A college freshman may ask, “Why to write?” Learning to write essays is just one reason to learn to write, but the skill can benefit students long after graduation.
First-year college students sitting in a freshman composition class often wonder what the reason is for having to take the class. A student will need to be able to write solid essays and term papers as a professional essay writer for many college classes, from history to philosophy. More than that, though, there are real-life reasons to learn to write well throughout one’s entire life. Here are just a few of them.
Work: Ways in Which One’s Job May Require Writing
With rare exceptions, most jobs will require a worker to write, whether a little or a lot. Waitresses must write down food orders; police have to fill out citations; retail supervisors need to order inventory. Many times, these types of writing don’t require too much forethought. But what about when the police officer needs to write out a report, or the supervisor must write out a detailed evaluation of her employee?
Some jobs require even more writing. Some employees have to enter data in computer systems, composing detailed information; others have to write reports and presentations; others must even compose documents for public consumption, such as brochures and posters. Then other jobs are directly related to writing, such as newspaper reporters, teachers, and the like.
College composition classes can prepare these future employees. Being able to put words together in a smooth, coherent fashion, and writing sentences and paragraphs that are easy to understand and interesting to read are skills that can be crafted as students write essays.
Correspondence: An Obvious Reason to Learn How to Write Well
People who can write well can engage in many forms of correspondence, from writing to a friend to composing a letter of complaint. Sending a text message doesn’t necessarily demand skill, but sending an email might. For example, if an employee must send his boss an email, it should be understandable, clear, and concise. If that same employee wants to write a friend or acquaintance, his meaning should also be clear and interesting to read.
Students can also learn the skill of writing persuasively by composing argumentative essays; this kind of writing prepares students to write letters to the editor of the local newspaper or draft a diplomatic letter of complaint.
Getting a Job Requires Good Writing Skills
Some people think getting a job entails simply filling out an application, but there are other activities when job hunting that can give the applicant a step up, and those activities all revolve around writing.
Writing a quality resume is hard work, but writing one well can screen an applicant into the interview process (or at least prevent her from getting screened out). A cover letter is also essential to getting an employer’s attention. Finally, a thank you letter is also important after business interviews. All these writing activities involve the skill of being able to communicate, concisely, and professionally.
Creative Writing Is Also Writing!
People who want to be creative writers get to simply because they want to, of course, but if they ever wish to seek publication, they must be good writers. Certainly, a creative writer can write stories, poems, and essays, but there’s more to it than that. Creative writers must learn to communicate and “sell” themselves all through writing. A creative writer might have written a terrific story, but if a publisher is unimpressed with the writer’s query letter, he’ll never read the story.
Too, learning the skills of academic writing can help a creative writer with any writing elements, but it is the business part of creative writing that essays can sometimes help with. Of course, writing essays can help creative writers with their creative nonfiction pieces as well!
So Many Important Reasons to Learn to Write
Students will find themselves learning long after they’re out of school, but they’ll understand, once they’re out of school, that their composition classes were some of the most important classes they took. Not only can writing classes help students throughout college, but they can also help a student with composing tasks throughout her entire life.
