Being in this news writing class was a great opportunity for me to see where I stand with my writing. Even though my grades did not reflect the amount of knowledge I gained, I feel that this course is very necessary. I also believe that this course gives you a great insight on being a reporter. As I’m reflecting, the most helpful skills I gained from this course was using the AP stylebook, taking breaks while doing my work, learning the proper way to use punctuation, listening habits and editing with different purposes.
The AP stylebook took some time getting used to when I first started this course. I experienced the most difficulty with finding whether to abbreviate a state ,or to write out the full name. However with time, I started to pick up on the rules of the AP stylebook.
Taking breaks was the most helpful skill I acquired while being in this class. Before I took this course, I would always try to get all my work done in one sitting ,which resulted in a lot of stress. I became more relaxed with my writing when I looked over the Revision Techniques pdf ,and started taking breaks between my work. I would definitely recommend this writing tip to every writer, in order to stay stress-free.
The punctuation unit in module one was very useful as well. With the punctuation unit and the AP quizzes, I became more skilled with my writing. Knowing where to place a comma in quotations became easier also. Furthermore, I think that starting off the course with punctuation was a good way to help writers with this news writing course.
Listening habits is a skill I developed through module one. After going through that module, I learned how to focus on listening better. For example, making eye contact when you are speaking to someone.
Although I did not do the best in this course, I still feel that this course has taught me numerous techniques to better my writing. Furthermore, I believe this class was very beneficial to my writing.
Mikell's blog 