My goals for this course are to brush up on my English skills and to learn the proper way to write for various situations. I intend to use this course as a guide throughout the rest of my college education, since I will be required to write papers in most classes. Additionally, since I plan to become a small business owner, I need to ensure that I am capable of reaching my target audience through my writing. In this instance, I foresee the need to write a business plan, advertisements, welcome letters, and thank you notes for my business. As for my personal life, I don’t do much writing. However, you never know when you have to respond to an establishment such as a marketing company, your utilities company, or the IRS. In these cases, it would be really nice to know that I am capable of responding on a professional level.
Setting goals for writing academic papers can be difficult. My first step has to be to fully understand what information I am expected to deliver. My second course of action is to research and take notes on the subject I am to write about. Then I have to consider whether I’m trying to convince or inform my target audience of this information, so that I know what tone to use. Following that, I try to write a rough draft, critically read it and then rewrite the paper as necessary.
By far, my biggest challenge when writing for others is simply getting started. I find it extremely difficult to search my mind for the words to start. Oddly enough, I usually know how I want to end the paper before I know how I want to start it. The good thing is that once I do get started, I am usually on a roll and have no problem completing whatever I am writing.