Reflection Of Writing Your Journal Article In 12 Weeks

Upon entering Columbia College, writing was one of my weaker areas. It was very important that I gained the necessary knowledge and confidence to become a better writer. I didn’t know how to express myself and felt as though my writing was not my interest. As a result of taking English 101, I have gained a better understanding on how to properly research and build a satisfactory paper. Every paper that was assigned seemed like a struggle to complete. Before entering this class, I did not know the meaning of a thesis or why it was important, however, I obtained this skill quickly. I noticed that every paper has an argument and the thesis helps clarify the rebuttal. Now, I have a new outlook on writing. It’s a way to express my thoughts and allow others to see things through my eyes. There is no doubt that I still have a long way to go, but I know if I continue to write, I will get better. Just as I developed more skills in class, the various papers assigned helped to better structure the writer in me. In addition, the subject areas were not only interesting, but very informative and made it much easier to write about my experiences.

Everybody has their own methods for writing; however, I believe there is always room for improvement. Chapter 3 in Everyone’s an Author has shown me that writing involves processes that need to be mastered through constant practice. It also revealed helpful tips on how to develop writing processes that can help write effective papers.

Like transforming from a caterpillar to a butterfly, my writing style transformed from something mediocre to something quite exceptional. In high school, even when I took advanced placement English and Literature courses, I was never good at writing. My writing would lack structure, reasoning, syntax, and a well-defined thesis statement. My inadequate grades on writing assignments lowered my self-esteem, so I assumed I would never enjoy writing papers because I believed I could never improve. However, since attending a university my writing style has improved far beyond my expectation. My EN 101 course enhanced my understanding of the different ways I could approach my writing. Also, it enhanced my comprehension of outlines to complete assignments. Investing quality time into my writing made a substantial difference because I became a stronger writer. Through the late nights, constant revisions, and agonizing head traumas, I learned that my writing is truly spectacular whenever I incorporate well-defined thesis statements, provide sufficient supporting evidence, and maintain a clear focus in my assignments.

It is essential to understand that classes taken in grade school do not give students a full understanding of each subject. With the topic of writing, there will always be a new lesson to learn, an aspect to improve, or a differing way to explain. Author Craig Vetter states in Bonehead Writing, “This is your enemy: a perfectly empty sheet of paper. Nothing will ever happen here except what you make happen.” Each story, essay, or response comes from a writer’s experiences. With each attempt at a new piece comes an underlying story of emotions the writer is facing. Each person’s writing is unique and the ideas people have are related to their past experiences and what they believe to be familiar with when deciding which writing style to use. As a high school student, I have learned many things about writing that helped me become the improved writer I am today, but the most essential advice I have received is practice makes perfect. Although there is no actual perfect way of writing, I have discovered that each essay I write, my writing improves. It is easier to spot mistakes, find areas to improve, and ponder elevated word choice to use.

I immensely struggled when writing. Taking my scrambled thoughts and uncoordinated analysis and converting it into clean and understandable words on a page was arduous. I could not express my thoughts in proper academic format. I understood the importance of writing to every subject. It was essential that I learn to condense my ideas and feeling into coherent written word. After much debate, I decided that the best way to improve my writing skills was to take an advanced English course.

Students are subjected to write an array of essays, but they lack the required tools needed to effectively deliver a great paper. They are struggling to write and teachers are needing to design and conform to their current student’s needs. New methods are created and implemented in order to execute the daunting task of learning how to write a well-developed paper. Practical recommendations are brought forth for teachers to use and good teachers will learn to design instruction and activities based on suitable references. Teachers must set goals and deliver their lesson with specific strategies to meet their objectives. They must learn to improve skills dramatically by observing and modifying the students. Teachers must plan strategies in order to help the struggling students catch up or exceed in their writing skills. They must learn to motivate their students by keeping them engaged throughout the writing process if not they risk losing the student’s ability and focus to do better.

Teachers, parents, and friends often tell students exactly what the writing process should entail and how long it should take. However, the older I get, the more I realize that the writing process varies not only from person to person, but also from one writing project to the next. Throughout my years of life, I have written countless papers, ranging from a persuasive speech to an extensive research paper, and each project requires an altered version of my personal writing process. While each individual has his own writing process, there can be many similarities between different writing processes. Finding one’s individual writing process takes trial, error, and repetition. When an individual finally uncovers his unique writing process, better thought, work, and writing is produced.

On the evening of Thursday July 23, 2015 I conducted an interview of Alex Benavides- a senior mechanical engineering major at Oklahoma State University. Benavides describes his experiences in his english courses as enjoyable, and notes that it helped him become a better writer. Benavides also states, that from personal experience during summer internships, that there are ineffective writers in positions where clean, flowing, and proper writing is a necessity. Proper grammar is essential in professional writing situations, according to Benavides, and is also often the first area critiqued by professors and teaching assistants. “You only get out what you put in when you write”, says Benavides, “be serious and grind, it makes the difference”.

Author and professor of writing, Amy Joy stated “Anyone who says writing is easy isn 't doing it right” Learning what I have about the writing process over this past semester, I can now confidently say that Amy Joy is absolutely correct! Writing has never been my strong point but taking on the challenge to turn that around has been extremely rewarding. My lack of confidence in my writing skills would always come across in my assignments. It was clear that I needed guidance with grammar, sentence structure, and expanding my vocabulary. Fortunately, the coursework in English 101 along with the help and support of my professor, I have gained a much greater confidence in my ability to write quality college level papers. My writing has greatly improved taking the Introduction to College Writing course. I have learned how to integrate the words and ideas of others by quoting and paraphrasing, about expository writing, and most importantly, critical thinking.

Writing is most of the time a dull and exhausting activity that some students tend to avoid when their ideas are not completely precise, and they do not know what they can do because they do not have the appropriate plan. However, in her book, writing your journal article in 12 weeks, Wendy Laura Belcher gives lots of wonderful and practical ideas to make of writing an amusing and pleasant exercise, through many charts that can help the writers to write down their ideas, to schedule the tasks they will pass through, and by means of explanations about the types of articles, concerns (that each person has towards writing), obstacles, structures, evidence and more. The main purpose of this book is to help people to develop writing skills and overcome those barriers that are showed up at the moment of starting to write. Her writing is too persuasive that

English is a hard language to learn, for there are numerous elements of effective usage and writing. Many people, including me, struggle in writing because of a lack of knowledge. Since middle school, English was not a strong suit of mine. I struggled with the simplest of tasks often taking a considerably longer time to complete a task than the other students. Unmotivated teachers and a lack of interest resulted in remedial writing skills. To put it simply, I had little confidence in my writing and I dreaded taking the class because of the writing involved. In spite of my fears, I took the course and I was able to perfect and challenge my mediocre writing skills.

As a science student, it is important for us to express our thoughts and complex ideas in a clear and concise way. We must be able to craft substantive and balanced academic arguments. Furthermore, to present ideas in a controlled and concise manner is an essential skill of a professional individual (Artifact 7). Coming into the WR 150, I did not realize the importance in the basic skill as a writer and was caught up in the desire to utilize the complicated and proper “methods” of writing (Artifact 7). In other words, I wanted to utilize the professional writing methods taught in high school and college without first perfecting the basic skills as a writer (Artifact 7). However, with the help of writing tutors and Professor Lee, I recognized

As science students, it is critical for us to express our thoughts and complex ideas in a clear and concise way. We must craft substantive and balanced academic arguments. Furthermore, to present ideas in a controlled and concise manner is an essential skill of a professional individual (Artifact 7). Before taking this course, I wanted to utilize the professional writing methods taught in high school and college without first perfecting the basic skills as a writer. I was caught up with the desire to utilize complicated and proper “methods” of writing (Artifact 7). However, with the help of writing tutors and Professor Lee, I recognized the flaws in my writing and have grown substantially in my basic writing skills (Artifact 1). Being a part

In her book, writing your journal article in 12 weeks, Wendy Belcher breaks down all the tedious writing process into feasible and manageable chores which can be a wonderful point of reference for any writer who attempts to publish for the first time in languages and education which are the fields of my interest. The book is well-organized, clear, and direct. If someone is interested in becoming an exceptional writer or need motivation to get working on that article, thesis, or as in my case a dissertation this might be a good tool for your arsenal. Thus, one salient characteristic of the book is that it gives comprehensive steps to follow, each week, readers comprise a particular peculiarity of strong articles and work on revising theirs subsequently.

Since beginning to write papers in English class, I have had countless successes and failures. While many of my English classes have taught me how to improve my writing, I have not learned very much in others. My most recent English class was last year, my sophomore year. My class was particularly undersized; therefore, it gave each student the opportunity to have additional individual attention. Throughout the class I experienced high points, weaknesses, and even difficulties that I never overcame. Overall, my writing skills improved, but only marginally.