The Cambridge
International Dictionary of English (1996:1692) defines writing as “the
activity of creating pieces of writing work, such as stories, poems or
articles”. In the words of Beck et al
(2002:31), “writing is a method of passing information from one person to
another, or to a group of people”. They however did not limit writing’s function
to information alone, as they also cite persuasion and entertainment as
veritable resources to which writing can be put to.
Of the four
communication skills, writing is the least utilized for obvious reasons. It
requires a great expenditure of time and mental efforts to write. It is a
process of drafting, editing, and redrafting to usually arrive at an acceptable
finished product. The more reason it has been a highly prized communication
skill throughout history. Its mastery confers great powers and influence on
whoever possesses it (Beck et al, 2002), Hence the popular saying that “the pen
is mightier than the sword”.
The beauty of
writing is not usually in its volumes, but in the style and the effectiveness
of the content in achieving the set objective(s) of the writer. Effective
writing essentially thrives on clarity, precision, and conciseness. In the
words of Adesanoye (1995:115):
Effective
writing…is a piece of written communication that conveys its message in the
simplest, clearest, most concise and most readable way possible. It is also
that piece of writing in which the manner of expression dovetails perfectly
with the subject matter; one in which…there is a close fit between what and
how.
Simplicity,
clarity, readability and conciseness are thus the hallmarks of effective
writing.
With this
background on writing, we shall now proceed to highlight how it can be used for
various forms of personal development.
Writing aids
the development of the mental faculty because, more than any communication
effort, it involves a lot of thinking. The writer often finds himself writing,
cancelling and rewording his expressions in the effort to choose the words that
will most suitably convey his heart to his reader(s). In the process of doing
this, he regularly consult the dictionary and thesaurus, thereby increasing his
bank of vocabulary while at the same time honing his intellect.
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