Writing Ideas – Why Your Child Should Have Good Writing Ideas

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      Students often find it difficult to develop writing ideas.   Unless students are given a specific topic with specific sub-topics, students can spend a great deal of time deciding what to write about. 

     Ideas are the key component of the message insofar as the content of text.  The main idea and details hold together the general theme of the piece of writing.  Writing ideas should be expressed clearly.  Powerful ideas in writing help the reader understand the main idea and theme.  The ideas should have specific details and they should be informative so that the reader can comprehend the message.

      Regardless of whether your child is writing a personal narrative, a report, or procedure, good ideas will make his/her assignment stand out above the rest.

     You can help your child develop writing ideas by using the following checklist:

1.    The writing should be clear and orderly.  The main idea or theme should be introduced by getting the reader’s attention. For example, if your child is writing about Ancient Egypt, he/she should focus on an aspect of the culture in the first paragraph, and support the focus in the body of the writing.  A good topic sentence and opening paragraph will help your child grab the reader’s attention.

2.    Information should be unique and interesting.  Make sure your child’s ideas are not simply regurgitated facts.  The more interesting the information is, the more interesting the piece of writing will be.  For example, assume your child is writing about sharks.  Instead of listing the different types of sharks and their sizes, your child can include information about the largest shark ever caught, the uniqueness of the Whale shark, or the evolution of sharks.

3.    Your child should determine important information from his/her research so that he/she seems knowledgeable and informed about the topic.  For example, assume your child is doing a report on the Middle Ages.  Your child would be better off to include information about the social structure (i.e. the Feudal System) as opposed to the daily life of a peasant farmer.  By reporting on the social structure, your child is showing the teacher that he/she understands the key elements of medieval culture.  The farmers’ roles in medieval culture were significant in their own right, but a report on their daily experiences doesn’t illustrate the importance of the culture.

     I tell my students that they should try to ‘sell’ me their writing assignments.  They should make them interesting enough that I would want to read them.

    Having good writing ideas will help your child create informative and interesting pieces of writing.

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