1. The Six Traits Characteristics that help develop, evaluate, and perfect your writing.

2. Ideas Narrow the topic Pre-write Identifying the main idea Create clear ideas Expand unclear writing Identify what is important Keep on the topic

3. Organization Write a strong introduction Put ideas in order Identify the organizational pattern Stay on the chosen topic Use strong transition words to move reader through the piece Create closure with the conclusion

4. Voice Use personal voice Match the voice to the purpose Match the voice to the audience Add voice to flat, lifeless writing Have fun writing

5. Word Choice Use strong nouns, adjectives, and verbs for colorful writing Use synonyms and antonyms to enhance (improve) word meaning Use sensory words that create a picture in the readers’ mind Delete overused words Eliminate wordiness (rambling sentences)

6. Sentence Fluency Make choppy writing fluent Use a variety of sentence types Avoid run on sentences and fragments Use flowing transition words Create and use dialogue Read and revise your writing to yourself to check for fluency

7. Conventions Know the difference between revising and editing Spot errors in punctuation, grammar, spelling, and capitalization Correct ALL errors Use an editing checklist to guide you Check your writing over and over as you will find more errors Use editing symbols so show changes

8. Use the Six Traits throughout the Writing Process and you can create interesting and fresh writing pieces.