article critique

ASSIGNMENT COVER

Course code:
PSY 311
Course name:
Writing and critical thinking
Assignment title:
Reflection paper on a writing process
Instructor’s name:
Dr. Dawn Stevens
Student’s name:
Efstratios Boumpouras
Date:
April 15, 2013

Comments:

Grade:

Reflection paper on a writing process
Efstratios Boumpouras
City Unity College

PSY 311 Writing and critical thinking
Dawn Stevens
April 15, 2013

Reflection paper on a writing process
Every writer has a different writing style which is a reflection of himself. Life experiences, intelligence, character all of these and much more influence the thoughts and the structure of them. After all the words we write begin as thoughts. Because of this there is not a dogmatic right way of writing. People are different and such are their writing styles. There may be some broad general guidelines as for example a paper should have an introduction, a main body and an epilogue but besides these very general guidelines there is not one appropriate style that guarantees successful writing for all.
Personally, my biggest issue concerning the papers I write is the language as English is not my first language and I have never learnt it properly. During my studies in City Unity College though my English have improved considerably. I understand English better and I write more comfortable and faster which made my life easier since it reduced my working hours.
Besides the language another major issue during the writing process is the organization of thoughts in order to put them on paper in a comprehensive way. Unfortunately thoughts do not follow a linear pattern but paper should be written in such a way. Structuring my thoughts in an order and a way which not only will make sense on a paper but will also be a clear reflection of my thoughts is a considerable struggle. The translation of thoughts into written words is a particularly important issue; what makes complete sense in our minds may be extremely difficult to put on paper. On the other hand though this process helps me to better clarify my thoughts and understanding over the given issue I am writing about.
Writing is communication; we write in order to pass out thoughts to the reader. The reader is usually not our friend to know how we think and operate or what we mean by this or that so we have to be precise and crystal clear. This of course narrows down our choices when it comes to writing styles if we want to be understood. The writing style also has to fit the audience. It is different to write to a specialized audience and different to an audience uneducated over the subject.
When most of the writing is completed I proof read the text in order to make corrections and improvements. This stage proves to be useful since I find a lot of language, grammatical and syntactical errors. Besides these obvious mistakes that I correct I also spot areas where the meaning is not reflecting my initial thought. Since the text should be flowing when I change these areas I also change the surrounding text in order to be comprehensive. Some stylistic corrections also take place as for example the repetitive use of the same word.
Another major problem when it comes to writing is creativity. After many hours of reading, thinking and writing the brain becomes numb and unresponsive to my efforts to think. I have found out that when my mind reaches such a level of tiredness it is of no use to try; a break or a nap here is required in order to revitalize and be able to think creatively. Also when I have already worked on a subject good ideas come to mind in moments of relaxation or when doing something completely irrelevant like cooking.
In general I find the process of writing multifaceted and thus interesting. A successful paper demands much more than a valid main argument. I think my writing skills have improved during these two years I study in City Unity College.