Since the new system has been put in place I haven't been able to work out how to make it so my lists teach me how to write the characters for a word already in a list. making a new list with the same words just for this seems very very annoying.

previously i could click on the magnifying glass when a word came up and just click a plus sign next to "writting" which added the "writting" part of the word to my list...

The lists should add the words automatically as they did before; before when you clicked that button to add the word it essentially added it to this special kind of list called the queue, so it's the same as before in that way.

If you need certain lists to add more, you can study them separately, or click the green + button on the upper left corner while you're studying.

Also, some lists will not teach the writing for certain words because their sources don't say to. So for example, for the JLPT or Tobira, many of the words don't require you to know how to write their kanji. Our lists follow them by default. If you'd like all lists to add the kanji whether or not their sources say to, then set your account to 'Study All Kanji In Lists'

http://www.skritter.com/account/settings-study

Hope that helps!