When you write down an account of your ideas for other people to read, you have to explain yourself particularly carefully. You cannot make the mental leaps you do when you talk with others or think about things by yourself. This makes writing probably the most challenging aspect of studying. This course will help you to develop the basic skills and confidence required for writing by explaining what is involved in good writing and why it is so important.

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• discuss why writing is so important
• understand and use critically the main criteria of good essay-writing
• be aware of the basic technical and stylistic considerations involved in writing