Young Writers Society

Hey guys,

I have a friend who has difficulties communicating with people and expressing himself effectively.

One suggestion I gave him was TO WRITE. And that writing will improve his speech. It will make him more articulate.

Do you think this actually works?

Has writing made you articulate? Chatty? Talkative? Having so much to say?

Actually my preference for writing over speaking has actually degraded my speech, as I am less used to pronouncing my words thus end up saying some very humorous yet horrible things without realizing it.

I agree with Zolen. I tend to retreat into a world of my own when I'm writing and just shuts out everyone else, if someone tries to talk to me. I either respond half-heartedly and just give them a cold stare that they just back away. My brain just locks down into the writing world and reality melts away.

I'm naturally a chatter box. But if I start reading, I have a tendency to block everything out. Once, I was reading, and the teacher and my friend were poking me with drum sucks and I didn't realize it until I looked up.

Ahah, this is an interesting question, and I've heard different things so I guess it depends on what causes the issue in the first place. There are a lot of skills involved in writing that can used to also improve speech and communication, but if you go in blindly then it could just backfire.


Learning grammar

Taking a course in grammar is good for people who think too much about what they say before they say it- when the result often causes them to stumble over every word.

By learning the building blocks of a sentence and how to put together 'thoughts' (the literary term,) a person can learn to focus on the subject and verb of the sentence. It seems simple, but it means they're centred on one thought rather than overthinking every other word.

Also, with grammar being undermined as a skill (at least, they are in the UK) there are children who struggle to communicate effectively who would sooner be diagnosed as less intelligent than as having poorer language skills. This tends to have a direct effect on self confidence, which turns into a downward spiral.


Talking Aloud

Writing something down and then reading it aloud seems simple enough, but it can greatly improve someone's ability to speak just by practice.

The thing with speech issues is that they can become a habit. Long pauses between phrases, speaking too fast, dumbing down phrases, sometimes we do it just because we've always done so.

By writing your own stuff and allowing the thoughts to flow without any pressure, and then you take the step to saying it aloud and practicing until it sounds right vocally. This also means that you can see things on the page, you can accept where the speech is different from others and you can pick up on where misinterpretations might occur.

I've never found a case where someone has become less fluent in conversation because they've practiced rehearsed speech, that's not an issue. As said above though it's easy for a person to slip into their own world when writing so the reading aloud part is crucial.


Organising thoughts

Quite often we can have a thousand things going through our heads at once that, when we try to vocalise them, come out completely different to the way we want them to. Quite often, especially with shy people, this results in saying nothing at all.

Writing things down in a diary can help us to organise those thoughts so that at least we'll have one at a time to talk about.


Introverts

Some people are naturally introverted, but that doesn't mean happily so. Writing is a way a person can pour out their thoughts so that even if they struggle to communicate with others vocally, they still have a way to ease their general frustrations, and maybe even reach out to express themselves in literature or reach out in letters instead of conversations.

Hey tenyo, as you say, it does depends solely on the cause of the issue.

I don't think my friends introverted. He actually wants to share his thoughts with people and friends around him. He doesn't move much away from grammar either, nor does he have pronunciation problems.

But yes, he has problems organizing his thoughts. He can't stick to one subject. He'll be explaining one moment and then suddenly he'll start talking about something else. He deviates too much. I think that is why i told him to write. As you say a journal would do well.

no. i'm horribly antisocial some days and writing has not improved my social skills whatsoever.

Ah, I'm anti-social for the most part, having difficulties talking infront of people, strangers or not. However, with my family and friends I consider a part of my tightly woven (and tiny) circle, I can talk quite easily depending on the topic.
I drew, wrote and read...So, if you ask my opinion, I have to answer that it really doesn't make much difference for some people. Not saying it doesn't help a good portion of people, but there are some who probably need a different method.