Towards the beginning of the first semester
my writing skills were not as strong as they could have been because of my
experience in high school where I did not receive much “training” in
writing. This had made it pretty
difficult for me to write papers and clearly express my ideas, but I am happy
to see that I have definitely grown as writer throughout the year and in such
little time I have definitely grown as a writer and I am my skills are now
better than they were first semester.
I have never been a big fan of
writing and my skills still needed to improve.
Towards the beginning of the semester when I was assigned a paper I
would write what came to mind in order to get the job done as soon as
possible. The only time I would change
those habits was when I had to do some type of research because it’s something
that can’t be made up therefore I would have to actually take my time and work
on it. I have always been pretty
confident about my work due to the fact that English has been one of my
strongest subjects, but I know that now that I was in college I definitely had
some improving to do. Throughout the first semester what I was
extremely scared about what writing really long essays. I also felt as if my writing techniques were
not good enough for the essays that we were assigned. I was more of the straight to the point
person and that made my papers lack details therefore making it hard to get to
the minimum length that was required for the papers. I knew that it would take a while for me to
get adjusted to other writing environments and it would not be so easy, but I
was definitely up for the task because writing is essential in college and it
is something that can help me out in other classes not just English and in the
second semester it is something I improved on greatly.
Now I feel more comfortable about my
writing skills. I feel that I have
looked at all the mistakes I have done many times so now I do not make them as
often. I am also more aware of what is right
and wrong when writing. For example,
when citing a sources I now know that I should include a quick summary for the
reader about the source that I am using so they can have a better understanding
of how it connects with my essay and what I am trying to say because in the
first semester I would tend to include quotes randomly without giving an
introduction. I am also more confident
when it comes to preparing to write papers.
Before I would write down whatever came to mind and turn it in without
reading it over or fixing anything.
Proofreading is something I did not really do in the first semester unless
the teacher made it mandatory, like an in class activity. Now I sit and brainstorm for a while before I
even star to type this way I know what topics are better and what ideas I am
able to come up with. Something I still
need to improve on, but have definitely done a better job at compared to first
semester, is giving more detail and cutting my writing into paragraphs rather
than a big chunk. I am used to writing
without stopping or interrupting until I’m done, meaning that my final product
is a big chunk. This is not good because
it may automatically not attract the reader so I have to learn when it is okay
to start a new paragraph. I have
improved on that somewhat as it is seen throughout my essays, but in some
homework assignments I forget about it and tend to keep going. Another thing I need more improvement on is
giving more detail, when I write papers I tend to not go so much in depth with
my ideas and topics. This is something
that I need to change because giving enough details is something that is extremely
important and necessary when writing for example persuasive essays. In persuasive essays you are trying to
convince the reader about a certain topic and you want them to take your
side. It is necessary for you to provide
enough details so the reader is left with no doubt that what you are saying is
write and therefore they should believe you.
I know I have improved this semester because it has not been as hard to
write lengthy essays as it was in the first semester, but it’s something I need
to improve because details only make your essay stronger.
I know that I can become a better
writer; all it takes is not giving up. I
could have easily said that I don’t care whether I write good or not but I know
writing is everywhere and it is something that is essential. Having learned all these writing tips throughout
the school year will help me in the long run with my other classes. I will continue to improve as a writer when I
take other classes because I know that there will be writing assignments where
I can use the skills that I have learned.
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