Ideas are the content of the writing piece. They are the “heart and soul” of good writing. It is important for students to remain focused on the writing by selecting the idea or topic, remaining focused on the idea, elaborating on the idea, and using details and information to further develop the piece of writing.

The initial 6-Traits-of-Writing display The first lessons would introduce each writing trait to the students—ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions. The teacher would define each writing trait, describe the purpose it serves in writing, and reveal a related graphic icon.

The traits for good writing include ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, and conventions.

You can think of voice in your writing just like how you think of your speaking voice. It's determined not only by what you say, but also how you say it. Example: It was very unfortunate that Tina missed her bus because she had already been late once this week.