I have learned and developed my skills extensively through the course work’s writing exercises. The exercise demanded to write various papers and projects that were assigned by the lecturers. As a beginner, I had so many challenges which are discussed below. Keeping time was one of my primary challenges. Since all the writing has the deadline for submission, it was tough for me to meet the period because I saw the time given was too short for the paper or perhaps my speed was too slow. Therefore, I did not satisfy most of the deadlines and ended up submitting my work late. Later as I continued with my studies, I realized that some of the things which made me take so long on writing were little typing speed, lack of commitment in my writing and lack of adequate research skills. Therefore, I had to improve on this point's as the semester was going on and now in can manage to keep time during my writing process (Murray & Moore 115).
Lack of adequate research skills was my other challenge in writing my papers and projects. In the begging of my writing, I did not know how to utilize library sources like books, magazine, journals the E-library adequately as well as the available sources on the internet (Brian, Anne, Tim, Alun & Arthur 92). I only relayed on the notes that were sent to us by the lecturers, and this gave me a hard time since they were limited. Therefore, I discovered there were other sources of the web pages, online books and even the library material which would help me carry out my research. When I started using these materials, the writing of papers and projects became simpler compared to the beginning of the semester. Now I can use too many sources to get adequate information about anything that I have been asked to write about.
At the start of the semester I also had a hard task of satisfying the number of words or pages require in the writing. It was too difficult for me to reach the wanted number of words or pages because I thought they were too many for me. This problem was also solved through adequate researching. After I knew how to research adequately, I could write a paper without worrying about the number of pages inquired. I found meeting the page requirements automatically without any struggles and difficulties like I had in the begging of the semester. Presently, developing lengthy projects without repeating the same things over and over again seems a bit simpler.
Providing the correct content in papers and projects was another challenge that I faced. I could write a paper, and the lecturer quotes it as irrelevant to the topic he had given. Most of the times, I found myself redoing the same paper which was very annoying but also motivating. I would feel so bad revising a paper while the others are doing the next project or writing but I never loosed hope. One of the main secrets to avoid this problem is reading the topic and instructions carefully to make sure you understand everything which is required. Therefore, after knowing what the lecturer wants; make sure you answer all the questions by providing what is needed. Consulting other students is also crucial so that you do not go off the topic. Do not assume any question and skip it because it will cost you at the end. After learning all this, I was able to write what is required by the lecturer without struggles.
Avoiding plagiarism was another challenge. Plagiarism is the act of taking other person ideas and taking them as your thoughts (Posner 2). By then referring my work was a bit challenging. I did bother putting in text citations in my job. It was tough for me to write references for my job especially if it is from a web page. Following this, my work was full of plagiarism, and this always made me fell demotivated in writing. However, after some time I came to learn the various referencing styles and I can now use the effectively. A book known as The Complete Guide To Referencing And Avoiding Plagiarism by Neville was of great help to me in understanding the various referencing styles.
I also had a challenge reading big books which we were instructed to read because to me it seemed a waste of time. I felt watching the television show and playing video games was more interesting than reading journals, books and magazines instructed. To cope with this, I had to learn several reading skills like having a reading list, avoiding reading in noisy places, have a goal for reading, taking short notes while reading among others (Rasinski & Padak 91). Through this few tricks and skills, I am now able to read a lot of material. It has broadened my mind in my course, and I find writing easy because I have some knowledge about what I am asked to write. The more the material you read about your course, the more you become relevant to your course.
In the beginning, I had too many problems with my writing, researching and reading skills. However, as the semester continued, I learned all this could be overcome. Through practice and following instructions the skills became cheaper for me. What is needed is commitment. In future, I hope to be writing a lot of material from my research. I hope even to furnish my writing skills more and even write articles for the beginners on how to write effectively. Since writing is very enjoyable once a person has all the skills.
Works Cited
Brian, Anne, Tim, Alun & Arthur. Research Skills for Students. Taylor & Francis. 2016. Print
Murray & Moore. The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). 2006. Print.
Neville. The Complete Guide To Referencing And Avoiding Plagiarism. McGraw-Hill Education (UK). 2010. Print
Posner. The Little Book of Plagiarism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. 2009. Print.
Rasinski & Padak. Effective Reading Strategies: Teaching Children who Find Reading Difficult. Pearson/Prentice Hall. 2004. Print
