Last year I noticed that one of my main issues in my writing is long sentences. Or in other cases, too many sentences. Basically, I write too much. I blab on because my favorite type of writing is descriptive writing, and I can really have a hay day with that. However, in academic papers I want (and need) to be short and concise. I want to get to the point in a clear way. So, this year I want to learn how to put lots of good information into a smaller medium. Refine lots and lots of invaluable words to a solid amount of golden words. I know I will need to focus on sentence structure especially.
Another issue I had last year especially concerned my voice. I struggled with a balance between casual voice and stiff, boring academic voice. I favor casual writing because for the longest time I wanted to be a journalist. However, I understand the value of formal and professional writing. I want to find a good balance of the two so research papers don't sound stiff and boring, yet while being informational and professional all the while. I think this also has to do with sentence structure. As hard as it is to accomplish, I know sentence structure is what makes writing interesting as well as voice.
In terms of punctuation, one of my favorite punctuation tactics was the italics (see above). I love the way they put stress on words in a way that shows the reader I am passionate about whatever I am talking about. I used italics to stress the importance or the attention the word should have. However, I know I over-use them. I want to figure out another way to put emphasis in my writing to show passion, without italicizing every other sentence. I want to know how to eliminate excess punctuation with words.
Finally, being that I want to be an English teacher someday, I want to understand the ins and outs of English grammar. I want to pretend English is my second language, and learn all the technical terms for words I use every day but don't really understand what they are. I want to teach English as a second language, and to do so, I need to know the very fundamentals of the English language - stuff I don't think about because I grew up learning English. Additionally, as I am a double major with Spanish, I think learning about the different aspects of the English language will help me in my Spanish studies because I can more easily compare the terms used in Spanish class with the terms as they apply to English.
Apart from generally becoming a more technical writer, reaching these goals will make me satisfied about the course and excited to teach in the future. (Help with introductions and conclusions might also be useful, as I can't seem to end a piece of writing without some sort of conclusion... dismal as they may be)
