Graduate writing

Writer’s Self-Assessment: Checklist of Common Writing-Related Issues

For this week, you will reflect on your writing experiences and use this reflection for both the Discussion and Assignment 2. Your Writer’s Self-Assessment serves three purposes:

· It will help you begin working on your critical thinking and writing, two skills you will study and practice in this course.

· It will provide your Instructor with an opportunity to get a sense of you as a writer. Then, your Instructor can focus comments and instruction in ways to help you strengthen your critical thinking and writing skills.

· It will allow you to share your experiences with your colleagues and support each other in strengthening your scholarly writing.

To help you start thinking about your needs, you might want consider these common writing-related issues:

· Grammar mistakes

· Misuse of punctuation

· Confusing or overly wordy writing

· Unclear or underdeveloped paragraphs

· Lack of a scholarly voice

· Insufficient supporting evidence

· Incorrect use of APA

· Writer’s block

Do any of these resonate with you? Have you received feedback from your Instructors or from other sources on these issues? Perhaps you have other concerns. That’s fine! The list above is merely a starting point for your reflection.

A helpful hint: Try to be as specific as possible in your Self-Assessment. For instance, identify which grammar issues are cropping up in your work (e.g., run-on sentences, verb tenses).

DISCUSSION

Post a 1- to 2- paragraph reflection on your writing skills, identifying two writing skills that you want to improve upon during this course. You may also include two writing strengths or strategies that may support your current writing process. Try and incorporate the terms from the Walden University Writing Center website in the Learning Resource for clearer definitions. Be sure to connect your scholarly writing skills with professional and academic goals, as well.

Assignment:

Compose a 2- to 3-paragraph reflective essay examining your experiences with writing. Use the information in the "Writer's Self-Assessment" document as a starting point but also consider feedback obtained from Instructors and other sources. Include all of the following:

· Identify the strengths in your writing and why you believe these to be your strengths.

· Elaborate on the specific areas for improvement you identified in your Discussion. Include examples. This is your opportunity to let the instructor know the types of issues you would like to address during the class.

· Describe any guidance on those areas from the Learning Resources, the Discussion, or (if applicable) your Graduate Writing I instructor.

· Based on that guidance, briefly describe any actions you might take to further develop your scholarly writing.