My Writing Goals
Julianne Marqua - Writing Goals
My first goal as a writer is to integrate careful thinking/argumentation into my writing. Often times I find myself looking back on a paper I wrote and finding that doesn't make much sense. This happens because when I read my paper I understand the context and the message is clear however I fail to step out of my own shoes and read it from an outsider's perspective. A good example of this is found in my paper about being a naive cynic. I tell my readers about how my duties to this earth do not end with me throwing a glass bottle in a green bin. This leaves my readers with this idea but gives them no direction, and untimely they are left wondering what it is that I am going to do to follow through on my statement. I knew my plan so I didn't bother stating it to my audience because in my own head the idea was clear and present. However, to my audience this was just an unfinished thought. I plan on improving upon this skill by always making sure my statements are supported. I can do this going over my paper and highlighting all my statements in one color and my evidence in another. This will help give me a visual of every statement having a supporting piece of evidence. I can also reach out for more peer critique and give them the guiding question of where they feel my statements lack support. If I master this goal my paper will be more clear and enjoyable to my readers.
My second goal is to be more clever with my wording and phrasing. Reaching this goal will help me be more concise with my wording when I need to be. This is a huge goal of mine because often times I leave important elements out of my paper out because if I include it I will be over the word limit. This is evident in my essay about being a naive cynic. My first couple paragraphs start out strong and I provide examples and quotes in my paragraphs but as a get closer to the end of my essay and encroach on the word count my paragraphs begin to shorten and weaken. This hurts my essay by not allowing it to finish strong and give all the information I wish to include. I can work on this goal being more mindful of the word count and my phrasing as I go into my paper. I can make sure I'm never repeating myself or including things that won't strengthen or support my essay. I can also improve upon this skill by seeing if there are ideas or sentences I can combine. This way I will still be incorporating everything I want to just in a more concise and structured way. Reaching this goal will allow for a strong piece of writing from start to finish.
My third goal is to work on having a strong thesis statement. In most papers you will understand my message and what I'm writing about however you will only gain that after reading my first paragraph and there isn't just one or two sentences you can refer to. In my essay about being naive cynic I address the prompt of the essay, the problem, and the solution all in the first paragraph. This gave my readers an idea of what the paper is about and it guided my essay however it was too dragged out to be a solid thesis statement. I can solve this problem by writing my thesis statement before I begin writing anything else. This will help give me direction of my essay right away as well as give my readers’ direction when reading my paper. Another way I can reach this goal is by is making sure I hit key elements with the thesis I write. Those elements include Making sure it's no more than a couple sentences, that it's at the top of my essay, making sure it relates to the rest of my paper, that it includes the position I’m taking on the topic, and what the paper is about. By meeting this goal I will have a much more organized and focused paper.
My first goal as a writer is to integrate careful thinking/argumentation into my writing. Often times I find myself looking back on a paper I wrote and finding that doesn't make much sense. This happens because when I read my paper I understand the context and the message is clear however I fail to step out of my own shoes and read it from an outsider's perspective. A good example of this is found in my paper about being a naive cynic. I tell my readers about how my duties to this earth do not end with me throwing a glass bottle in a green bin. This leaves my readers with this idea but gives them no direction, and untimely they are left wondering what it is that I am going to do to follow through on my statement. I knew my plan so I didn't bother stating it to my audience because in my own head the idea was clear and present. However, to my audience this was just an unfinished thought. I plan on improving upon this skill by always making sure my statements are supported. I can do this going over my paper and highlighting all my statements in one color and my evidence in another. This will help give me a visual of every statement having a supporting piece of evidence. I can also reach out for more peer critique and give them the guiding question of where they feel my statements lack support. If I master this goal my paper will be more clear and enjoyable to my readers.
My second goal is to be more clever with my wording and phrasing. Reaching this goal will help me be more concise with my wording when I need to be. This is a huge goal of mine because often times I leave important elements out of my paper out because if I include it I will be over the word limit. This is evident in my essay about being a naive cynic. My first couple paragraphs start out strong and I provide examples and quotes in my paragraphs but as a get closer to the end of my essay and encroach on the word count my paragraphs begin to shorten and weaken. This hurts my essay by not allowing it to finish strong and give all the information I wish to include. I can work on this goal being more mindful of the word count and my phrasing as I go into my paper. I can make sure I'm never repeating myself or including things that won't strengthen or support my essay. I can also improve upon this skill by seeing if there are ideas or sentences I can combine. This way I will still be incorporating everything I want to just in a more concise and structured way. Reaching this goal will allow for a strong piece of writing from start to finish.
My third goal is to work on having a strong thesis statement. In most papers you will understand my message and what I'm writing about however you will only gain that after reading my first paragraph and there isn't just one or two sentences you can refer to. In my essay about being naive cynic I address the prompt of the essay, the problem, and the solution all in the first paragraph. This gave my readers an idea of what the paper is about and it guided my essay however it was too dragged out to be a solid thesis statement. I can solve this problem by writing my thesis statement before I begin writing anything else. This will help give me direction of my essay right away as well as give my readers’ direction when reading my paper. Another way I can reach this goal is by is making sure I hit key elements with the thesis I write. Those elements include Making sure it's no more than a couple sentences, that it's at the top of my essay, making sure it relates to the rest of my paper, that it includes the position I’m taking on the topic, and what the paper is about. By meeting this goal I will have a much more organized and focused paper.