A&B Ch. 1 section 1-3 Open and closed form writing

In school we are commonly taught proper rules on how to write, what to think about when writing a paper and how to convince people of a certain idea.  This from of writing is commonly referred to as closed form writing.  While it is a good form of writing to learn, especially in formal settings or is various business settings it is not the only method.  There are two general categories for writing, one as we discussed is closed form writing which is a very structured form, usually having a concrete topic and when writing has very little if any deviations from that topic.  The other category of writing is known as open form writing.  This form has less of a concrete structure to it, when reading open form papers some of the style differences will be immediately apparent.  First it will sound more like a story or more creative with its descriptions, trying to get across its topic by utilizing your senses rather than providing a convincing argument.  You may also notice that an open form paper is either lacking a thesis statement, establishing your expectations for the paper, or if there is one it is only there to get you in the right mindset.  When writing a paper there is no wrong on right on what form to use, but rather there is only the message you want to get across and how you want to express it.

A&B Concept 2.1 and Generating and exploring ideas

Perhaps one of the most influential decisions you can make when you are writing a paper is what the paper should be about or the topic.  If the reason for the paper is given to you, for example you feel like a store is treating you unfairly or if the topic is provided like most school assignments, this part of the writing process can be quickly forgotten.  However there are times when a papers subject is not readily apparent, or maybe the subject you initially chose carries little meaning for you.  There are various methods with which you can use to effectively choose a topic that not only will lead to an effective paper, but will also lead you to enjoying the writing of said paper significantly more.

One method you can use to help you more clearly understand the topics in which you will enjoy writing about is free writing.  This method involves sitting down for a length of time and constantly write (or type) constantly, not worrying about spelling, punctuation or of the flow of the document you are writing and simply write what you are thinking.  These sessions ideally would last for at least 10 minutes, which would allow you to not only write what is currently on your mind but also things you are thinking deeply about and things which you can expound on.  This is a method that I personally have seldom used however the few times I have done it have proven to be quite interesting and enlightening on topics that I find interesting.

A&B Chapter 16, skills 16.1, 16.2 and 16.3

One of the most important skills a writer can develop is the ability to revise a paper.  Not only is this a skill that beginning writers utilize to check for spelling mistakes or repeated words but expert writers rely on this technique as a means to organize their thoughts and to improve their papers exponentially.  As one masters this skill the quality of their papers will increase significantly.

First and foremost when revising a paper is knowing the difference between local changes and global changes.  Local changes would be smaller changes to words or sentences that would make that sentence or that paragraph make more sense or to clear up a thought or point.  Global changes often include making changes to entire paragraphs or pages that will affect other parts of the paper and change the overarching construction of the paper.  Whether this is changing and argument in a persuasive paper to have more of an impact, to bringing up a different feature in a technical paper to really “wow” an audience, knowing when and how to make these changes will help one to make more clear and more interesting papers.

Other skills a person should develop when working on revisions is to make sure that you have plenty of time for your paper.  If you have time to sit down, think about what you want to write, revise, have others look at your paper to make sure that you are clearly explaining your meaning then make more drafts and repeat those steps multiple times, you are probably doing alright.  If you are sitting down the night before you need to present your paper (or turn it in) and are just trying to crank it out then chances are there are going to be a lot of missed mistakes and the quality of your paper will suffer.

Chapter 1 Concept 1.1, 1.2

Whenever a person is writing a paper there are various items that person must consider before the pen ever hits the paper.  How are you going to write this paper?  Is it a casual paper or a professional one?  Who is going to be reading my paper?  What kind of language should you use on the paper?  All of these questions will lead a single topic to hundreds of different kinds of papers. I will focus on one of these questions for this post, audience.

The audience that you are writing the paper to is one of the most important things when starting your paper.  Say you are writing a paper to a group of scientists.  When writing this paper you would speak very plainly using any technical terms that you might need to explain your point.  You might even try to use slightly better language then you are used to, to try to impress them.  On the other hand if you were writing the same paper to a general audience you would probably reconsider that idea as your audience may not understand some of the more technical terms, you would try to find a simpler way to express your meaning to help your audience stay involved and stay tuned in while reading through your paper and be able to effectively respond to any of the points that you might have brought up.