Pre-Writing Strategies, Essay Example

Without question, my writing skills have improved from the initial starting date of the class to present time. Lacking in a number of areas, there are some important areas that are worthy of mention in this reflective analysis. However, due to the brevity of the current examination, only a couple of topics will be briefly approach. Pre-writing strategies capture what is perhaps the most significant area where improvement is found.

Pre-Writing Strategies

Honestly, before I started this class, planning an essay was a mere afterthought, if I considered it at all. In the past, I would simply consider the subject and a brief plan of action, and then start executing the paper. Lately I’ve learned just how valuable this stage of the process can be. Inevitably, I have learned that it belongs as a serious portion of the process, which is a change that was never taken seriously.

There are plenty of occasions in which this can be found. For one paper, I went ahead and did what I did best: wrote it without any planning. Realizing that it was full of errors, I took a step back and started from scratch. In that assignment, it was amazing to consider how a change in approach could do the trick.

In this example, it made all the difference. Instead of delving into the assignment, I paused to consider it into chunks. What was the main point I wanted to make? How should I properly introduce the topic, giving enough background but not starting too broadly? How should I support the main point? The questions made a big difference in steering me on the right path.

The next part is what I consider the greatest tool in the writing process. Of course, at least from my perspective, it is with the outline. Breaking down the paper into digestible chunks, it all made sense to me. Not only did it help me organize my thoughts and points that were relevant to the paper, but it helped me psychologically. In a way, it released the burden of producing so many pages at once. Instead, all I had to worry about was the first supporting point, and then connecting it to the next.

Another big advantage of these pre-writing strategies is the utilization of sources. Along with organizing the structure of my paper, I learned to obtain quotes, cite them properly, and then place the paraphrase or quote in the appropriate place on the outline. Before the class, I would find sources as I wrote, which was severely lacking in terms of efficiency. Yet again, having all of my sources and quotes lined up helped me write efficiently, and without worries.

Conclusion

These pre-writing strategies make up a huge area where I found progress. I have come to understand, and perhaps more importantly love, the use of an outline and other key techniques during this stage of the writing process. To me, its importance cannot be underestimated.

These dynamics have strengthened me overall as a writer. Of course, there have been other dynamics that have assisted in my progression. However, pre-writing strategies makes up the primary area that I wanted to emphasize in the analysis. Considering all the strides I have made, I consider my writing to be several notches above what it used to be, prior to starting this class.