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Re: Interesting Article about Student Writing Proficiency
Subject:Re: Interesting Article about Student Writing Proficiency From:Michael West <mbwest -at- bigpond -dot- net -dot- au> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 12 Jul 2003 08:42:06 +1000
From: "Susan W. Gallagher"
> [ ... ] it
> would seem that writing skills show up early. By the time
> I was in HS, I'd dump out a first draft the night before a
> report was due and get comments like, "you write so well!"
> and, "inciteful and well organized!" I was always a voracious
> reader and writing always seemed easy.
We often hear that "good writers are good readers."
Susan's comments seem to support that, and most of
my own experience as a writer and editor have also
borne that out. The opposite is true, too; I find that
many people with strong technical skills simply do not
enjoy reading, and hence make indifferent writers.
At least two good lessons can be drawn from these
observations:
1) When we write for a technical audience, we are
writing for people who would much rather be doing
something else than reading; keep their reading time
short, easy, and rewarding.
2) When recruiting writers, look for good readers.
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