Schrijfvaardigheid (writing ability) develops differently from the other language skills and requires deliberate practice. For beginners: keep a dagboek (diary) in Dutch. Write three sentences about your day every evening. Do not worry about errors — quantity and consistency matter more than perfection at this stage. Use vocabulary you know and look up what you need. Over weeks, your sentence complexity naturally increases.
Intermediate writing: write short summaries of Dutch articles or podcasts you have consumed. This forces you to process and reproduce the language rather than passively recognise it. Join the r/learndutch subreddit and post a Dutch paragraph asking for correction — the community is very helpful. Use Lang-8 or italki’s notebook feature where native speakers correct your writing. Write emails to Dutch companies or organisations (genuine questions about services) and notice the vocabulary and style of their responses.
Advanced writing: formal letters (brieven) follow specific conventions. Start with Geachte heer/mevrouw (Dear Sir/Madam) for unknown recipients, Geachte [Naam] for known. End with Met vriendelijke groet (Kind regards) or Hoogachtend (Yours faithfully — very formal). Use formal vocabulary: hierbij zend ik u… (herewith I send you…), in reactie op uw brief van… (in response to your letter of…). CV (curriculum vitae) writing in Dutch follows its own conventions — the Motivatiebrief (cover letter) is as important as the CV itself in Dutch job applications.