I was able to fix the errors seen in writing by incorporating the ability of proofreading backwards. When you read from top to bottom, your paper may take on a perfect appeal that is not evocative of the mistakes made on your part as the writer of the document. Proofreading backwards allowed me to interpret my writing from a different point of view and gave me the vision necessary to catch the mistakes that I overlooked when I was revising my work. My researching skills improved due to my knowledge of the libraries extensive database. When I used the libraries database, I was able to access a wide variety of features such as Credo and NC Live to research my topic through a wide variety of credible sources. This allowed me to carry out my research with an open mind as I reviewed the work of other scholars, professors, and professional writers who offered their own unique perspective on the topic that I was researching. …show more content…
By showing me the importance of creativity, consolidation, and perception when it comes to planning a professionally made document, the library database would be influential in helping me to become the avid researcher that I am
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.
The weakest portion of my writing is my lack of good proofreading. All papers require a significant amount of proofreading not only for grammatical errors, but also for structural problems. Proofreading my own work is difficult. Many times, I wrongly assume that the reader is able to understand my thoughts, while the various points of my argument are actually not expressed clearly. In some instances, I fail to catch obvious errors, such as sentence fragments or contractions, which I should be able to eliminate easily from my writing. Proofreading my own work has consistently been the most difficult part of my writing process, and I continue to struggle with catching all of the errors in my papers.
Research types of writings at college helped me strengthen my writing skills because as I started to research on a topic, not only I learned more in depth, but also learned how to draw further connections outside of the course(class). I want to improve my writings in making correct connections and organizing ideas. Sometimes, I misunderstand the readings and end up making the wrong connections. In fact, my ideas are all over the place whenever I try to make connections, which does not clearly show that I have understood the assignment. These mistakes often led to downside of my grades. The most useful advice I received that helped me improve my writing is that “the word ‘writing’ actually means to put things together, so don’t be afraid of express your opinions in your writing your opinion.” This encourage me not to be afraid of writing and expressing my opinions.
Something that I can also do to help my writing is to always read what I wrote out loud. When I say out loud, I mean out loud! This will help me catch some of the grammatical errors that anyone can easily make, and I can also make sure that what I am writing makes sense. Something else that can help me
What has most helped me? Possibly free-writing like now when I chase the stampeded of words that are bulldozing through my brain running form me faster than I can get them down on paper. The writing is apt to come out confused and bewildered, but then I follow Ayn Rand's recommendations I have read many writing manuals and have found hers the most valuable to just shut the brain off and write. Later, I adopt the procedure of three revisions. One is to see whether the prose makes sense to an imaginary reader. The next is to see whether I can prune words as ruthlessly as possible (sometimes, I end up annihilating too many); and thirdly to see whether grammar matches.
Making sure your sentences are correct and error free is the most critical process in writing. Great ways to make sure your paper is solid is to re-read your essay. Having another set of eyes work on your essay is also a great way to find easily overlooked errors. The quickly fixed and missed errors add up, and end up costing you. While proofreading search for certain things in punctuation such as run-on sentences. Scan the essay for weak words such as good, a lot, things, and very. Proofreading my paper benefits me on everything I write. Employers might overlook resumes, when potential employees have constant errors on their application.
In the video “The The Impotence of Proofreading” by Taylor Mali the purpose of the video was to give techniques to help students in the process of proofreading a paper. Also, it talked about the most common mistakes people make when proofreading a paper for example, just checking the grammar in the computer causes to do not catch all errors included in the paper. A better option to check all errors is to print the paper and make the corrections with a red pen which will be easier for the student to go back and make those changes in the computer.
In my future writing, I can improve by focusing on the areas that have been brought to my attention, such as fragmented sentence structures, capitalization, punctuation, and MLA formatting mistakes. I hope to enhance my writing skills through better planning, drafting, proofreading, and revising. I can become a better writer by building upon my current writing abilities and paying more attention to my
Another Tip that I really find useful is to proofread my paper when I finished writing it. Sometimes the words in your mind are just flowing out and you spell something wrong or the sentence doesn’t exactly make sense so always make sure that you re-read your paper, revise it to correct any mistakes you may have made and then get another person to revise your paper.
Another error of my writing process was not having a clear and specific thesis statement. I would often combined to many thoughts and ideas all in one sentence, which made it very difficult for readers to understand my main argument. For example, in my fourth essay about performance-enhancing drugs, my thesis “Athletes are constantly recognizable to the public eye; their actions can affect the children and adults for whom they serve as role models, which is why many athletes depend on the use of performance-enhancing drugs to better their performance,” was very vague and was not the main focal point of the essay which it should have been. In recent years prior, I never had any problems trying to convey my message or point. College was entirely a different league. My professor suggested that I read other research papers to better understand how my thesis should sound and be constructed. My professor then told me that I needed to add that explanation into the paragraph so the reader can understand exactly what I am trying to get across with
Writing is such an important tool. It has the capacity to empower both the reader and writer. There is even a famous proverb that says, “The pen is mightier than the sword.” That’s why it makes sense for the majority of my academic career to be geared towards the improvement of my writing. There is no denying that there is an infinite number of ways that I can improve my writing. After writing multiple essays for this English 100 Y class, my professor pointed out certain aspects of my writing that I could work on. Two of those suggestions stuck out to me because it seemed as though I was making these mistakes multiple times throughout various forms of writing. One of the mistakes I make is the use of ‘favorite’ words, or words that I use too many times in the same paper; another is that I use choppy sentences while writing my essays.
I think self-reflection, or a careful cogitation of one’s personal work, is very important. It will help me think about my strengths and weaknesses in my writing skills and learning process, so that I can improve my weaknesses in the future and become a better writer. I believe, I have many strengths and many weaknesses that can be seen transparently through my drafts, revisions, and final essays, or writings, this semester. My overall strength includes the ability to pick out good examples from articles and the ability to construct good development of my body paragraphs after my revisions. On the other hand, my overall weakness includes having some unclear explanation of thoughts, unclear topic sentences, confusing thesis statements, having undefined terms, difficulties transitioning from one idea to another. I have learned that to have a good essay, I must revise my papers more than once because there are always flaws that can be fixed or improved. My writing process has evolved from having difficulties writing down or explaining my thought process to being able to explain and clarify examples to help support my thesis statement.
I agree with you, Nicole, It is crucial that we proofread our writing. For example, there are instances even myself cannot make sense of what wrote the night before, so I am learning to read a paper multiple times and have someone else read it back to me before posting it for the instructor. I find myself writing a better paper if I write it in the morning. Great post,
Proofreading is an essential part of the writing process since this step ensures that written documents contain no mistakes when it’s distributed. Proofreading involves thorough revision of written documents to identify and correct mistakes such as grammar, spelling, punctuation or vocabulary. Proofreading is the final stage before the message or document is sent to the intended audience therefore it is the last chance to perfect the message. For this reason, it is an important part of the writing process, it ensures that the writer carefully reviews the document and makes corrections where necessary to produce a clear and concise message for the audience to clearly understand what was intended by the writer.
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.