University writing skills.

[Myalilysally]

Morning,

I’m looking for some help and guidance on my writing skills.

I’ve just received my first grade at university and it’s pretty poor. This is following on from being the top of my Access class in college and receiving distinctions. So I’m pretty upset and deflated.

My feedback is my writing is too academic and confusing at times.

I wondered if there is anyone here that marks course work, is a high achieving writer maybe and can give me some pointers to what I’m doing wrong and how to simplify my writing.

Thanks.

I'm not sure I fit your idea of an expert in this, but I've been in jobs where the written word really matters. And you seems to be bescribing an over-elaborate style.

There is no need to aim for an academic style. You are aiming to write plain English, and include the correct use of jargon in your field. The simpler the better. The difference is that you can assume your readership knows and understands key concepts, so you don't need to describe them all from scratch (though you may well need to explain the relevance to whatever you are discussing)

It can be worth getting a guide to writing well in plain English

My favourite is

shop.economist.com/products/the-economist-style-guide-12th-edition

Thank you, I’ll take a look.

I didn’t think of getting books to help tbh. I’ll have look at some others too.

Universities normally have writing support workshops, does your university have anything like this?

Otherwise, check your library for 'how to write an essay' books. Sometimes there are web resources produced by uni library staff.

The other thing that's amazingly helpful is seeing other people's writing, as it's so much easier to 'see' mistakes that other people are making. Start an informal group amongst your classmates where you send your essays to each other and provide feedback. You could send completed and marked essays if you don't want to exchange pre-marked scripts.

The best way to learn how to write is to read. So do loads of reading round your lectures. Don't just read to find the answer, follow the authors' style, work out how they craft their argument, if it's a technical subject follow when they use equations.

If there are key concepts in a topic, make sure you can explain them in a sentence, in a paragraph and in extended form

Lastly before you write work out what it is you want to say and what your central argument is

I already read absolutely loads tbh. Both books and articles and I’ve started listening to podcasts too.
The informal group idea is a good one but I’m the oldest in a class of young people and we don’t tend to mix I’m afraid. Not because of me I hasten to add. So I am in my own at university.

Agree with @BigGreen there will probably be some academic skills / study skills support available at your university.

You could also ask if there are essays available to read from past students, to give you an idea of style.

I’d be willing to have a look at a sample OP. I’m not an expert but did get very good marks at Uni (finished with a first) around 6 years ago

Use short punchy sentences. Lovely florid prose wastes words when they want see your thoughts and ideas on the page.

Reread what you wrote back to yourself. If you have to pause for breath, it’s likely your sentence is too long.

Hi ... don't worry! These are very early days on your course. It's totally normal that you'll need to work on and develop your writing style. You are at degree level now, and it's a different ballgame to what you've been doing before.

The most important thing is: hang on to your self-confidence, and your voice. It sounds like you have a lot to say and this just needs a bit of careful pruning and organisation.

The two simple tricks are:

1. Plan the points of your essay out paragraph by paragraph, and stick to your plan (this stops any repetition or random going-on).

1. Constantly have in your mind that you are speaking to someone. Write largely as you would speak. Read out each paragraph when it's done, and change anything that sounds too flowery or wordy, or that you'd be embarrassed to say.

And remember ... you are learning how to do this. Your essay-writing is a work in progress. And you're just at the start. It's an unsettling feeling, after you've been at the top of your previous ladder. Now you're at the bottom of this new one. But you'll get there 🙂

PM me some of your essay if you like, and I'll give you some more specific advice.

My besetting fault is overlong sentences with too many parentheses.

When I realise I am bogged down in the middle of one, I start to look at what I am trying to say and in what order I am saying it. The order is usually wrong. I find that using two sentences, with no more than one parenthesis, is typically much clearer

Please don't be deflated. It's very common to go from being in the top set at College to suddenly getting low marks at Uni. It represents a different marking schemes whereby 70% is considered a good mark. Secondly, it is very hard going from being one of the best at College to being surrounded by others of the same callibre. Thirdly, you are at the very start of your course, so you are not expected to be receiving the high marks that you would ultimately be getting by your third year. I would say that you are clearly very self motivated to seek advice and that alone will take you far. You've not done anything wrong as such. It's just that throughout your education you have been taught to embellish your writing style in order to broaden it. Now you are being asked to simplify your style in order to target a specific audience. I echo other comments about reading a simple guide on 'Plain English'. A few tweaks and you will be on your way. This is just a learning experience and you are clearly learning from it and adapting, so well done. I'm sure that you will go far!

I'm an academic and I find that we have quite a few students who feel the need to use long words and flowery language which means the point gets lost. My advice would be to write your assignments like you're doing a presentation. In your head think about a slide that represents each paragraph. Look up PEC paragraphs too.

PS - I'm sorry as I've just seen your note that you are older among a class of young people - I didn't mean to sound patronising (I thought you might have been 17/18!).

You have a trickier job pitching your voice if you're older, I think. It sounds like you're finding yourself in a different academic environment to where you've been, and what had been admired and praised on your Access course is now being criticised here, which is confusing and undermining.

What course are you doing?

Do still PM me if you'd like.

Ask your tutor/module leaders etc about where you can access academic skills support at the university - there should be loads available

For most academic essays, there is a formula. Intro to define terms & scope of essay. 5 PEER paragraphs giving evidence, conclusion to sum it up.

Find the formula for your field and work to it. Keep to simple sentences

Speaking as a graduate who has also made a living by writing, it’s a very good exercise to take anything you have written and cut it by a third.

The result will virtually always be sharper and better. It’s all too easy to over-write, pad and waffle.

As they say, get your worst enemy to prune your roses…..

I’m also reminded of a university lecturer a dd had, who once set them to write an ‘essay’ (this was at least 2nd year) of no more than 500 words.
It was a valuable exercise in cutting waffle (whether ‘academic’ or not) and making every word count.

Contact the academic skills unit at your uni. Are you sure the issue is your writing style and not the overall content of your essay? Have you looked at your universities marking criteria?

In terms of writing be clear, concise and to the point. No waffling.

It's a big jump in terms of expectations between college and uni so don't feel too disheartened.

Thank you everyone.

To those who have offered to read something I’ve written. Honestly. Thank you. I will be taking you up on the offer if that’s okay. I’ll pm you.

I’m doing History btw.

Some of my friends from Access do English and have received 80% whereas I only received 55%.

I do know my writing is a bit bland and boring. ( a bit like me 😂)

I will ask about skills workshops too. I’m back in on Monday.

There are a mountain of resources out there to help with essay writing. Your first stop should be the university library resources which should have info and worksheets. If you're lucky they will also run workshops on a lot of the issues you face. Failing that look online for guidance by other universities...Open University has some good resources and you don't have to be a student to look at them,Future Learn do an academic writing course as well.
I think one of the biggest problems many students have is the belief that essays have to use very academic vocabulary. If you Google the academic word list you'll actually discover that the most common words are 'everyday' words with only a minority being subject/discipline specific.

Fellow mature student. I have read a few of my fellow mature students essays and often it just sounds really formal.

I got "word" to read out my last essay of 7500 words. Was a bit painful but very handy to show overly long sentences (and missing punctuation, wrong word choices).

but I’m the oldest in a class of young people and we don’t tend to mix I’m afraid. Not because of me I hasten to add. So I am in my own at university.

Have you had a look around the Mature Study and Retraining board here, OP?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mature_students

Reading through some of the threads there may help you to feel less ‘alone’!

(And, while you’ve had excellent advice already, your thread might sit better on the Mature Student board than in Chat - so other mature students would be able to find all the advice offered here. MNHQ would move the thread if you asked via the Report button.)

Don't be deflated OP. I am also a mature student and struggled through a foundation year where I had to relearn how to write. Definitely look for support from university. Do you have a mature students department? They will be able to help find the support you need.

I find planning is the most important part of an essay. And usually start with my conclusion. Then my intro, then a paragraph discussing each point. Limit your word count in each paragraph. And if you have a , you can probably swap this for a full stop and new sentence.

Do you get a copy of the marking rubric for your assignments? A mark of 55 suggests it's not just the style of writing. You might be missing other requirements for your essay. For example, are your sources purely based on the learning materials presented to you or did you also use other sources (eg. papers/journals/books in your module reading list)? Did you critically evaluate them or just state facts and opinions from various areas without really adding anything to it?

Forgot to say, for the writing alone. If you can't get help at your own uni, others have printed their own guides you scan easily find on the internet.
www.york.ac.uk/media/schools-and-colleges/sixth-form-resources/how-to-improve-your-academic-writing.pdf

www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=256

Do bear in mind that it could be that this particular tutor has a specific style they like and have marked you down as you haven't matched that. Wait and see what other tutors say first.