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Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing
When you assess your writing, you are committing to improve it. Your commitment to improve will certainly include making adjustments to papers and correcting errors. However, assessing your writing can also motivate you to practice writing. As with anything, practicing will help your writing improve. Below are a series of habits that can help as you practice your writing skills.
Watch for patterns of strengths and weaknesses in your writing. Learn how to build on your strengths and address your weaknesses. Then, consciously and methodically work on improving them.
By understanding how other writers have succeeded in writing effectively, you can improve your skills and strategies. Keep a notebook of writing samples that includes your notations about what works and what does not.
Work methodically on your writing, focusing on specific skills each time you write a paper. Keep a journal or course notebook so you can practice writing in a specific discipline. Do not wait until the last minute to work on your writing assignments.
Some courses require you to keep a journal or notebook with questions, case-study discussions, or laboratory notes. Use these opportunities to practice writing topic sentences, thesis statements, and major and minor supports. Practice writing effective sentences in a unified paragraph, or practice freewriting. Use these shorter assignments as warm‑ups for the longer research papers.
When you participate in a group assignment, volunteer to take minutes or write summaries of group discussions. Produce written proceedings of oral presentations. Ask your instructor for extra credit for writing extra papers.
All writing courses, including creative writing, will help you improve your writing skills. Take a variety of writing courses to help you broaden your vocabulary, style, sentence structure, organization, and critical thinking skills.
Many professional organizations offer short writing courses to help you learn new skills or new kinds of writing. Other organizations offer Internet-based courses to teach new writing skills, review grammar, and build vocabulary.
Keep tabs of your writing plan and your improvement. Set aside 10 or 15 minutes daily to review what you are focusing on and practicing; set aside another 10 or 15 minutes to practice it. Set goals to learn a new writing skill each week or month.
By reading good writing, you will be able to identify solid writing models and improve your sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and vocabulary.
Reading will help you write better. However, you should also practice what you have learned. Take every opportunity to practice effective techniques you have noticed while reading.
Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing
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How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing? -
What Is College Writing? -
Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?
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Doing Exploratory Research -
Getting from Notes to Your Draft -
Introduction -
Prewriting -
Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition -
Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience -
Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started -
Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment -
Rewriting -
Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic -
Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy -
Rewriting: Getting Feedback -
Rewriting: The Final Draft -
Techniques to Get Started - Outlining -
Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques -
Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea -
Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting -
Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas -
Writing: Outlining What You Will Write
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A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone -
A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction -
Critical Strategies and Writing -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion -
Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis -
Developing a Paper Using Strategies -
Introduction -
Kinds of Assignments You Will Write -
Patterns for Presenting Information -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data -
Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern -
Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts -
Supporting with Research and Examples -
Writing Essay Examinations -
Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete -
Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing -
Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question
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Introduction -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature -
Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources -
Research Resources: What Are Research Resources? -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources -
Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources -
Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure -
Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure -
The Nature of Research -
The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated? -
The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed? -
The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?
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Academic Integrity -
Giving Credit to Sources -
Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws -
Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation -
Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides -
Integrating Sources -
Practicing Academic Integrity -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source -
Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources -
Types of Documentation -
Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists -
Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style -
Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style -
Types of Documentation: Note Citations
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Introduction -
Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews -
Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers -
Writing Arguments -
Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure -
Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument -
Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition -
Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion -
Writing Arguments: Types of Argument
Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing
Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing
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Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project -
Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report -
Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve -
Collaborative Writing: Methodology -
Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation -
Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members -
Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan -
Conclusion -
General Introduction -
Peer Reviewing