Improve your writing skills

The National Weekender

By THOMAS HUKAHU
WHY is it that a few people write better than the majority of the population, including those who are educated in many of our tertiary institutions?
As I see it, the reason is that they have kept to some basics rules in writing and English grammar, rules that all of us have learned at the primary school level, relearn them at the secondary level and then reemphasised and expanded on at the tertiary level.
In football, it is always wise for any team that wants to win to keep to the basics – and we can bring that same mentality to writing also to make our writing stand out.
It is my wish in this and a few other articles to be shared in the next few weeks to help those who are struggling with their writing skills, or want to improve theirs – including students (as those in Grades 10-12) as well as professionals.

The basics were taught us but …
As strange as it may sound, the basics in writing were taught us at the primary level, but the majority of students have not really grasped them and that is why they continue to make simple mistakes in grammar, spelling or in structuring a sentence and they do not realise those until an editor, teacher or seasoned writer points out those errors to them.
I say that there are stories bestselling authors who never had the privilege of gaining higher education.
Among others, bestselling writer Robert Ludlum, who has written many espionage thrillers like The Bourne Trilogy series, is such an example.
Ludlum was said to have failed English in high school three times before joining and serving in the US Marines and then getting a job as a newspaper reporter and eventually settling on writing bestselling novels as a career.

Why improve your writing skills?
There is a need for many people – students as well as professionals – to improve their writing skills.
People with good writing skills have more chances of going up to the next level – in school as in the workplace, getting good grades or winning a coveted job.
Interestingly, despite the advancement of technology and accessibility of resources on the internet, professionals, university graduates and students in general make many basic English mistakes in their work reports, essays or written tests, not to mention on social network when they are debating issues.
Here are some reasons why good writing skills are essential and why you have to improve yours.
Firstly, if you are a student (as a Grade 10 student), you will be sitting for your written expression examination in a few weeks’ time and you need to review the basics that you have learned already, including how to fix up your sentence structure so that you give your best during the exam and subsequently getting a good grade.
For upper secondary school students and those at the tertiary level, writing essays is the usual way you may be assessed in expressing your views on a theme, therefore confident use of sentences, style and structure are vital in you getting the best marks for your paper.
When I attended university to do a diploma in education on top of my first degree, our education in psychology lecturer had this way of assessing us where he gave us one topic each week (as on a theory by Pavlov or Piaget) and told us to write an essay on that.
After our first papers were marked, the lecturer handed them back to us and made a statement to the effect that “many of us did not know how to properly argue or talk about an issue on paper”. It was quite embarrassing in that all of us in that class already had a degree or diploma and had worked in the field for a few years.
We were professionals using English on a daily basis but our writing skills were poor, to say the least.
Secondly, your writing skills may be tested before you are awarded an international scholarship.
Some scholarship donors test the basic numeracy and literacy skills of applicants to determine who would be shortlisted and eventually selected as awardees. Applicants who lack such skills will not be shortlisted.
Thirdly, you may be tested on your writing skills in jobs as part of the recruitment process.
Just possessing a university qualification will not get you a job, you have to show that you are proficient in your writing and other skills.
When I left teaching to join journalism years back, we were given a series of writing tests, assessment pieces that tested us on our level of writing and general knowledge on current issues as well as journalism in Papua New Guinea.
I used to do my own writing on the side and that gave me an edge over the other applicants, where three of us were accepted among the ten in the group that applied for a reporter’s job.
Fourthly, if you are applying for a job, the way you write a letter is the first document that an employer may use to decide whether you are to be shortlisted.
A recruiter told me that among the piles of letters she receives for jobs with her organisation, her first impression of a potential employee is made by the application letter. Even before she looks at the qualifications of applicants, she separates those who show that they possess a high command of English from those who do not have such.
Fifthly, if you want to write your book about your people, your tribe or your grandfather, you should polish up your writing skills to better present your story to others in print form.
Sixthly, if you want to enter writing competitions, you must improve your writing skills to compete against others for the grand prize.

Take note of parts of speech
Now, let us get to some English grammar – to some basics.
Whenever you write a sentence, take note of the words you use and what function they serve. This simple exercise helps you construct a complete sentence – as defined by the English language rules.
Take note of the “parts of speech” in a sentence.
The parts of speech (in very general terms) are:

  • Noun – a naming word e.g. man, town, love, John
  • Verb – a doing or action word e.g. go, washed, rushing
  • Adverb – a word that describes a verb
  • Adjective – a words that describes a noun e.g. beautiful, clean, evil
  • Conjunction – a word that joins two parts of a sentence e.g. and, with, but
  • Preposition – a word that shows how one object is related to another e.g. to, at, in
  • Definite article – the word “the”
  • Indefinite article – the words “a” and “an”
  • Pronoun – a word that is used in place of a noun e.g. he, she, it, they

(Personally, I have noted that people who want to formally learn any foreign language must know the parts of speech in English to understand where those parts are situated in a sentence in another language, like French or German.)
Whenever you are constructing a sentence, note what function each word used serves.
That can prevent you making a mistake.
Consider this sentence:
Paul caught five big fish.
Can you identify what part of speech each word is in that sentence?
“Paul” and “fish” are nouns – in fact, the names of the people (as Paul) are proper nouns and “fish” is a common noun.
The word “caught” is a verb, “five” (in this sentence) and “big” are adjectives because they describe “fish”, a noun.

The subject, predicate and object
Did you notice that the sentence above is complete? It would not be complete if it was written as “Paul caught”.
One important way of analysing a sentence is to split it up into two parts – a part with the “subject” and the other part the “predicate”.
The “subject” refers to the person or thing doing or performing an action.
The “predicate” has the verb (showing what the person or thing is doing) as well as other parts.
So the sentence above can be broken up into these two parts:

  • Subject – Paul
  • Predicate – caught five big fish

It is important to note that wherever there is a “subject” in a sentence, there could also be an “object”, a thing or person that the action is performed on.
In the sentence given, “fish” is the object.
See that the “object” follows the “verb” and “subject” – as in subject-verb-object.

Your writing tools for the job
If you want to improve your writing skills, you must have your own English dictionary. I bought my pocket one in 1994 and it is still with me.
Of course, today we can easily consult an online dictionary too, if we are connected to a network.
Also ensure that you have books on the basics in writing as well as on English grammar.
Over the decades I have bought many of such books, mainly from street vendors and second-hand shops because I could not afford brand new copies.
With a dictionary and textbooks, ensure that you have a good number of magazines, articles and books, like the classics, – novels, scripts or poetry – that you can read from time to time to get the English structure consolidated in your system.
I ensure that my copies of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and The Essential Hemingway, a compilation of a novel and excerpts of Ernest Hemingway’s works, are among a few books that I always have with me when I change jobs or my place of residence. They contain some of my favourite lines in the English literature.
In some western universities, English professors urge their students to study the King James Bible also as a recommended text because it is said to be written in one of the finest forms of English ever and has a certain lustre that outshines other literature.
Note that our writing is shaped by what we read, therefore ensure that you have a stack of good reading material beside you at all times.

Writing exercise for you
I will try to give you a writing exercise for you to do each week.
For this week: Write to tell someone abroad about yourself and where you live – as in a letter.
You could start like this:
Hellow. My name is Joe Teke. I am 35 years old and I am a Papua New Guinean.
I live in Manus with my family …
In your description, pay attention to the parts of speech that you are using and appreciate what roles they are performing.

  • Next week: Improve your writing: Watch punctuation
  • Thomas Hukahu is a freelance journalist.