Introduction to Writing in College

The Importance of Writing

Recent surveys highlight that employers highly value strong communication skills in potential hires. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) Job Outlook 2024 survey[1], more than 70% of employers seek candidates with strong written communication skills, and about 68% value verbal communication abilities.

Similarly, a 2023 survey by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)[2] found that 64% of employers consider oral communication skills very important for new hires, yet only 34% believe recent graduates are well-prepared in this area.

In addition, several of the other valued skills are grounded in written communication:

• Critical Thinking and Analytical Reasoning: 60% of employers rate these skills as very important.

• Problem-Solving Abilities: Approximately 54% of employers prioritize complex problem-solving skills.

• Teamwork: 62% of employers value the ability to work effectively in teams.

This emphasis on communication probably reflects the changing reality of work. Employers also reported that employees will have to “take on more responsibilities,” “use a broader set of skills,” “work harder to coordinate with other departments,” face “more complex” challenges, and mobilize “higher levels of learning and knowledge.”[3]. Emphasizing these skills in educational curricula can better prepare graduates for the expectations of today’s employers.

The pay-off from improving your writing comes much sooner than graduation and entering the workforce. Suppose you complete about 40 classes for a 120-credit bachelors’ degree, and—averaging across writing-intensive and non-writing-intensive courses—you produce about 2,500 words of formal writing per class. Even with that low estimate, you’ll write 100,000 words during your college career. That’s roughly equivalent to a 330-page book. Spending a few hours sharpening your writing skills will make those 100,000 words much easier and more rewarding to write. Even your non-English professors care about and appreciate good writing.

Understanding the Assignment

There are four kinds of analysis you need to do in order to fully understand an assignment: determining its purpose, understanding how to answer an assignment’s questions, recognizing implied questions in the assignment, and recognizing the expectations of the assignment, which vary depending on the discipline and subject matter. Always make sure you fully understand an assignment before you start writing!

Determine the Purpose

The wording of an assignment should suggest its purpose. Start by carefully examining the assignment’s wording, particularly looking for key verbs. These verbs indicate the type of thinking and learning the assignment expects of you, such as summarizing information (verbs like describe, summarize), analyzing ideas (evaluate, analyze, compare), taking a position (argue, justify), or synthesizing multiple sources into an original argument (discuss, construct). By identifying what the verbs are asking you to do, you can clarify the assignment’s purpose and ensure your writing demonstrates the intended skills.

Understand How to Respond

College writing assignments will ask you to answer a how or why question – questions that can’t be answered with just facts. For example, the question “What are the names of the presidents of the US in the last twenty years?” needs only a list of facts to be answered. The question “Who was the best president of the last twenty years and why?” requires you to take a position and support that position with evidence.

Sometimes, a list of prompts may appear with an assignment. Usually, your instructor will not expect you to answer all of the questions listed. They are simply offering you some ideas so that you can think of your own questions to ask.

Recognize Implied Questions

A prompt may not include a clear ‘how’ or ‘why’ question, though one is always implied by the language of the prompt. For example:

• Original Prompt: “Analyze the impact of climate change on agricultural practices.” Implied Question: How has climate change affected agricultural practices?

• Original Prompt: “Examine the causes of the increasing use of social media among teenagers.” Implied Question: Why are teenagers using social media more frequently?

Some assignments are explicit about what exactly you’ll need to do, in what order, and how it will be graded. Some assignments are very open-ended, leaving you to determine the best path toward answering the project. Most fall somewhere in the middle, containing details about some aspects but leaving other assumptions unstated. It’s important to remember that your first resource for getting clarification about an assignment is your instructor—they will be very willing to talk out ideas with you to be sure you’re prepared at each step to do well with the writing.

Recognize Expectations

Depending on the discipline in which you are writing, different features and formats of your writing may be expected. Always look closely at key terms and vocabulary in the writing assignment, and be sure to note what type of evidence and citation style your instructor expects.

Avoid Plagiarism

All college classes will expect you to do your own work. Using another person’s words, images, or other original creations without giving proper credit is called plagiarism.

Oftentimes, as we prepare to address an assignment, we look at other material to help us with our thinking. This is research, and it’s a great thing! Professors always do research! When we do research to help us clarify our thinking, however, we need to be sure to acknowledge the sources that we have consulted and the ways in which our ideas have been influenced by others.

We use different citation guides (like APA and MLA) to format citations and lists of references. Sometimes students aren’t sure how to do these references correctly, and so they leave out the citations altogether. That’s never a good idea. Even if you aren’t sure how to create a perfect citation, always include references to all the material you’ve consulted. Otherwise, you could be committing plagiarism: taking someone else’s work (words and/or ideas) and presenting it as your own—the equivalent of cheating on a test. In order to be sure you don’t accidentally leave out a source, remember to keep track of what you consult as you begin research for a project or assignment.

The Writing Process

Have you ever received a writing assignment, and thought “this won’t take long”, only to stay up all night rushing to finish it before the deadline? You’re not alone—many writers struggle to plan effectively, which often results in work that is just not as good as it could be. When you wait until the last minute and fail to engage in every step of the writing process, you’re not doing your best work.

The writing process involves structured steps to develop and refine ideas into a coherent and polished piece, including brainstorming, researching, outlining, drafting, revising, and proofreading:

1. Brainstorming generates initial ideas through techniques like freewriting, mind mapping, or listing to explore and focus your topic.

2. Researching gathers credible information from sources like books, articles, and websites to build evidence and support for your writing.

3. Outlining organizes main ideas and details into a structured format, creating a roadmap with an introduction, body, and conclusion.

4. Drafting transforms your ideas into complete sentences and paragraphs, focusing on content development without worrying about perfection.

5. Revising refines your draft by reorganizing, clarifying, and ensuring coherence while addressing feedback and citing sources properly.

6. Proofreading corrects grammar, punctuation, spelling, and formatting errors to ensure your writing is polished and professional.

The writing process is not linear, but recursive, meaning you will need to move forward through some steps and then circle back to redo previous steps. It starts messy, with ideas in disarray, but gains clarity and direction as you work through it. For example, you might find yourself returning to the brainstorming phase even after you’ve begun drafting, or after completing a draft, you may realize that a significant aspect of the topic is missing, which sends you back to researching. Or, the process of research may lead you to an unexpected subtopic, which shifts your focus and leads you to revise your thesis. This flexibility is a natural and essential part of writing, allowing your ideas to evolve and mature.

It helps to recognize that these steps aren’t rigid and prescribed. Instead, viewing them as flexible allows you to adapt them to your own personal habits, preferences, and the topic at hand. You will probably find that your process changes, depending on the type of writing you’re doing and your comfort level with the subject matter.

Writing Through Fear

Writing is an activity that can cause occasional anxiety for anyone, even professional writers. Start early and use strategies, like those mentioned below, to help you work through writing anxiety.

1. Interrogate your fear. Ask yourself why you are afraid. Is it because you fear failure, success, or judgment? Has it been a while since you’ve written academically, and so this new style of writing is mysterious to you?

2. Write through it. We all know the best way to work through a problem is to confront it. So sit at your desk, look at the screen, and write. You might not even write your assignment at first. Type anything—a reflection on your day, why writing gives you anxiety, your favorite foods. Sitting there and typing will help you become more comfortable with the prospect of more.

3. Give it a rest. This was my approach. After realizing that I was having an adverse reaction, I called it quits for the day, which ultimately helped reset my brain.

4. Find comfort in ritual and reward. Getting comfortable with writing might involve establishing a ritual (a time of day, a place, a song, a warm-up activity, or even food or drink) to get yourself into the writing zone. If you accomplish a goal or write for a set amount of time, reward yourself.

5. Remember that knowledge is power. Sometimes the only way to assuage our fear is to know more. Perhaps you want to learn about the writing process to make it less intimidating. Check out Walden University’s Writing Center website for tips and tutorials that will increase your confidence. You can also always ask your instructor questions about the assignment.

6. Break it down. If you feel overwhelmed about the amount of pages or the vastness of the assignment, break it up into small chunks. For example, write one little section of the paper at a time.

7. Buddy up. Maybe you just need someone with whom to share your fears—and your writing. Ask a classmate to be a study buddy or join an eCampus group.

"Writing in College" by Lumen Learning is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). No changes were made to the original work.