ACT Writing is a component of the ACT college entrance exam that assesses a student's writing skills. In this section, students are given a prompt that presents an issue and three different perspectives on that issue. They must write an essay that analyzes these perspectives and articulates their own viewpoint. The ACT Writing test is scored on a scale of 2 to 12, with two trained readers evaluating the essay based on four criteria: ideas and analysis, development and support, organization, and language use. This section is optional, but many colleges consider it when reviewing applications.