Writing developed approximately 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, China, and Egypt. Writing originally consisted
of symbols used to represent objects. By 3,000 years ago, writing had evolved to include phonetic elements.
The word "alphabet" comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta,
which were adapted from the Phoenician writing system. Aleph corresponds to "ox",
and Bet means "house" in various Semitic languages.
Cursive writing is a writing style that allows a person to write most letters without lifting the pen from the paper.
Thus, cursive script is very efficient for writing quick notes. Lower case cursive script requires lifting the
pen from the paper only for the letters i, j, t, and x to dot or cross the letters.
For upper case cursive, only F, H, K, T, and X
require lifting the pen from the paper.
How to Write a Paper or Essay
Keep in mind that the purpose of your essay is to inform or entertain the reader.
If you cannot keep a reader's attention, all the effort that you spend writing is wasted.
Here are some important things to keep in mind:
Research your topic
For your writing to be credible, you have to have your facts straight.
When readers think that you don't know what you are writing about, you have lost their attention.
Organize your ideas
An essay should be like a formal dinner. There should be an appetizer, followed by a progression of
tantalizing dishes, and culminated by an unforgettable dessert. Your lead topic should set the stage for
what is to follow. The body of your paper should have plenty of substance for the reader to chew on.
Your conclusion should put the essay in perspective, reveal unexpected surprises, and leave
the reader with a memorable experience.
Start by creating an outline of the ten to twenty main topics that you want to write about.
Refine your outline by adding subheadings for each topic. You can start writing once you are happy with the general organization
of your outline.
Write your document
Start expanding the description of each subheading of your outline and fill in the details.
Don't let the mechanics of writing disrupt the communication with your reader. Use clear language,
a straight-forward writing style, and good grammar. Format your document so that it is easy to read. By all means,
use a spelling checker to verify your document, and don't trust it to do a good job. Manually review
every sentence to make sure that "goal" is not misspelled as "gaol" and that "principal" and "principle" are
properly used. If you use a computer or word processing system, it is very important to keep one or more recent backup copies
of your writing in a safe place. This insures that your work is not lost if your
computer gets stolen or its hard drive crashes.
Persevere
Writing a significant document requires a lot of time and effort. The work that you put into the preparation of
your material will affect the quality of the final product. Don't expect your first draft to be a great document. You
may need to go through many revisions before your document expresses your ideas in a form that can be easily understood by a reader.
Write a few lines every day even if you don't have much time. If you take long breaks from your writing, you will
lose your thread of thought and it will be much harder to continue and create a cohesive composition.
Do you need an Editor?
You may need to find someone who can read your document and ask questions or provide suggestions.
An editor can point out where need to clarify confusing paragraphs, enhance boring passages,
or re-structure your document.
To write an autobiography or memoir, you need to list the major events in your life and then expand the
topics to include detailed descriptions. Check the dates in photographs, letters, journals, and official papers to make
sure that the times of the events you describe are accurate. Discuss your recollections with people who
were with you at various times to get their perspective and to make your description more objective.
Here is an example of a memoir written by a survivor of World War II who later immigrated to America.
Synonyms and related words: Synonyms: author, pen, pencil in. Related Words: cast, compose, correspond, craft, draft, draw up, formulate, frame,
prepare, recast, redraft, revise, rewrite, letter, print, type, typewrite, record, take down,
transcribe, autograph, register, sign, couch, express, phrase, put, word.
Enter your search terms:
Examples of the word
write, compose, pen, indite -- (produce a literary work; "She composed a poem"; "He wrote four novels")
publish, write -- (have (one's written work) issued for publication; "How many books did Georges Simenon write?"; "She published 25 books during her long career")
write -- (communicate or express by writing; "Please write to me every week")
communicate, intercommunicate -- (transmit thoughts or feelings; "He communicated his anxieties to the psychiatrist")
write, drop a line -- (communicate (with) in writing; "Write her soon, please!")
correspond -- (exchange messages; "My Russian pen pal and I have been corresponding for several years")
write -- (communicate by letter; "He wrote that he would be coming soon")
communicate, intercommunicate -- (transmit thoughts or feelings; "He communicated his anxieties to the psychiatrist")
(write music; "Beethoven composed nine symphonies")
(mark or trace on a surface; "The artist wrote Chinese characters on a big piece of white paper")
trace, draw, line, describe, delineate -- (make a mark or lines on a surface; "draw a line"; "trace the outline of a figure in the sand")
record data on a computer
write or name the letters that comprise the conventionally accepted form of (a word or part of a word); "He spelled the word wrong in this letter")
Sample search results:
Writers Write -- The Write Resource -- Books, Writing and Publishing
Writers Write(R) is a professional resource for editors, journalists and writers which provides information, markets, job listings, writing news, ...
www.writerswrite.com/
ReadWriteThink
Providing educators and students access to the highest quality practices and resources in reading and language arts instruction.
www.readwritethink.org/
Absolute Write: freelance writing, screenwriting, playwriting ...
Free e-books and free online magazine for beginning writers and professional writers. We cover screenwriting, freelance writing, novels, playwriting, ...
www.absolutewrite.com/
Write Your Representative - Contact your Congressperson in the US ...
The Write Your Representative service is provided by the US House of Representatives to enable the American public to identify, and in some cases contact, ...
www.house.gov/writerep/
US Senate: Senators Home
Senate listing of members' home pages, email addresses, names, telephone numbers, surface mail addresses, and other contact information.
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
Congress.org -- Write To Congress, the President and State Legislators
Write to Congress, the President and state legislators. Also see votes, bills and more.
www.congress.org/
Writing Children's Books
A web site for children's book writers -- and those who dream of writing a book for kids -- how-to information and inside secrets about writing children's ...
www.write4kids.com/
The Write Site Homepage
An interactive language arts and journalism ...
www.writesite.org/default.htm
