Weekly Writing Tip: Understand that Writing Is a Process

The following post was written by Angeles E., a Social and Human Services student who was recently accepted to the undergraduate Social Work program at the University of Washington.

For some reason, it takes me some time to follow and understand the instructions every week. I know there is no successful writer who does not plan and study carefully his/her work before he/she starts writing, so I am trying to be very careful in my understanding and my writing. Generating the idea is easy for me: an outline, a list of points to cover, a statement of purpose, a mental image of my finished paper. Then, I have to think in a paragraph, a thesis, or a conclusion and feel afraid of making grammatical mistakes, but I am improving. I am very good in research, but I am not very good at making sense of how to express myself. Most of the time I write crappy first drafts, and little by little all are coming together. What I write does not matter, what I rewrite is what matters. When I see my professor’s corrections, I always have a better guide and understanding of what to do in the following paper. I revise my paper at least twice before turning it in. I still have a long way to go, and I know I need to improve my writing with more reading, understanding, and more writing and writing and writing…in English. In Spanish I can write faster, more confidently, and with almost no mistakes, but I am getting there in English.   

Weekly Writing Tip: Review Past Assignments

Before you turn in your last, big paper of the quarter, look over the comments on your previous assignments. What were your most common mistakes? Look for those in your final paper and revise and edit as needed. It may be that you did not make many of the same mistakes. If that is the case, celebrate your progress! Even if you did make some of your common mistakes, celebrate that you have completed an English class and have learned a lot about writing, thinking critically, and yourself.

A Quick Way to Review

The best way to remember information for a test, and for use in your career or interactions with others, is to review information regularly. Start right after you have a class. Try the Minute Paper (adapted from Classroom Assessment Techniques by Angelo and Cross).

Answer the following questions in 5 to 10 minutes.

What was the most important thing you learned during the class today? (This can be more than one idea, concept, fact, etc.)

What important question remains unanswered?

Make sure you ask that question the next time you have class, and add the answer to the Minute Paper.

Save each Minute Paper you write. They will be great resources for weekly review (30 minutes at the end of the week) and for test review.