Becoming an Incurable Editor

You are working intensely to improve your writing skills: What are you learning and how are your skills changing? Do you feel differently about writing? Are you on the road to becoming an incurable editor?

Comments

  1. Leo Del Valle says

    I learned so much about writing. I learned when and how to use colons, semicolons, and commas. I was good at this before, but I think this course was the cherry on top of a sundae. I learned what words to use in sentences that would better suit that sentence. I learned how to properly format a paper that must be written in APA format. This is essential for me because all of my lab reports are in APA format or a chemistry type of format that is similar to that.
    I am on my way in becoming an incurable editor, but there is always room for improvement!

    Best regards,

    Leonardo Del Valle

  2. Lynsie Markovich says

    I am learning how to properly use punctuation. I have always struggled with when to sue commas, semicolons, etc, and I think that after this class I feel way more confident using them. Something I feel truly changed for me was the conciseness of my writing. I always thought that writing more was better, but I should actually be getting straight to the point. I am on the road to becoming an incurable editor, and that is really exciting to me. I have always been insecure about what I write, and after taking this class I do not second guess myself as much.

  3. Paige Chocholek says

    Hello everyone,
    At the beginning of this semester, I never thought about my writing as intensely as I do now. Before this class, I thought my writing needed tons of work, however, now I realize that my writing was fine–it just needed a little bit of editing and I had plenty to learn. Prior to reading The Writers Handbook and Business Communication and Writing, I would avoid using certain grammar or formatting simply because I did not know how to use it. Now, after our readings and assignments, I feel more confident in using a wider variety of skills. Simple things like commas, apostrophes, colons, semicolons, and dashes are now used confidently in my writing. I am conscious on how my paper looks based on it’s font, spacing, and white space. These little things add character to any writer’s writing–it just took Professor Young and her class to bring out the confidence I needed to use it. I would not say that I am an incurable editor yet, but I am definitely a more confident writer after taking this course. I look forward to the next few weeks to see how much more I can learn.

    Additionally, this course was not what I expected content wise. Professor Young makes this course exactly as the title suggests–professional. I will use the information I learn in this course for the rest of my life. One simple example is this course made me to build a resume I never needed before. A resume is something that I will be able to use for the rest of my career and will be especially helpful when I submit my first application after graduation.

    Best wishes,
    Paige

  4. Michelle Massey says

    Hello everyone,
    So far this semester, there have been many different things that I have learned. One of the biggest things was a on basic formatting in business environment. I never really thought about how important communication is on a daily basis, especially in a business sense. There may come a day where we all may to write an important business letter or e-mail. You want to make sure that it is formatted correctly and concise, so it is professional.
    Over the last couple weeks, I think that my view about writing is changing. In the past, English was not one of my favorite subjects. Now, I am actually enjoying it. What is making it easier, is that I now know how to correctly format. This makes me feel more comfortable and it does not make writing that bad. The more we have to do writing assignments, the more I learn. It also helps in a sense that it helps to build confidence. Also, when I am writing, I am trying to eliminate excess words in sentences or in a paragraph. I am trying to make each paragraph flow into the next paragraph. Although my writing skills aren’t perfect, I believe that I am the path of becoming an incurable editor.

    Take care,
    Michelle Massey

  5. Karli Chocholek says

    Hi everyone,

    I believe my effort in this class has improved my writing tremendously. While I was confident in my writing to begin with, I am more comfortable placing punctuation where I know it belongs. Before I would only use commas and periods. Now that I know how to use punctuation marks such as ellipses, colons, and dashes correctly, I use them more frequently. Repeatedly seeing the same concepts throughout the course makes everything commit to memory.

    After a few short weeks in this class I am comfortable writing and sharing with others. I am less hesitant to punctuate my writing the first time and go back to edit less frequently. I would say I am on the road to becoming an incurable editor. While I am not there yet, and have a while to go, I don’t go back and re-read the same sentences looking for errors like I used to. This saves me time and allows my thoughts to remain consistent throughout. I now enjoy writing.

    All the best.

    Karli

  6. Kalie Ostapchuk says

    Personally, I have noticed so many changes I am making in my writing. There are still some mistakes i catch myself making, but I am extremely proud of the new things I am learning. For example, in high school I used way too many commas in my writing assignments. I was never corrected, so I carried this mistake with me to college. Thankfully I learned the mistake I was making and can now write my assignments with a little more confidence. I feel a little different about writing. I still struggle with writing, but I believe that I am a little more confident when writing not only my essays, but even just simple discussion posts. I was always so confused on what to write and how to write it in a clear way. Now that I have practiced a little more I can take a deep breath and the writing just happens easily. I believe that I am on the road to becoming an incurable editor, and can’t wait to see what else I learn the rest of the semester.
    ~Kalie Ostapchuk

  7. Ashlie VanBlaircom says

    Throughout this course, I am learning an immense amount of information. Whether it is how to format a paper correctly and all the way to knowing what types rules there are behind many topics in writing. The assignments we have completed so far in the semester, they are extremely helpful in the real world. Being given feedback on these assignments has shown me that I am strengthening as a writer and I think confidence in writing creates a better writing.