7 principles of effective writing for all degree program

1. PRINCIPLES OF
WRITING

2. WHAT
IS
WRITING?

3. DEFINITION:
The act or art of forming letters and characters on paper, wood, stone, or
other material, for the purpose of recording the ideas which characters and
words express, or of communicating them to others by visible signs.
Writing is a process where symbols have to be arranged according to a
certain convention to from words and words have to be arranged to from
sentences

4. WHY WRITE?
Developing your writing skills will not only help you to express yourself more
effectively, it will also help you achieve success in life. Being a strong writer
will help you do well in school, college or university and it will serve you well
in a wide range of occupations-from law and medicine to nursing and auto
mechanics.

5. THE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE WRITING
The seven principles of effective writing are:
1. Appropriating content to the audience
2. Focus & unity
3. Organization
4. Development
5. Sentence structure
6. Dictation & word usages
7. Mechanics

7. APPROPRIATING CONTENT TO THE AUDIENCE
• It is the first and most important principle of effective writing.
• Starting with an idea that interests you makes it more likely that you will
produce a good piece of writing. It is important, however, to consider
whether potential readers also find an idea interesting. Even the best piece
of writing won't succeed if the audience is uninterested.
• Knowing your audience helps you to make decisions about what information
you should include, how you should arrange that information, and what kind
of supporting details will be necessary for the reader to understand what you
are presenting.

10. FOCUS AND UNITY
Focus:
• focus is the principle of the effective writing in which the important
ideas are made to stand. In here it is very important that the main points
of the writer should be evident inside the paragraph. Means the main
idea should be made to stand from the rest of the elements inside the
paragraph. In establishing emphasis, the main idea of what the writer
wants to say should show to have more importance.
• Focus is the Feature of Effective Writing that answers the question “So
What”

11. CONTINUE
• Focus is the topic/subject established by the writer in response to the writing
task.
• The writer must clearly establish a focus as he/she fulfills the assignment of
the prompt. If the writer retreats from the subject matter presented in the
prompt or addresses it too broadly, the focus is weakened.

12. UNITY
• It is important to teach our students about the principle of unity and help
them achieve it in their writing.
• Make sure that the composition is about a single theme.
• Every composition should be complete, it should have all three main parts-
the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
• Unity in writing in every step of writing such as, unity in sentence structure
and unity in paragraph etc.

13. UNITY IN PARAGRAPH
• Every paragraph should concentrate on one idea.
• The main idea of the paragraph should be stated in one sentence, whish is
called the “Topic sentence” of the paragraph.
• All other sentences in the paragraph should elaborate on the main idea
expressed in the topic sentence.

14. ORGANIZATION
• This principle of writing has to do with coherent arrangement
of material.
• It involves keeping the reader oriented to the central and
subordinate ideas.
• Good organization is logical and sequential.
• It guides the reader between divisions of the material.
• A well organized piece of writing is not only clear.
• Its presented in a way that is logical and aesthetically pleasing.

15. COUNT…
• Good writing has a clear and consistent organization that suits
the topic.
• For example;
if you are telling a story, you will probably want to arrange
your details chronologically, or in order in which they occurred.

16. WAYS TO ORGANIZE
• Four ways to organize
- division
- compare/contrast
- cause/effect
- problem-analysis solution

17. DEVELOPMENT
• Develop an outline
• Write
- write the easiest part first
- develop major sections one at a time
- introduction for main ideas
- main points in first paragraph
- turn of your internal editor

18. SENTENCE STRUCTURE
• In English grammar, sentence structure is the arrangement of words, phrases,
and clauses in a sentence.
• The most common word order in English sentences is Subject-Verb-Object
(SVO).
• A sentence should contain a single unit of information. Therefore, avoid
compound sentences wherever possible - be on the lookout for words like
AND, OR, WHILE which are often used unnecessarily to build a compound
sentence.

19. COUNT…
• Check your sentences for faulty construction. Incorrect use of commas is a
common cause of poorly constructed and excessively long sentences.
• Use parentheses sparingly. Most uses are due to sheer laziness and can be
avoided by breaking up the sentence. NEVER use nested parentheses under
any circumstances if you want to retain your reader.

20. DICTION AND WORD USAGES
• In rhetoric and composition, diction is the choice and use of words in speech
or writing.Also called word choice.
• Is a key element of good writing. By choosing words that convey your
meaning as precisely as possible and capture your attitude toward your
subject, you will help to ensure that readers understand your points and will
increase the likelihood that you can sway them to accept your viewpoint.

21. CHOICE OF WORDS

22. MECHANICS
• Mechanics are the conventions of print that do not exist in oral language,
including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphs.
• they do not exist in oral language, students have to consciously learn how
mechanics function in written language.
• For example, while speakers do not have to be conscious of the spellings of
words, writers not only have to use standard spelling for each word but may
even have to use different spellings for words that sound the same but have
different meanings.

23. COUNT…
• The paper, including the title page, reference page, tables, and
appendices, follow APA guidelines format.
• Citations of original works within the body of the paper follow
APA guidelines or other designated guidelines.
• The paper is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles,
and white space.
• Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed.
• Spelling is correct.

24. THANK
YOU