The process of the academic writing process involves at least four steps. The steps include prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. The prewriting strategy includes planning what is to be done before writing a draft of the document. It involves thinking, taking notes, brainstorming, talking to others, and gathering information. This is the most effective strategy because it consists of developing and expanding the ideas about the given topic (Zemach and Rumisek, 2016). The next step is the drafting strategy, which consists in putting thoughts into sentences and paragraphs. This stage allows the writer to concentrate on explaining, supporting ideas, and fully connecting ideas. The next step is the revising stage. This strategy is also useful in the process of academic writing. It allows the document to be reader-centered. This strategy enables the writer to refine their prose, making each sentence accurate and concise in the best way possible. This is the last step conducted after all the other writing strategies have been completed—the writer checks for spelling, grammar, and mechanics.
They are various elements that help and hinder me during academic writing. What helps me during academic writing is when I write to the level of the intended audience. Getting to the point by outlining what is to be covered in the entire paper in the first paragraph is critical. Taking a stand and providing supporting evidence also help me in academic writing. The main hindrances in my academic writing include lexical difficulties, which are linking words and phrases. Grammar and punctuation are also a hindrance that makes me lose marks in my academic papers. Other conditions include plagiarism and low text structure (Odell et al., 2019)
The beat writing environment that I prefer is from home at a desk. I need to be comfortable, so loose; casual clothing is a must for me. Home means fewer distractions, like people talking. I like to hear myself think, so noise is a no-no. However, sometimes music helps me write a scene, especially instrumental music that is thematic to a piece I’m working on. Think violins in poignant moments and drums for fight scenes. I have everything I need at home, including proper access to my notes, writing reference books, laptops, Wi-Fi, and of course, tea. I get to have my desk organized my way, with my flair, and I’m in control of the temperature settings. This writer likes to be warm.
Question Two
Nonacademic writing is conducted for a lay audience. According to Ghanbari, Dehghani, and Shamsaddini (2016), it involves newspapers, magazines, and books like Barnes and Noble. It also includes blogs and websites. Nonacademic writing is informal and conversational. The author of the writing may not be an expert in the field. There was a time I used nonacademic writing. I was to write an email to my manager at work informing him that I will be late. When writing the email, I kept it simple and on point. I mentioned that I was calling in sick and how long I expected to be away. I was not overly formal and did not write complicated and long paragraphs. My email was sufficient because it was intention focused. Everything in the email fed the central purpose, which was clear to the manager. After reading this lesson, I learned that there are things I could have done differently to make my email better. For instance, I should have used subject lines to convey the point of my message. I could also have used greetings and sign-offs in my email. I should have formatted my message for easy reading and used the white space to visually separate paragraphs into distinct blocks. It could have been more useful also to use boldface type or capital letters to highlight critical information, such as due dates.