WRITING IS AN INESCAPABLE REALITY.  

 

 

Today's world demands effective, mature writing skills. Every word you pen and post online is judged within a millisecond. Those who write well will have more opportunity. Employers expect professional communication skills.

 

Whether you are applying for a job, a slot in a freshman class, or simply writing an email, it must be clear, concise, and thoughtful.  Grammar, vocabulary, and effective writing methods are important. You must think if you are to write well.  

 

Please master this skill before you enter college. If you don't, you will be miserable. That's the truth.  

 

College level writing. Make no mistake; college level writing requires analysis and persuasion. Your writing responses and essays must "sell" your professor, and rules of grammar are expected.

 

How can you tell if you are writing at a college level? When you can hand your essay to an adult and the reader cannot determine your age.  Most writing throughout K12 is creative. This will not be the case when you attend university.

 

To ensure you are ready for college level writing, take a few courses outside of high school before you start your university studies. Here are some FREE online options (courses and tools, and there are many others if you search):

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• Coursera free writing course from University of Michigan

• ClassCentral, free academic and business writing course from UC Berkeley

• Academic Writing, this is a free advanced college prep writing course through Coursera 

• Best thesaurus, PowerThesaurus 

• Reasonably priced editing software: WhiteSmoke. If you purchase a year or more, Ginger is a helpful tool as well ; The Hemingway site evaluates your writing skills for free and tells you at which grade level you are writing.

• Quill, this free page is the whole shabang - diagnostic tests, editing tools, activities like grammar quizzes, etc. 

• Purdue's Online Writing Lab is a superb resource for all students, and check out the Paramedic Method used to clarify sentences.

• For grammar and other help - the same people who brought you Spark Notes now offer LitCharts. 

• The Jack Lynch grammar page is specifically designed to help you understand how to write well enough to get an A on a college paper. 

• Cliche Finder is useful

• Download this        of questions to ask yourself before submitting your paper 

• Read Michael Thompson's essay, "Developing Verbal Talent" - shows how far we've fallen

• Jara Kern's The Infographic Guide to Grammar

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Building vocabulary is key as well. There are all sorts of vocabulary quizzes online. People will consider you more of an authority if you have an impressive set of words you can pull from versus "like, awesome, totally". If while reading a book you come across an unfamiliar word, look it up at the end of the chapter - and remember it. What is an aquiline nose? What does ubiquitous mean? What is teen angst? Language is a skill AND an art - master it - and you will benefit personally and financially. 

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• Take a vocabulary quiz on the Merriam-Webster dictionary site

• Visuwords

• Practice spelling and vocabulary using this spelling bee site

• John Fulford's YouTube spelling rules site, and also, a suffix spelling rules page 

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