Writing does take a lot of practice, but I think it also has a lot to do with natural talent and determination.
I have met many people in my life that cannot write well at all or they write how they speak instead of refining their writing. While having a natural talent for writing cannot just be achieved, all writing can be improved. One way of improving mediocre writing skills is to improve vocabulary (just use a thesaurus). Instead of "The author of this article said smoking is bad" "In his/her article [insert title name] author, [author's name] expresses the dangers of smoking on not only one's physical health, but also one's mental health." Simply by expanding a thought can make your writing more refined and "better". On the other extreme, simplifying over complicated writing can also aid in the quality of the work.
On the other hand, I have met very talented writers that either ignore their talent or dismiss it. I graduated from Millburn Township Senior High School (MHS) in 2011. In 2009 and 2011 MHS was the number one public school in the state of New Jersey. Our curriculum was more advanced, faster paced and unfortunately if you were left behind they stuck you in a ridiculously "dumbed down" remedial class (CPB), that was weighted as equally as a regular level class (CPA). This all being said, my high school was extremely competitive academically. Therefore, students were more likely to take AP Environmental Science as an elective instead of one of the many writing courses offered. I did not take any APs in high school, instead I took every English and writing course offered (which was quite a lot). My senior year I was taking more writing courses than most of my peers would take in 4 years of high school. For me writing is an extremely important skill to have, however a majority of my peers were more concerned with math or science even if they had a natural talent for writing. I would hear in the hallway people complain about English and creative writing requirements, how "that's stupid" and "I know how to write, I don't need a class on it". Worse is that I have heard parents complain about these same requirements as if the ability to write is unnecessary when in reality they all had it backwards. Being a skilled writing is a very marketable attribute when it comes to employment. Even simple tasks as putting together a resume or a cover letter require a high level of writing if you want to stand out.
But, I guess that's why I'm a writing arts major and the majority of my graduating class is going to school for business, law or medicine (whi
I have met many people in my life that cannot write well at all or they write how they speak instead of refining their writing. While having a natural talent for writing cannot just be achieved, all writing can be improved. One way of improving mediocre writing skills is to improve vocabulary (just use a thesaurus). Instead of "The author of this article said smoking is bad" "In his/her article [insert title name] author, [author's name] expresses the dangers of smoking on not only one's physical health, but also one's mental health." Simply by expanding a thought can make your writing more refined and "better". On the other extreme, simplifying over complicated writing can also aid in the quality of the work.
On the other hand, I have met very talented writers that either ignore their talent or dismiss it. I graduated from Millburn Township Senior High School (MHS) in 2011. In 2009 and 2011 MHS was the number one public school in the state of New Jersey. Our curriculum was more advanced, faster paced and unfortunately if you were left behind they stuck you in a ridiculously "dumbed down" remedial class (CPB), that was weighted as equally as a regular level class (CPA). This all being said, my high school was extremely competitive academically. Therefore, students were more likely to take AP Environmental Science as an elective instead of one of the many writing courses offered. I did not take any APs in high school, instead I took every English and writing course offered (which was quite a lot). My senior year I was taking more writing courses than most of my peers would take in 4 years of high school. For me writing is an extremely important skill to have, however a majority of my peers were more concerned with math or science even if they had a natural talent for writing. I would hear in the hallway people complain about English and creative writing requirements, how "that's stupid" and "I know how to write, I don't need a class on it". Worse is that I have heard parents complain about these same requirements as if the ability to write is unnecessary when in reality they all had it backwards. Being a skilled writing is a very marketable attribute when it comes to employment. Even simple tasks as putting together a resume or a cover letter require a high level of writing if you want to stand out.
But, I guess that's why I'm a writing arts major and the majority of my graduating class is going to school for business, law or medicine (whi