Strengths and Weaknesses in Writing
I think the skill of writing is an intricate and problematic practice. As such, proper writing needs cautious planning, insight, revision, and copy editing and it takes time to develop and perfect. While some people may think that writing is something natural, I believe that writing is something that is acquired and evolved with time. Throughout this past semester, I have learned more about my own writing process whereby I have noted that my writing has evolved significantly. Moreover, I have noted my major strengths as well as weaknesses and this will only me to transform the weaknesses into strengths. My major strength lies in my skill of clearly understanding the basics of writing. These basics of writing include proper sentence structures, correct grammar, proper use of tenses and punctuations.
Strength: Coming Up with Stories
Another strength is coming up with stories to write about. Whenever I am writing, I usually have a story to build on. For me, it rarely matters if the story is established properly or not for me to put words down the paper.
Strength: Planning and Structuring
Another strength I have is that whenever I am writing, I plan what I am about to compose before writing the arguments down. This mechanism has been so effective, especially when I am writing essays. Usually, it is known as brainstorming, but I normally create a framework. I bring together investigations, jot down the key particulars, and use my own justifications. It is mostly problematic when I changeover from a source to my own words. I am also usually so comprehensive and I go straight to the point. I do not write filler or fluff, and I consider this as a strength because it makes me get my readers and audience absorbed quickly (Davies). As such, they do not get bored.
Weakness: Lack of Proofreading
As a writer, I also have a variety of weaknesses. The weakest part of my writing is lack of proofreading my work. While every paper needs a significant amount of proofreading in order to take notice of grammatical errors as well as structural problems, for me, proofreading my own work is problematic. Most of the times, I just assume that the reader will be able to comprehend my point of view; while actually, a number of points of my arguments are not conveyed clearly. As a result, I often fail to catch obvious errors such as sentence fragments, split infinitives that I would otherwise have gotten rid of. I will improve this by forming a habit of always rereading a sentence after finishing it. If it sounds correct, then I will be moving on to the following sentence and working on the sentence if otherwise. With time, I will have improved enough to transition to paragraphs whereby I will ensure that I edit every paragraph before moving on to the next.
Weakness: Writing too Quickly
As I mentioned earlier, I always have a story to write about which makes me think too quickly to a point where I do not realize my errors. I become so much absorbed in the writing while making numerous mistakes along the way. Most of these mistakes include having repeated words, misspelt words, and too long paragraphs. I will improve this by keeping track of my writing by making multiple stops through the writing process just to put my flow of thoughts in order (Cain). This will also give me a chance of correcting any mistakes made.
References
Cain, Mary Ann. "Revising Your Writing: Strategies for Improving Your Work Draft by Draft." (2016).
Davies, Brett. "Using personal diaries to improve students’ academic writing skills in english." Unpublished paper). Showa Women’s University, Japan
(2015).
