noun

• 1The activity or skill of writing.

  ‘parents want schools to concentrate on reading, writing, and arithmetic’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Proposal writing is a vital skill that many business owners haven't mastered.’
  • ‘The skill of writing, however, did not become common in the West for hundreds of years.’
  • ‘It's an academic course and there's lots of reading and writing.’
  • ‘Meanwhile, traffic to major news websites spiked - and so did the reading and writing of blogs.’
  • ‘She is still a long way from a full recovery, but is making steady improvement in her reading, writing and concentration.’
  • ‘I am going to sit here and try to get some reading and writing done before the storm catches up with me.’
  • ‘My writing and reading are not perfect but they are greatly improved.’
  • ‘Her reading, writing and concentration are improving and her diet is virtually back to normal.’
  • ‘I know that my own horizons have been expanded by writing and reading of blogs.’
  • ‘Wouldn't it be fantastic if they could be encouraged to take up reading and writing as well?’
  • ‘His book is part memoir, part meditation on the processes of reading and writing, and is thoroughly engaging.’
  • ‘It's that the one-week lag between my writing and your reading is eliminated by blogging.’
  • ‘Reading and writing were the only subjects that Ms. Stacey could teach in Spanish.’
  • ‘The foundations laid in basic reading, writing and mathematics will serve them for the rest of their lives.’
  • ‘Young offenders will improve their reading, writing and numeracy to help them get jobs after they leave custody.’
  • ‘We wish to assure the public that the teaching, reading and writing of poetry are alive and well at Rio Rancho High School.’
  • ‘Whilst excelling in architecture James also channelled his creativity into writing and photography.’
  • ‘I had wanted to major in creative writing, but was told I could never make a living that way.’
  • ‘Anjar looked puzzled, unable to link the act of writing with the printed text on a page.’
  • ‘As soon as civilisation invented writing, stories began to be recorded on paper.’
  • ‘Paul Jane offers a helpful suggestion for those wanting to use Spanish words in their writing.’

  1. 1.1A sequence of letters, words, or symbols marked on a surface.
     ‘a leather product with gold writing on it’
     More example sentences

     • ‘he asked them to put their complaints in writing’
     • ‘In cuneiform writing, words are represented by signs incised into clay tablets by a wedge-shaped instrument.’
     • ‘Mr Shackleton remembered his attacker was wearing a navy blue crew-neck sweater with a badge emblem and red writing on it.’
     • ‘There is a sign by the door, embedded writing on a gold plate, but she is too far away to read it.’
     • ‘Chinese writing uses a system of symbols to represent words or concepts rather than sounds and is not directly linked to pronunciation.’
     • ‘The gold writing of the pictograph contrasted the blackness of the sword.’
     • ‘The nameplate is a square, cream, ceramic sign with green writing.’
     • ‘The launches were observed from both sides and have no writing or identification marks on them.’
     • ‘Constructed to hang on the wall, the works present text in cursive writing, sewn into the silk fabric of the support.’
     • ‘And the walls were highly decorated with Egyptian writing of stories and what not.’
  2. 1.2Handwriting.
     ‘his writing looked crabbed’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Her eyes skimmed the familiar writing and descended knowingly on that one sentence that seemed to haunt her desperately.’
     • ‘The writing seemed oddly familiar, but Sakura couldn't remember who wrote like that.’
     • ‘The writing seemed familiar but he couldn't quite put his thumb on whose exactly it was.’
     • ‘According to the principles of calligraphy, writing should be upright or slanting to the right.’
     • ‘He produced three slightly dirty envelopes with the familiar writing of Jacob Ryan.’
     • ‘In his lap was a Manila folder, Italian writing scribbled all over on various notes and documents.’
     • ‘Some sort of writing had been scrawled over one side, and it looked like some ancient language.’
     • ‘He muttered as he reached for his bag and pulled out a yellow legal pad covered in scrawled writing.’
     • ‘He went into the kitchen in hopes to find her only to find a note scribbled in her writing.’
     • ‘As Aidan began to read the letter out, Jordan tore his envelope open and read the scrawled writing.’
     • ‘While jumping into the garment, I read the writing scrawled on the paper.’
     • ‘The only other handwriting that we have been able to identify is the writing on the boards or doors at Mr Wilkins flat.’
     • ‘When she opened the piece of paper written in fancy writing was an invitation addressed to Kelly Wiston.’
     • ‘Occasionally a writer may vary the slant of her writing, with letters pointing in all directions.’
     • ‘Written in red ink, in my father's slanted, tiny writing, were five words, repeated over and over.’
     • ‘Many of them were written in crayon in David's clumsy writing, with each letter picked out in a colour different from the letter preceding it.’
     • ‘The first word was in Joey's awkward writing, but someone had finished the letter for him.’
     • ‘At the bottom of the letter was some hand-written writing saying she would like to come to our school.’
     • ‘Squinting his eyes Kaerin read a particularly difficult word, the writing slanted and close together to almost look like a lone blob of ink.’
     • ‘I had known how to read and write that type of writing since I was a little girl.’
     Synonyms

     handwriting, hand, script, penmanship, pen, print, printing, longhand, calligraphy, chirography

     View synonyms

• 2The activity or occupation of composing text for publication.

  ‘she made a decent living from writing’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Lawrence's nomadic life supplied him with material for much of his writing and he wrote four travel books of a very personal kind.’
  • ‘Speaking for myself, I would say it is possible to make a living out of writing.’
  • ‘I have not worked at a job for nine years, doing only freelance writing.’
  • ‘I'm pretty sure that writing for publication is one of the most arrogant things a human can do.’
  • ‘To be a writer you need to learn the tricks and skills to live the life of writing.’
  • ‘I want to pursue a career in writing, hopefully through some form of journalism.’
  • ‘I don't know about you, but I find it very hard indeed to think of writing as a sensible occupation.’
  • ‘What I wanted to do with writing was to write novels and make money like anybody else.’

  1. 2.1Written work, especially with regard to its style or quality.
     ‘the writing is straightforward and accessible’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Oh, his writing has a certain style and he can say a simple thing.’
     • ‘There are vast differences of thought and style within classical writing.’
     • ‘He makes this point in his Clarkson style in a brilliant piece of writing for the Sunday Times.’
     • ‘Banerji has a wonderful prose style - her writing is fluid and confident and often extremely imaginative.’
     • ‘Is this grand sum due to the quality of her writing or the current hunger for Canadian literature?’
     • ‘The characters are fairly horrible yet Thomas coaxes enough style out of his writing to keep the pages turning.’
     • ‘The magazine is notable for the quality of its writing as well as the way it engages the books reviewed.’
     • ‘But Gee uses this as an excuse to replay some tired stereotypes which undermine the genuine satirical quality of her writing.’
     • ‘This fascinating book by the leading authority on its subject is outstanding for the quality of both its writing and its illustrations.’
     • ‘The question came from an editor interested in improving the quality of writing at her newspaper.’
     • ‘On top of a good foundation of acting talent, the show was also blessed with quality writing.’
     • ‘Dr. Sartor provided wise counsel and a keen eye for quality writing for many years.’
     • ‘Not to trivialize his work, but one of the reasons I believe his work is so popular is the aphoristic style of his writing.’
     • ‘I hope you enjoy this month's crop of great reading and inspiring writing.’
     • ‘The writing embodies the literary skill of an author who has been publishing for over half a century.’
     • ‘She did praise my writing and presented me with many opportunities to stretch my skills.’
     • ‘At times, Darwin worried that his writing sounded too literary and feared that his metaphors would lead readers astray.’
     • ‘His writing must contain unlimited implications which appear outside the text.’
     • ‘Please don't think, by the way, that I object to complex writing or to unusual words or phrases.’
     • ‘I have always said that unclear writing is a sign of unclear thinking.’
  2. 2.2writingsBooks, stories, or other written works.
     ‘the writings of Gertrude Stein’
     More example sentences

     • ‘An annotated bibliography of his writings on Cornish folklore is also presented.’
     • ‘The Jewish prayer book is drawn from the writings of the Jewish people across the ages.’
     • ‘Chomsky's political writings are littered with violations of these conventions.’
     • ‘I find an echo of this view in the writings of various jurists and commentators on the law.’
     • ‘It remains an indispensable source for all students of Virginia Woolf's writings.’
     • ‘Stevenson's Scotland is a collection of the author's writings on his native land.’
     • ‘We know from the writings of Tacitus that the weather in Britain was terrible.’
     • ‘Dawkins brings his clear and concrete habits of mind to all of his writings.’
     • ‘Imtiaz has based many of her writings on her childhood experiences in Scotland.’
     • ‘I never wanted this blog to be a diary - it was supposed to be an outlet for my various writings.’
     • ‘In Paris, he was exposed to the modern thought and writings of Bergson and Nietzsche.’
     • ‘His spare but passionate writings have been an inspiration to a whole generation.’
     • ‘He left no writings, but his arguments were recorded in many volumes by his pupil Clitomachus.’
     • ‘His writings are a model of lucidity and a pleasure to read, though he confessed that he was a reluctant writer.’
     • ‘Ficino gave particular consideration to the melancholic temperament in his writings.’
     • ‘Gottlob Frege's writings have had a profound influence on contemporary thought.’
     • ‘Evidence concerning Colins's character can be found in the writings of Voltaire.’
     • ‘From the writings of Seneca, we know that the Romans spent large sums of money building their baths.’
     • ‘There is also a large body of published English writings by non-English authors.’
     • ‘He relates in his writings that he developed some medicines which were almost miraculous cures.’
     Synonyms

     compositions, works, oeuvre, opus, books, volumes, publications, titles, tomes

     View synonyms
  3. 2.3the WritingsThe Hagiographa.
     ‘The tripartite division of Jewish tradition into Law, Prophets, and Writings does not favor a midpoint, or at least has not led to a discussion of center, despite the importance of the Torah.’
     More example sentences

     • ‘When the time comes that these young students and mature scholars become rabbis in Israel and have to prepare Derashot, or sermons, they will surely need to search in Prophets and Writings for texts.’
     • ‘But there is a secondary history (Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah) included in the Writings.’
     • ‘Therefore, we place books of the Torah on top of those of the Prophets and Writings, and not vice versa.’
     • ‘The Hebrew Bible is traditionally divided into three parts: the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.’