10 Identifying Weak Points and Taking Ownership to Resolve Them

An additional habit of writing successful papers is simply to write more often. This sounds very simple because it is simple. As students write more often their own writing and critical thinking skills become sharpened. Just like any skill, writing becomes easier with practice. While most students get practice by completing the writing assignments for class it can also be helpful to carve out time for short skill-building exercises. To do this, the student must first identify what component of writing they are struggling with. For example, if the student is struggling with developing arguments, the student can allocate fifteen minutes a day to write down a topic and jot down some competing arguments related to the topic. This will help both with improving the student’s weak points as well as build their confidence as completing these exercises becomes easier. Similar writing exercises will likely be assigned in the student’s class but ultimately a student’s development and education are their own responsibility and taking the initiative to complete these exercises can be very helpful. When students are completing assignments it can easily become autonomous but if the student is carving out their own time to dedicate to writing because they want to improve it can be very empowering. An intentional decision to take charge of one’s education is empowering.