as design specs, and “grade” your own paper.

• If writing is difficult for you, use simple sentence structures and the active voice (verbs without “helpers,” forms of “be,” and -ing endings). As you master the conventions, use more complex sentence structures and the passive voice.

• Read your paper out loud. Listen for words that are repeated over and over. You will catch most syntax and redundancy errors with this simple “trick.”

• Use the spelling and grammar checkers in your word processing program.

• Have a friend, or two, read over your paper. Have them check for spelling (words your spell checker missed because they were properly spelled but not the correct word) and grammar errors. Also ask them to check for understanding. If your friend does not understand what you have written, chances are I will not understand either.

• Take your paper to the Writing Lab on the fourth floor of Hawthorn Hall and talk to a consultant.

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