Written communication - overview

Written communication - overview

Writing skills can be cultivated and acquired although they entail a lot of hard work. Effective writing skills can impart individuals a competitive edge over rivals because pen is mightier than the sword. Written communication is a delayed response and hence more creative. Compared with oral communication, it permits limited cycle to respond and lag time for feedback takes longer and in some cases, it may not happen at all.
Adaptation is the basic principle as writers have to work hard to express their thoughts accurately. They must visualize what receivers know, feel or think and then select the right words and phrases. It is easier communicating with single person or homogeneous groups rather than mixed and diverse groups. However, governing rule is to keep it simple and short (KISS).
Written communications involve learning at three levels – choosing the right word, constructing good sentences and designing appropriate paragraphs. Effective writers must understand the importance of language and use of correct grammar. Since words form the building blocks of effective communication, the way words are used constitute crucial part of writing skill. There are seven ways words are used - as nouns, verbs including tenses, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and conjunction.
Proper use of punctuation signs embellishes the style of communicators who also tend to experiment and innovate with them as their usage changes over time. Writers should be well versed in the use of the twelve punctuation signs – full stop, comma, semicolon, colon, question mark, exclamation mark, quotation marks, apostrophes, hyphens, dashes, parentheses and capital letters.