Writing is a skill that can be learnt like any other, according to Satya Brink, a former co-chair of the OECD Governing Board for PIAAC (the Survey of Adult Skills).
“Furthermore, the learnt skill will serve you all your life,” she wrote in a post on the EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe) website.
Brink offered several tips on how to improve your writing skills such as:
read a great deal
practice writing
write with your reader in mind and
read your writing before passing it on to others
Seek out Feedback
She also reminded that securing feedback on your writing can help you to improve your abilities.
“Writing is a life skill, not only an essential job-related skill, because it is often the basis upon which others judge your learning, your values, your ideas and your contribution to society,” she wrote.
“Regardless of your career or occupation, everyone has to write to communicate with others, whether it is a friendly email, a formal business memo, a report, a job application, a press release or a message of condolence.”
Write for fun
Brink reminded what is at stake when writing a piece, that it is a permanent record of your communication at any given time.
“The effectiveness of your communication can affect your daily life and your life course outcomes,” she wrote. “So, miscommunication can have serious consequences and unintended effects.”
She conceded writing can be “serious business”.
“But write also for fun, taking pleasure in a turn of phrase, a touch of humour and word play,” she wrote. “Writing skills will then come naturally to you. When you write your name under what you wrote, you should experience a feeling of accomplishment.”
