Elements of Writing

IMPORTANCE OF WRITING AT UNIVERSITY
Writing allowed a general transformation in human evolution, since having a means of

communication in addition to orality made it possible to retain information accurately for long
periods of time.
ELEMENTS OF WRITING
What I write? THE TEXT, the writing itself, but also taking into account a specific genre or type of
composition: Story, news, poem, thesis, script, song, play, reports, etc.
What do I write about? THE TOPIC, or what the writing will be about.
What do I write for? THE PURPOSE, or the objective of what is written: To inform, communicate,
excite, entertain...
Who do I write for? THE RECIPIENT, to whom what is written is addressed. In which AGES, GENDER
(Female or male), CONDITION (Intellectual, economic, cultural and social) and LANGUAGE
(Colloquial, formal, informal, technical jargon, among others) are taken into account.
As? THE TONE, or how you want the text to be interpreted: Ironic, burlesque, serious, critical,
Romantic.
With what? THE ARGUMENTATIVE RESOURCES, which will clarify and give substance to what is
stated in the text: Definitions, questions, characteristics, conclusions. AND THE RHETORICAL
RESOURCES, or the "unconventional" ways of using words, which also carry semantic or phonic
particularities: Metaphors, hyperbaton, hyperbole, etc.
What is the purpose of writing?
1. Among many things, writing specifically helps us to:
2. Communicate clearly
3. Eliminate stress
4. Gain awareness of reality
5. Make better decisions
6. Live more focused (on the solution and not on the problem)
7. Get over bad times
8. Preserve memories, which in turn are good to feel better
How to do it if I am not a writer?
What is sought with writing to heal is to discover and understand our emotions and feelings, their
origin, their causes and where they are taking us.
Ask yourself
Commit to writing for 20 minutes for four consecutive days
Write without stopping
Try to build a narrative that connects with other aspects of your life .
Why do we use words?
Writing techniques
Writing is an important form of communication. Good writers use different writing

techniques to fulfill their writing purpose. To be a good writer, you must master
each of the writing techniques.
1. Description ( , a writer helps the reader use the senses)
Through description, a writer helps the reader use the senses of

touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste to experience what a writer
experiences. Description helps the reader understand more clearly
the people, places, and things the writer writes about. It is the most
common form of writing. You will find descriptive writing in
newspapers, magazines, books, and many other forms of written
communication.
2. Exposition ( , a writer informs, explains, and clarifies his ideas and
thoughts.)
Through exposition, a writer informs, explains, and clarifies his ideas
and thoughts. The exposition goes beyond description in helping the
reader understand with great clarity and depth the ideas and thoughts
of the writer. Expository writing, like descriptive writing, is commonly
found in newspapers, magazines, books, and most forms of written
communication.
3. Narration ( a writer tells a story)
Through storytelling, a writer tells a story. A story has characters, a
setting, a time, a problem, attempts to solve the problem, and a
solution to the problem. Bedtime stories are examples of short stories
while novels are examples of long stories. Scripts written for films and
plays are other examples of narrative writing.
4. Persuasion ( The writer presents facts and opinions to make the reader
understand)
Through persuasion, a writer tries to change the reader's point of
view on a topic, area, or stance. The writer presents facts and
opinions to make the reader understand why something is good, bad,
or in between. Editorials, letters to the editor in newspapers and
magazines, and text for political speeches are examples of writing for
persuasion.
5. Comparison and Contrast ( a writer points out similarities and differences
on a topic.)
Through comparison and contrast, a writer points out similarities and
differences on a topic. Comparison is used to show what is similar or
what they have in common. Contrast is used to show what is not
similar or what they do not have in common. Describing living
conditions in 1900 and today would allow for quite a bit of comparison
and contrast.
https://www.how-to-study.com/metodos-de-estudio/tecnicas-de-escritura.asp
1. Think about what you will write about before you write
Not doing so is a mistake that many make. Before sitting down to write,
make sure you have something to say and clearly define how you want to
express it. Don't focus your writing on the words, but on the ideas you want
to convey. Think: What is the objective of this post? From there he begins
to build it.
2. Points, points, points

It was the first advice my Journalism teacher gave me. To provide fluent
writing you must use punctuation marks correctly. Avoid long one-sentence
paragraphs. And whenever you are tempted to write a comma, think about
whether it can be replaced by a period.
3. Say goodbye to adjectives and adverbs

Descriptions are important to achieve a good narrative, but many people
abuse adjectives and adverbs. Review your text and look at all the words
you can eliminate (for example: very, really, perhaps, amazing, incredible,
truly, just). As the storyteller Horacio Quiroga expressed, “How many
colored glues you attach to a weak noun will be useless.”
Don't repeat words

The breadth of vocabulary, as well as the cultural level of a person, are
noticeable in the excessive use of words. Look for synonyms or concepts
that could replace what you wrote. The first thing you should do is find
your fillers (the words that you constantly repeat), search for them in your
text with the Ctrl + B functionality in Word and change them for others.
The Spanish language is extremely broad; seize it.
5. Use subtitles or intermediate heads

When you write a text, especially if it is long, think about dividing it into
subtopics and using intermediate heads. This helps to rest your eyes and
make reading more fluid.
Do not abuse punctuation marks or bold letters

Most of the time you can omit punctuation marks such as parentheses and
hyphens by adding periods or commas. This way the writing looks cleaner.
Also avoid excess bold and italic letters; Analyze well what you need to
highlight and do it only when warranted.
7. Use spell checkers

It might sound obvious but not everyone does it. Although the Word tool is
quite functional, keep in mind that it does not fix all errors, especially if
they involve diacritics. If you don't know how to use a word, just don't use
it. The same goes when it comes to grammar.
8. Be authentic
To get your posts to gain traction, it is essential that you define what your
voice, tone and writing style will be. Don't try to sound too different from
how you speak, as the reader will notice, and don't try to imitate someone
else's style or ideas. Be careful: never write about a topic you don't know
about.
9. Establish a structure
In Journalism, there are several ways to structure a text. The simplest (and
one that can help you when writing your posts) is the inverted pyramid,
which consists of going from the most important to the least important. It is
also recommended that in the first paragraph you answer the main five
questions: what?, who?, when?, how? and where?
Have a strong beginning and end

As in a good play or movie, the principle is basic to captivating the
audience; while the outcome is what the viewer will remember most in the
long term. Try to start and end your texts strongly. A good idea is to start
with a question and end with the answer.
11. Read a lot

To be a good writer you need to be a good reader. Books, articles,
magazines and posts can give you many ideas on how to tell a story, as well
as spelling and vocabulary clues. Read about different topics and authors;
You can also use them as references in your texts.
12. Know your audience

Before writing, think about who your message is directed to. Imagine what
your reader is like, what are their interests? what type of language do you
use? where would I read your text? Keeping this in mind will help you
choose your tone and themes.

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IMPORTANCE OF WRITING AT UNIVERSITY

Writing allowed a general transformation in human evolution, since having a means of

What is the purpose of writing?

1. Among many things, writing specifically helps us to:

4. Gain awareness of reality

5. Make better decisions

7. Get over bad times

8. Preserve memories, which in turn are good to feel better

How to do it if I am not a writer?

Commit to writing for 20 minutes for four consecutive days

Write without stopping

Why do we use words?

Writing is an important form of communication. Good writers use different writing

Through description, a writer helps the reader use the senses of

2. Points, points, points

3. Say goodbye to adjectives and adverbs

Don't repeat words

5. Use subtitles or intermediate heads

Do not abuse punctuation marks or bold letters

7. Use spell checkers

Have a strong beginning and end

11. Read a lot

12. Know your audience

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