Why is Writing So Important?

· Writing is the primary basis upon which your work, your learning, and your intellect will be judged--in college, in the workplace, and in the community.

· Writing expresses who you are as a person.

· Writing is portable and permanent. It makes your thinking visible.

· Writing helps you move easily among facts, inferences, and opinions without getting confused--and without confusing your reader.

· Writing promotes your ability to pose worthwhile questions.

· Writing fosters your ability to explain a complex position to readers, and to yourself.

· Writing helps others give you feedback.

· Writing helps you refine your ideas when you give others feedback.

· Writing requires that you anticipate your readers' needs. Your ability to do so demonstrates your intellectual flexibility and maturity.

· Writing ideas down preserves them so that you can reflect upon them later.

· Writing out your ideas permits you to evaluate the adequacy of your argument.

· Writing stimulates you to extend a line of thought beyond your first impressions or gut responses.

· Writing helps you understand how truth is established in a given discipline.

· Writing equips you with the communication and thinking skills you need to participate effectively in democracy.

· Writing is an essential job skill.

--Based upon brochures at Marquette University, Brown University and the University of Missouri