Axia College Material
Fundamentals of Writing, Part One
What to Do Before You Start Writing
Writing—just reading the word might make you cringe. There are many possible reasons of why students do not like to write. Writing instructors usually hear My grammar is horrible, I had a writing teacher who marked up all my papers in red, or I cannot think of anything.
Maybe you have similar reasons for not wanting to write; maybe you are excited to write, but do not know where to start. If you break the writing process into segments, it may not overwhelm you. This may ease your anxieties and inspire you to enjoy writing.
Before you pick up a pen or start typing, stop and plan. Ask yourself the following questions and come up with answers:
1. What are the instructions? 2. What is my purpose for writing? 3. Who is my audience? 4. How must the overall structure of my writing look? 5. What must my tone be?
Understand the Instructions
First, read the instructions. Whether it is an assignment from an instructor or a project from a boss, read the instructions so you know what is expected. If you have questions, do not hesitate to ask.
The following terms are frequently used in instructions. The definitions will help you understand what to include in your writing.
|Term |Definition |
| | |
|Analyze |Identify a subject’s elements, and discuss how they work |
| |together. |
|Argue or persuade |Take a position on a subject, and support your position with |
| |evidence. |
|Compare and contrast |Explain similarities and differences between subjects. |
|Define |Specify the meaning of a term or idea. |
|Describe |Detail the events or characteristics that occurred and the |
| |results. |
|Discuss |Examine the main points regarding a topic. |
|Evaluate |Judge a subject’s qualities. |
|Interpret |Explain the meaning of a concept or consequences of an action. |
|Report |Present available information on a subject. |
|Summarize |State main points in a text, argument, or other work. |
Determine Your Purpose
After you know the expectations, you may determine your purpose. Everything has a purpose. If you share a funny story with a friend, your purpose is to entertain. If you write a business proposal, your purpose is to persuade your manager to approve it. If a family member wonders why you are attending Axia, explain that your purpose is to get a college education.
If you are having trouble thinking of a purpose, try writing a brief purpose statement. Suppose you want to write a paper on rural development. Your purpose statement might look similar to the following:
My purpose is to write an argumentative paper on the effects of rural development. I intend to argue my points with evidence to persuade rural and urban residents to think twice about the costs of development.
Your purpose statement will help you identify your audience and determine what research you need for your essay. After you become a more experienced writer, you may formulate the purpose in your mind, instead of on paper.
Know Your Audience
Next, determine your audience. You must know exactly for whom you are writing, why the reader will read your writing, and what the reader needs or expects from you. Writing is meant as a form of communication—information you want to share with others about a particular subject. Is the writing for your friends, your boss, or your peers and instructor? Pinpoint your audience, their characteristics, and what you need to provide for them in your writing.
Consider the following questions about your audience:
• What do my readers already know about the topic? • What do my readers want or need to know about the topic? • What level of language is appropriate for this audience?
Plan a Structure
After you have determined your purpose and audience, determine what type of structure to use. Consider the following questions:
• If the writing is for business, would an e-mail, memo, letter, report, or proposal be most appropriate? • What type of formatting must you use to showcase your ideas? • If the writing is academic, how long does the essay or research paper need to be? • Do you need to include a title page or in-text citations and a reference page?
Again, the instructions must provide guidelines for the best structure to use.
Establish an Appropriate Tone
Finally, you must determine the appropriate tone. The way you talk to your best friend differs from the way you speak to your boss. The same is true in writing—the tone of an e-mail you send to a friend is different from one you send to your boss, even if the content is the same.
Consider the following messages. Even though the content is similar, the tone and word choices are different because of the different audiences.
E-mail to Friend
E-mail to Boss
The first e-mail is informal; the second is formal. Most writing you do in this class is formal. Informal writing is used to write for your friends, acquaintances, or creative writing. Formal writing is used for academic or professional purposes, expected in most college courses and business writings.
Consider the following differences between formal and informal communication:
| |Formal Communication |Informal Communication |
|Purpose |Defined by materials or previous communication |Defined by relationship or previous |
| | |communication |
|Audience |Audience is manager, client, or instructor |Audience is a friend or family member |
|Style |Style is structured |Style is unstructured |
|Tone |Respectful |Personal or humorous |
|Word Choice |Professional or academic |Slang, contractions, incorrect grammar, or |
| | |punctuation |
Wrap-Up
Before you begin your project, it is best to plan. You plan by asking yourself the following questions: What are the instructions? What is my purpose? Who is my audience? What will my structure be? What should my tone be? It is important to answer these questions before you start writing. Although it may be tempting to dive into the assignment, the process of getting there will be smoother if you think about and answer these questions first. The best part is the end result—you will produce a more effective, higher-quality piece of writing.
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Hey, you, how’s it going? Well, you’re not going to believe this, but I got the chickenpox!! Isn’t that crazy?! I probably shouldn’t even be up on the computer because I feel so sick, but I had to tell you because I wanted to let you know why I won’t be at classes this week. ( I’m going to have to talk to the teachers about making up the work. *sigh*. Anyway, TTYL. Jenna
Dear Mr. Smith:
I am sorry to have to send this bad news to you this morning, but I have come down with the chickenpox. I feel sick, and the doctor said I will probably be out for 2 weeks. I will keep you informed as to my progress. I really enjoy my job and regret having to be out, so please let me know if there’s anything I can do while I’m at home. Thank you for your understanding.
