One of the qualities that a university or college student should possess is being a good writer. Writing academic papers like essays, reports and reviews has become a common activity for any student. Young persons who are good writers are usually good students, earning good grades during their years of stay in schools. A good writer knows what to write, and knows how to transform his ideas into words. If you want to know how to become a writer, better aim on becoming a good writer. Transforming into a good writer may not be easy, as a student has to strip some bad habits off when undertaking an academic writing activity.

• Ignoring instructions given by teachers. Teachers give instructions not because they think that their students are dumb; they provide guidance because they believe in young people’s ability to carry out what is required and produce the desired results. Ignoring instructions means ignoring needed guidance that expedites the quality of student learning. To know how to become a writer also entails learning how to become a listener and a follower.

• Proceeding to the writing activity without planning. Some students believe that sitting down and planning things first is just a waste of time. These students, however, has to realise that although planning takes some time, it allows the entire writing process to run smoothly, even with some problems along the way. In the end, planning allows the student to save more time than not doing so.

• Relying on personal knowledge. One of the biggest mistakes that a student could commit is relying on his own knowledge. If a student wants to learn how to become a writer, he needs to learn how to complement his own knowledge with more credible and reliable information coming from trustworthy sources.