My Writing Strengths And Weaknesses

Assessment one was used to try and identify some of our writing strengths and weaknesses. One of my main weaknesses way my lack of planning, drafts and editing. Because I started the assessments late I would run out of time, my work was rushed and my writing was not clear and concise. From assessment one I set myself a timetable, began the remaining assignments in advance and allowed numerous drafts and editing. I always finishing my last draft a week prior to submission so that I had a week to re-read, edit, and touch up. I used all resources available such as online grammar websites, online turn it in to check for plagiarism, and friends or family. I think this helped as my tutor’s comments on assignment two said my writing was “of good academic
standard”, my paragraphs were linked, and my writing was clear and concise. However I was late in submitting but this was not due to lack of time but more as an oversight.
Following on from assessment my plan was to focus on the two principles in Grellier & Goerke, Principle one: The KISS Principle and Principle two: Make it formal. Many of my comments from past tutors in marked rubics were that I needed to work on spelling, punctuation and grammar assessment one provided us as students with a number of online grammar websites, these websites helped with with assessment two and three. I used them to check that my writing was clear, concise and easy to follow. There were a few which I found extremely helpful and will continue to use such as PaperRater, Grammarly, and WritersDiet. All three provided me with enough advice to fix my be verbs, passive and active voice, spelling, and redundant expressions. After using these online grammar websites I think my writing has improved. in assessment one I received a low score for my academic presentation of ten percent and comments to work on my sentence length and punctuation. For assessment two my score had improved and there were only minor punctuation errors.
Finally the best advice I found this SP was the second Principle an how to make my work more formal, reading about registers helped me recognise that some of my past work I switched between formal and informal. I lacked clear and concise vocabulary, and often included slang. I was extremely happy with comments from assessment two that my work was “Extremely professional and appropriate” and “of a good academic standard”. My plan did help, I am able to see some improvement in my work and I think it is mainly due to the fact I worked on my planning, drafts and time management. I followed through with reading the required texts; I used all online grammar websites available, and spell check in windows. I think I need to expand on my grammar and punctuation and look at my sentence length as both assignments feedback has suggested my sentences are too long. The best resources I found were Grellier & Goerke Communication Skills Tool kit. The book itself explained each of my problem areas and then provided activities to complete. The help of online grammar websites and the knowledge that there is a number of websites available on line like Grammar monster and Grammar book that provide exercises and quizzes.