Organizing My Thoughts Sometimes, I

¶ … Organizing my Thoughts

Sometimes, I have trouble getting started because it is hard for me to organize the ideas that I need to present in my writing. I have made the mistake of starting to write before having a clear idea of what I want to say in the rest of the assignment and then having to start over again. I have tried to change that by writing outlines to lay out my points in the order that I want to make them before I start writing. That has helped me very much to write without having to change what I have already written later in the assignment. In that respect, twenty minutes spent thinking and outlining my points before starting to write has saved me much more time spent rewriting after the fact.

Repetitive Vocabulary

I have noticed that I tend to use some of the same words too often within the same paragraph or within consecutive sentences. Unless I look for it afterwards while proofreading, I may completely miss the redundancy completely.

Proofreading Long Complex Sentences

Sometimes, I write complex sentences that seem to change direction halfway through. Unless I proofread them carefully, I may not notice this because both the beginnings and the ends of those sentences make sense; they just do not go together logically. Proofreading has also allowed me to fix this problem, but I have also learned that it is much harder for me to proofread my work shortly after writing it because I tend to overlook the mistakes in my writing. By giving myself enough time to wait at least a few hours between writing and proofreading, I have managed to improve the accuracy of my proofreading to catch those (and other) types of mistakes in my writing.

Questionnaire

1. What types of writing do you and your colleagues have to do most often on the job?

Generally, most of the writing we do consists of formal status reports and project update reports. We also write quite a few emails to communicate with one another and with our supervisors.

2. When you receive written communication from other employees, what features of the writing make you likely to read it, understand it, remember it, and act on it?

I would say that I am most likely to respond to written communications that are clear and concise; I am less likely to respond to written communications that are unclear and rambling. Sometimes, it is also difficult to follow written communications that contain careless typos and sentences that have obviously not been proofread carefully.

3. What types of errors and weaknesses do you often find in your colleagues' writing?

Typically, I find basic grammatical errors, syntax problems, and confusion about the correct meaning of words.

4. Even though you're a strong writer, what would you like to learn to improve your writing?

While I am a strong writer, sometimes, I have difficulty composing my thoughts in the draft stage. I would most like to improve my ability to organize my thoughts in a manner that will help me reduce the amount of time it normally takes me to go through all of the preliminary draft stages before reaching the final copy stage.

MEMORANDUM

Mary Tate

Re:

Writing Improvement Classes

January 7, 2011

Factual Background