Improving writing skills is critical to the college student’s success across all academic disciplines. Writing has become the key to survival in many fields of study. (Pirš1, Pirš1, & Kesié, 2011) There are several strategies to become an effective college-level writer. An important strategy for a writer is project management. Next, writing with a purpose is an essential step. Another crucial guideline is following the mechanics of writing. Finally, utilizing online resources provides the writer invaluable knowledge and references.
Simply getting started is the key to successful project management. As stated by Dr. Bruce Johnson, “The best papers submitted by my students were the result of a carefully planned approach” (2009, para. 2). Begin by creating a schedule to incorporate enough time to complete each step in writing an excellent paper. Successful writers give themselves plenty of time to do research, organize the relevant data, and process and analyze the information they have gathered. In addition, adequate time to reread the assignment, review the applicable genre format, and to write, re-write, and edit the paper must be included in the schedule (Melzer, 2011). Additionally, after completing a rough draft, an author may find it necessary to do more research to enhance her paper. Therefore, it is imperative that the plan allows sufficient time for revisions.
Another critical strategy is to write with a clear sense of purpose and audience. Each academic field presents the college writer with specific writing styles and unique writing expectations. As stated by Johnson, “College level writing involves more than collecting information from sources and inserting information into your paper” (2009, para. 4)....
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...an invaluable tool for the college student.
Works Cited
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Melzer, D. (2011). Frameworks for writing: Exploring college writing: Reading, Writing and researching across the curriculums. London, GBR: Equinox Publishing, Ltd. doi:10697002
Online College Courses. (2012). Five sure-fire strategies for becoming a better writer in college. Retrieved from http://www.onlinecollegecourses.com/2012/06/08/five-sure-fire-strategies-for-becoming-a-better-writer-in-college/
Pirš1, D., Pirš1, T., & Kesié, D. (2011). VJE&3x0160;TINA PISANJA NA UNIVERZITETSKOM NIVOU. [Writing skills at university level] Sportlogia, 7(1), 127-133.
Transitioning from high school to college can be overwhelming. Before English 1301, I thought that I did not have to worry about being prepared for college. I quickly realized that my little background in writing essays was not going to be enough for college. Writing is not just something that I will use in English classes. In college, I will have to use effective writing skills in all my classes to complete research papers, essay tests and communicate to professors. Throughout my education, writing strategies persisted to be something that did not come easy to me. I dreaded writing because I could never find ways to get my thoughts down on paper. Ironically, a class that petrified me due to the amount of writing that was required ended up helping me in so many ways. English 1301 and my professor prepared me so much for college and real life.
The focal point of Chapter 4 of Successful College Writing is on how to critically read and decipher text and visuals. It highlights the importance of not just looking at the surface of the words, but diving into their true meaning. Authors put every word and picture into their work for a reason, and it is your job to ensure that you do not fall victim to biases and false information. It is crucial to learn how to identify author's tones, opinions, and overall purpose in their writings. Learning how to analyze these patterns will better equip you in acquiring accurate information and also not adopting these deceptive techniques yourself.
In Downs and Wardle’s article, they argue and identify the flaws in teaching writing in college. Demonstrating the misconceptions that academic writing is universal, but rather specialized in each case. Citing studies and opinions from esteemed professionals, Downs & Wardle state their points and illuminate the problem in today’s many colleges.
Learning to read and write are both considered to be fundamental human skills, that we begin to learn from the day we start school. As time advances, as do our minds, and we are expected to evolve in our reading and writing skills. Finishing high school is a large milestone for the lives of young adults; however, there is so much to learn in order to reach the next big milestone. To be a writer in college can challenge our preconceived thoughts on how we write. Although some skills remain unchanged, high school graduates are faced with overcoming new ways of doing a skill that seems so simple that it is practically innate. The definition of writing skills for college students is much different than high school. However, considering we have come so far it is time to go over the information we already know and challenge ourselves with ideas that we are yet to learn more about.
Over the past semester, I have found the most challenging part of this course to simply be the transition from high school composition classes to college. Because writing expectations are so different in college than in high school, even with AP and Dual Enrollment “college level” classes, I first found myself being overwhelmed with the pressure to write the perfect first draft. The pressure came from knowing how much a final draft of a paper contributed to my grade. This left me sitting in front of my computer for hours at a time with thoughts of what I wanted to say racing through my head, but unable to deliver these thoughts into organized, structured sentences. I learned, through writing my persuasive essay, that instead of trying to write the paper start to finish and already in its perfect form, it is easier for me to look at the paper through its different components and focus on them individually, then work to best organize my ideas fluently.
This article is written by Lenin Irvin, who presents the challenges that students have to face when they are required to write academic writing tasks in college and introduces to students to what Academic writing is like. To start off the article introduces "Myths about writing". These myths are misconceptions that students tend to use as rules for a perfect writing. However these don’t just not help, but also lead them to failure. The author also states a crucial step which is developing the “writer sense” .This “writer sense” refers to the awareness of the writing situation in general. In a writing piece a student should see the difference between speaking and writing the article and use the correct punctuation and choice the appropriated
Fernsten, Linda A.; Reda, Mary "Helping Students Meet the Challenges of Academic Writing", Teaching in Higher Education, v16 n2 p171-182 Apr 2011
If the student desires to grow in knowledge, they must be willing to adopt a new style of writing as they prepare for higher education. The purpose of a college is not to just feed facts to a student, but rather use the professor to teach the students to develop critical thinking habits so that new knowledge flourishes in the student. These habits are necessary for the new writer if they desire to further improve their writing potential. This requires the writer to focus on writing to communicate ideas that engage and persuade the reader. Clear, precise, and factual writing will assist in this process by teaching the student methods to avoid developing weak or unclear arguments through the elimination of opinions from the essay. It is to be noted that one should be aware not to create excessive claims. These draw away from the culture of the academy and may result in errors that take away from the argument of the
Several people have trouble writing college level essays and believe that they are unable to improve their writing skills. In “the Inspired Writer vs. The Real Writer,” Sarah Allen argues how no one is born naturally good at writing. Sarah Allen also states how even professional writers have trouble with the task of writing. Others, such as Lennie Irvin, agree. In Irvin’s article “What is ‘Academic’ Writing?” states how there are misconceptions about writing. Furthermore, Mike Bunn’s article “How to Read Like a Writer” shows ways on how one can improve their writing skills. Allen, Bunn, and Irvin are correct to say how no one is born naturally good writers. Now that we know this, we should find ways to help improve our writing skills, and
I started the semester not knowing how I would adjust going from a high school writing class to a college level writing class. I felt my writing was above average, but writing was never one of my strong suits. I had no way of knowing if my writing competency could hold up to college academic standards. I took expository writing with Professor James Brady. Over the course of the semester, multiple learning objectives were learned through my essays. These learning objectives were subject matter knowledge, writing process knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, genre knowledge, and meta-cognition.
As I look back into my high school years, I thought I wrote papers well. But then coming into a college environment, my papers were mediocre. By overlooking at my past papers, I found that they were unorganized, sloppy and had bad use of diction. From now on, I will use the tools I learned in English 1100-40 as a foundation for the future papers I intend on writing in college. Following the criteria of organizing ideas so that they flow, impacting the reader with diction and also by being creative, will help become an ideal writer. Following the criteria of staying motivated in short and long term goals, taking responsibility for actions and finally the ability to study well will help me develop into a supreme student.
Vandermey, R. (2012). The College Writer: A Guide to Thinking, Writing, and Researching (4th Ed.). Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Retrieved January 7, 2018, from
Academic writing is a very discouraging topic that most young writers do not even want to begin to think about or imagine doing. Throughout college everyone will be asked to write multiple academic essays regardless of their major. We have read two sources in class that have helped clear up some common myths and also helped make academic writing not seem so foreign. The two sources we read were “What is Academic Writing?” and the first chapter of the book “From Inquiry to Academic Writing”. Many young students seeking a college degree are fearful about the amount of work needed to be done in order to survive their college courses. Academic writing is a challenging topic that many young people struggle to get a grasp on. Once the skill of
During the transition from a high school writer to a collegiate writer, my strength at understanding the basic principles of good writing has remained consistent. I grasp the ...
Writing is an important part of everyone’s life, whether we use it in school, in the workplace, as a hobby or in personal communication. It is important to have this skill because it helps us as writers to express feelings and thoughts to other people in a reasonably permanent form. Formal writing forms like essays, research papers, and articles stimulates critically thinking. This helps the writer to learn how to interpret the world around him/her in a meaningful way. In college, professors motivate students to write in a formal, coherent manner, without losing their own voice in the process. Improving your writing skills is important, in every English class that’s the main teaching point; to help students improve their writing skills. Throughout my college experience I have acknowledge that