#5 point action plan to improve writing skills

#5 point action plan to improve writing skills

I don’t know what to do! My marks in English get pulled down because of my writing skills…

I am unable to come up to the expectations of my English teacher…

“Oh Vinay! Your language is good. But you go wayward when writing long compositions” comments his English teacher…

These sound familiar! Almost every student and every teacher of English has repeated the above lines.

Writing well is like cycling. You need to learn how to balance while looking straight, learn and follow traffic rules and so on. Once you have learnt how to cycle, all you do is practice. The skill never goes way.

In the same way while learning to write well,

® learn the rules (layout/format),
® keep balance in the choice of vocabulary,
® write in different paragraphs
® practice coherence
® be grammatically correct,
® check spellings,
® use appropriate punctuation marks 
 

and you are good to go.

Oh! Practice makes you perfect. So practicing the following steps is a sure shot way to improve writing skills. 

CODER is the 5 step easy and simple formula to dazzle in writing!

 Step #1 Collect your ideas and relevant vocabulary
 Step #2 Organise your thoughts into the different paragraphs
 Step #3 Draft the organized thoughts
 Step #4 Edit the first draft
 Step #5 Rewrite after editing 

 Step #1

Collect your ideas

Yes. Whatever the topic start putting ideas randomly on paper. Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation, grammar, coherence… 

There are many interesting and very effective ways to collect your ideas. These can be done individually, in pairs or in collaboration as a group.

Here are a few pre-writing techniques -

1. Free writing
2. Brain storming
3. Mind mapping
4. 6 thinking hats

Step #2

Organise your thoughts

Organise those points into different paragraphs. Paragraphs are important in any long composition. Great paragraphs give coherence to any writing. Remember that this first/rough draft is subject to changes. This step helps in structuring the thoughts/points by having a clear outline. 

Step #3

Draft

Draft the above organized points and frame the first draft. It is important to understand that this is the first attempt and what follows – editing and rewriting – will give the final piece of writing. It is very important to use elegant yet simple ways to achieve coherence. Choose them carefully so that your writing gets the smooth and easy flow. Using appropriate transition words and transitional expressions will go a great way in achieving coherence. 

Step #4

Edit

Editing is the next step. Editing involves modification of the written text by rearranging, reducing, correcting. Rearranging will check for fluency, coherence and flow. Reducing takes care of pruning the written work by reducing redundancy by taking away unnecessary, repetitive thoughts/phrases/words. Correcting may be the most daunting as this step involves correcting grammar, spelling and punctuation errors.

This step will give your writing a shape and coherence. It is more or less the final effort.

Step #5

Rewrite

The final step is Rewrite with all editing incorporated. Even at this stage, changes can be done. These changes will be minor ones. 

These #5 steps CODER (Collect, Organise, Draft, Edit, Rewrite) if followed diligently will make your writing sparkle and fetch you desired marks.

 Once the students practice these #5 steps, a time will come when they can jump to step #3 straight away.

 

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