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The Six Traits of Good Writing
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Trait 1: Ideas Good writing is about an idea or has a message or theme. As you write you should keep focused on the main idea and choose details that will help the reader understand the idea.
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Narrowing & Focusing Your Idea
Once you have a general idea, you need to limit it to a specific topic and decide on your purpose. Developing Your Idea Details are what bring any written composition to life. Purpose Kinds of Details To Inform or Explain Facts, examples, reasons, statistics, comparisons, contrasts, steps in a process To Describe Sights, sounds, smells, tastes, feelings To Tell a Story Events, actions, character and setting descriptions To Persuade Facts, examples, reasons, statistics, appeals to feelings Staying Focused Avoid including things that don’t directly relate to your topic. Avoiding the Obvious * Avoid using “fillers” – words and sentences whose purpose is to take up space. Filler is often a problem at the beginnings and endings of compositions.
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ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS
Trait 2: Organization Well-organized writing typically has a clear beginning, middle, and ending. It presents details in a logical order by using the transitional words and phrases listed in the chart below. WRITING PURPOSE ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS COMMON TRANSITIONS Expository (to explain or inform) Order of importance Comparison/contrast Cause/effect First, next, most important Similarly, in contrast, on the other hand As a result, for that reason, because Narrative (to tell a real or imaginary story) Chronological (time) order First, yesterday, the next day, last year, next, until Descriptive Spatial (location) order At the top, near the middle, to the right, on the other side, next to, behind Persuasive The most important, equally important, in addition, also, in fact
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WHAT THE WRITER’S VOICE SHOULD CONVEY
Trait 3: Voice Voice: is what gives your writing a unique personality and message and provides a personal way of expressing ideas. Your writing voice should meet the expectations for the situation. WRITING PURPOSE WHAT THE WRITER’S VOICE SHOULD CONVEY Expository and persuasive writing Genuine interest in the subject, often including personal insights about why the subject is important to the writer and what the reader might expect to gain from it; respect for differing viewpoints; confidence without swagger Descriptive and narrative writing A genuine, not phony, personality; often some personal statements that show a willingness to trust readers with ideas you may find sensitive
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Trait 4: Word Choice You can capture your reader’s attention by using specific, lively, and natural sounding language appropriate to the situation. Use active-voice verbs Use precise nouns and modifiers Use colorful and figurative language Choose words that enhance the sounds of language
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Trait 5: Sentence Fluency
Your sentences flow smoothly together when you employ transitions, repeated words, and pronouns that refer back to an earlier word. Internal Coherence: when sentences connect fluidly to one another External Coherence: the smooth logical flow from one paragraph to the ext. Varied Sentence Patterns – Another way good writing achieves sentence fluency is by using a variety of sentence types and lengths. Vary Sentence Beginnings – Strong writing also has a variety of sentence starters. Varying Sentence Type – Good writers also vary the types of sentences they use. Subject The raft floated slowly down the river. Adverb Slowly the raft floated down the river. A souvenir banner hung on the wall. Prepositional Phrase On the wall hung a souvenir banner.
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Trait 6: Conventions Writing that communicates effectively is generally free of problems with spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and word choice. Paragraph breaks occur where you change topics, and sentences flow appropriate rules for grammar and usage. Writing that adheres to these principles can make a strong positive impression on readers. If you use inappropriate writing conventions, you may confuse your readers.
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