Katieann Pelto

Instructor Chris Godsey

Writ 1120
1 November 2015
Rough Draft
The future has always been something I hated talking about just because Im so unsure
about my future. When I was in high school I would avoid talking about college with my
counselors and I would skip any of the Pick Your Career! seminars that were supposedly
required. Everyone told me that I shouldn't put this off, I should be thinking about college and
my future until I know what I want to do. Once I got into college I realized that everything my
high school teachers told me was false. College is meant for you to find who you are, find what
you love. When I came here 2 months ago I had no clue about my future. After my classes this
semester I know myself better and have a better idea of what I would like to do, however, Im
still unsure. Whatever I decide to do I want to make sure my writing is professional, organized,
and grammatically correct. Mediocre writing is not an option, I want to be an exceptional writer.
But what does it take to become that writer? We all know the basic answers weve heard since
elementary school. You must have correct spelling, grammar, punctuation, and diction, but in
order to be a good writer in and after college it takes more than that.
What makes a good writer? Michel Ferrari, the author of the article What makes a good
writer? Differences in good and poor writers self-regulation of writing, attempts to answer this
question. People that write well are more likely to advance in their company because they are
better at conveying their thoughts and ideas (Ferrari). However, learning how to become a better

writer is more difficult than it may seem. Good writers take more time to plan out their pieces of
writing and take more time researching their topic, that way they will have more knowledge and
a better understanding of it. According to Flower and Hayes, good writers follow a writing
process, which consists of three main points: planning and generating ideas, translating ideas into
words, and being able to revise and check what has been written (Ferrari). These steps do not
have to be done in any particular order. Ferrari also states that good writers are aware their
intended audience and are able to change their writing styles based on who that may be. By
following the writing process, I could develop an organized way to write everything in my
future. I know that planning, revising, and putting my ideas into words will improve my writing.
In Sally Spencers book Making the Common Core Writing Standards Accessible
Through Universal Design for Learning she describes all the writing skills that students going
into the work field should have after college. Her list is not short and sweet as many students are
probably hoping, it has extensive chapters dedicated to different ways on how to improve ones
writing skills. Sally is a professor at California State University where she teaches special
education teaching methods, reading instruction, and collaborative processes (Spencer). He coauthor, Wendy Murawski, also has knowledge about becoming a successful writer. She is the
author of the best-selling book Collaborate, Communicate, and Differentiate: How to Increase
Student Learning in Todays Diverse Schools (Spencer). In her books, Spencer says that there
are three main styles of writing; informational, narrative, and argumentative. The two primary
types of writing in the workplace are writing arguments and informational writing, narrative
writing is rarely used because its similar to storytelling which isnt needed when writing reports
or summaries. For employees, it is critical that they can gather information from multiple

sources, evaluate what the information states, and be able to present the information in a clear,
professional way (Spencer). When writing arguments, the employee must develop a point of
view on a topic and use evidence to support their claim. It is based on someones logic, but proof
needs to be provided. Informational writing is the most common form of writing in the
workplace, it is used to write reports, summaries and research briefs (Spencer). Informational
writing is about factual information such as reports of productivity or summarizing the results of
a survey of a conference, and many jobs will require their workers to do these things. It is also
important that workers can write for a variety of purposes and audiences because they will not
always be writing to the same group of people about the same topic. Being able to plan, edit and
revise will be a strength to any worker that is expected to write, their work will be better because
it will not be the first draft of their writing. Sally Spencers book does a good job of explaining
how to become a better writer. For anyone in high school, college or that wants to improve their
writing skills, I recommend reading through chapters of this book, particularly chapter two. It
will give these people pointers on how to make them better writers.
If I have two job candidates in front of me, equally qualified except that one can write
well and the other can't, I'll hire the one who can--every time. (Fisher). This was said by Paula
Goodman, the vice president and recruiter of Citigroup. Being able to write well is a skill that
everyone needs, especially if they hope to work for a very well-known business like Citigroup.
The interview process is long and competitive, and good writing skills will give you the upper
hand when a company is deciding who to hire. Many people want to get a good job, that pays
them a lot of money and in order to get a good job, writing is seen as a universal skills

(Dempsey). Being able to write well is a skill that people need to have when they graduate, and
schools should be focusing more on that.
As I said previously in my paper, I want to be an exceptional writer when I graduate. But
it seems that writing is a skill that most schools forget about. School is supposed to prepare us to
be successful in the real world. How are we going to be successful if we aren't taught how to
become great writers? In high school, students are taught to write in the five paragraph format.
An introduction, three body paragraphs supporting our idea, and then a conclusion to tie it all
together. Students are taught one style of writing, so when asked to approach a prompt in a
different style of writing, kids are clueless. I will do my part to become a better writer: use
correct grammar, follow the three main points of the writing process, be able to write in more
than one type or style. Schools should be doing their part to help students become better writers.
A student cannot be expected to write in a style when their teacher never taught them that style.
Schools need to stop looking over writing when they think about skills students need in and after
college. I believe these assignments have made me a better writer. I know what I need to do to
become a better writer because of Spencers and Ferraris advice.
Im going to use the rest of my time in college to develop my writing skills. Writing is
something you cant put off if you want to improve. Its something you need to continue to work
at. Planning an outline is something I should start to do before every writing assignment, it
makes a list of all your ideas and puts them into a clear, organized list.

Citations
Spencer, Sally A., and Nancy J. Aguinaga. "Strolling Through the Standards." Making the
Common Core Writing Standards Accessible through Universal Design for Learning.
N.p.: Corwin, n.d. 1-184. Print.

Instructional Science, 1998, Volume 26, Number 6, Page 473-476. Michel Ferrari, Thrse
Bouffard, Line Rainville.

Fisher, Anne. "The High Cost Of Living And Not Writing Well." Fortune. Fortune, 7 Dec. 1998.
Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Dempsey, Bobbi. "The Seven Most Universal Job Skills. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 18 Feb.
2010. Web. 20 Oct. 2015.