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Strengths and Weaknesses in Writing

Sarah Oakley

Table of Contents

5 writing strengths you need to have, 4 writing weaknesses to overcome, how prowritingaid can help you become a better writer, conclusion on writing strengths and weaknesses.

Even the best writers have strengths and weaknesses in writing. Being aware of your strengths and weaknesses is vital if you want to be a good writer.

If you develop your writing skills, you’ll be able to ensure all your writing is of high quality. This applies to creative writing, academic writing, and business writing. 

In this article, we’ll explore five strengths you need and four weaknesses to work on. You’ll also learn how ProWritingAid can help you become a better writer.

A writing strength is a characteristic of great writing and it gives your reader the impression you know exactly what you’re doing. You can learn and develop writing skills so you don’t need to worry about being naturally gifted.

You can build your writing strengths before you write so your first draft has solid foundations, or you can gain them over time as you write. Don’t exhaust yourself trying to make the first draft perfect; it’ll need editing later on.

We’ve picked five strengths we think are the most important when writing any document. These skills are imperative for those who want a writing career.

Strength 1: A Rich Vocabulary

One of the best things you can do as a writer is to develop the number of words you know. Therefore, you’ll have a diverse word choice to pick from when you’re writing.

You can achieve this strength through reading. Read everything you can get your hands on. It’s not enough to read within your chosen genre, business area, or subject area.

By learning new things and opening your mind to other writing categories, you’ll develop a vivid imagination, and you’ll have an excellent vocabulary to work with.

Learning new words and concepts can also help you reduce writer’s block, which is a bonus strength that will help you achieve your goal of finishing writing projects more often.

It’s said that only 3% of novel writers actually finish writing their novel. Arming yourself with a rich vocabulary will help you become one of those 3%.

If you don’t have time for reading as widely, or you’re not sure you’ll be able to remember so many words, some writing apps have built-in thesaurus features you can use. 

Strength 2: Use of Literary Devices

There are many literary devices writers can use to keep their readers engaged. You might be familiar with a few of them, but if you develop your knowledge of all of them, you’ll create variety in your writing by having more to choose from.

We can’t go over every single literary device you could use in this article. However, we have picked three important ones you can use to strengthen your writing straight away.

Foreshadowing is the technique of revealing details and clues for your reader to give them an idea of what is coming. You can use this in fiction writing to create suspense, excitement, or apprehension. In business and academic writing, you can mention something briefly that you will go into detail about later.

Metaphors and similes are ways to describe things as though they are something else or compared to something else. They are great devices to use in poetry and fiction writing. You can engage your reader with metaphors and similes by making their mind work harder to imagine the things you’re describing.

The opposite of using metaphors to describe something figuratively is using concrete imagery in your descriptions. This is where the “show, don’t tell” rule comes into play. You need to show your readers what you’re writing about through sensory details.

Strength 3: Varying Sentence Lengths

Sentence lengths are important as they help the flow of your writing and contribute to its pacing. Long sentences take longer to read but can include a lot of information. Shorter sentences can have more impact.

If you want to give the reader a sense of urgency in the pacing of your writing, use shorter, snappier sentences. They can be as short as one word. 

Be careful when writing short sentences for pacing. You don’t want to write an entire scene in short sentences because your reader might rush through without picking up any details.

Longer sentences can comprise several clauses and even feature additional information in brackets or between em dashes. They take a while to read, so do your reader a favor and remember to add punctuation for pauses. 

Strength 4: Target Reader Awareness

When you know who you are writing for and what they expect, you can focus on achieving and exceeding those expectations. This works for creative, business, and academic writing. The ability to tailor your content to the intended audience is a mark of a great writer.

If you’re working on a creative writing project, such as a novel, you need to be aware of the basic requirements of a novel and any specific elements of your chosen genre. This could include story length, number of characters, and the amount of exposition.

For business writing, such as sales emails and internal company documents, it’s important to use the correct professional tone and vocabulary for your intended reader. You need to ensure your writing is clear and doesn’t use too much business jargon that could make your reader lose interest.

When writing an academic essay or thesis, your reader is likely to be an examiner or a peer in your academic field, so they should understand the subject you’re writing about. This means you can use more technical language and statistics to back up your points. You’ll also need to use formal language.

Strength 5: A Strong Writing Voice

Your writing voice makes anything you write sound uniquely yours. So it’s important to work on achieving a strong, authoritative voice to make readers pay attention to what you’re writing about.

Developing your writing voice is something that takes time and a lot of practice. Most writers start off by emulating other writers to learn how to write things effectively. Once you know how to write well, you can start developing your own way of doing it.

You should adhere to the objective elements of good writing, such as grammar and spelling, to avoid making mistakes. You might even have to follow style guides for business or academic writing. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t break stylistic or optional writing rules, such as using the Oxford comma, to develop your personal writing style.

When you’re writing with confidence, the reader will hear it. You’ll use phrases and details only experts and enthusiasts would know. Your writing will sound natural, like you’re talking to your reader directly. A strong writing voice is one of the most engaging parts of writing.

Producing great writing is tough, and there are several weaknesses you’ll need to overcome if you want to create amazing pieces of writing. Luckily, most weaknesses only require practice and some studying to resolve them.

I’ve highlighted the four most common weaknesses writers should work on.

Weakness 1: Your Writing Lacks Substance

If you are trying to convince your readers you know what you’re talking about, you need to include details that will give them the right impression.

For a fiction writer, it’s not enough to just add extra details to your descriptions. You need to create unique characters and worlds your reader will want to invest their time in. Even genre fiction readers want to see a new spin on tried and tested plot structures.

You can always improve business and academic writing with some facts and statistics. If you’ve got research findings, add them where appropriate.

In essay writing, don’t use vague statements or general ideas. Your reader will believe your points if you can prove there’s weight to what you’re writing. Make strong points and back them up with evidence. Don’t forget to check your references and citations.

Weakness 2: Poor Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation

A sure-fire way to lose a reader’s attention is poor grammar, misspelled words, and punctuation that skews the meaning of your sentence. Mistakes make the reader focus on the quality of the writing rather than what you are writing about.

There are many books and online courses available for improving your knowledge of grammar, spelling, and punctuation. If you’re uncertain about a rule, you can simply Google it to find out more. Writing style guides are also great places to find grammar rules.

Alternatively, you can use an editing software to tighten up your writing after you’ve finished your first draft. ProWritingAid is an editing software that includes helpful tips and information about the rules you need to brush up on. You’ll learn by doing if you edit your writing with ProWritingAid.

Never make another grammar mistake

ProWritingAid's AI-powered spelling and grammar checker will help you sound professional every time.

Weakness 3: Disorganized Writing

There are structures and templates for literally any piece of writing these days. So there’s no excuse for writing that meanders from one point to another with no apparent connection between each one. Organized writing is a must for all writers.

Before you write anything, you need to plan what you’re going to write. This plan doesn’t need to be very detailed, but it needs to have a logical flow from one point to the next. 

For academic writers, you’ll need to include transition words to join points and ideas together. Connecting your points with transition words will keep your reader engaged.

Weakness 4: Lack of Focus on Writing Projects

One of the biggest weaknesses writers face is a lack of focus. If you allow distractions to overwhelm you when you’re trying to write, it will affect your writing.

Writers need to create a suitable environment that will encourage creativity. This is different for each person, but most writers agree that a quiet room with a desk and a comfy chair are the minimum requirements.

Another factor to consider is whether you’re getting enough sleep. Tired writers don’t make amazing literature. First drafts might be safe to complete when you’re sleepy, but editing is something you should do when you’re alert and able to check your work for imperfections.

As I mentioned earlier, ProWritingAid is a piece of editing software that will coach you through your strengths and weaknesses as you make edits to your writing. One of the best things about ProWritingAid is that you can use it at any stage of your writing process.

When you use a ProWritingAid integration, you can check for grammatical errors as you type with the Realtime checker. If you hover your cursor over an underlined word or phrase, you’ll see a pop-up that will tell you what improvement needs to be made, and it’ll give you an option to apply a pre-generated improvement.

The Realtime checker gives you suggestions to improve your grammar, spelling, punctuation, readability, and passive voice. If you want to edit your writing further, you can run any of the 20+ reports that will explore specific things, such as your average sentence length and the use of sensory details.

While there are many strengths that great writers possess, the five strengths and four weaknesses we’ve highlighted in this article are some of the most important ones to focus your efforts on to begin with.

Remember, weaknesses will undermine your hard work to become a better writer. You’ll need to make sure you’re not letting yourself down by making the mistakes we’ve mentioned above.

ProWritingAid is here to help you with strengths and weaknesses in writing so you can ensure your own writing is perfect every time. Though it won’t tell you how much sleep to get or how to rearrange your writing environment. That’s all down to you.

If you want to become a skilled writer, give ProWritingAid a try today.

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Strengths and Weaknesses in Writing

As a writer, I always strive to be better—and in some categories, the best. I believe that understanding my writing strengths and weaknesses helps me improve my writing skills and become a master of this art.

If one doesn’t understand their strengths and weaknesses in writing, it means they can’t genuinely edit their work and cannot pinpoint areas that need improvement and those that are their strengths.

Constant self-evaluation is the passe-partout of any practice or line of work, but to accurately evaluate yourself you have to know what you’re looking for.

Every writer has strengths and weaknesses. For example, you might have a rich vocabulary—which you efficiently use—or showcase good usage of literary devices. Those two would be called strengths in your writing.

You might also have weaknesses in your writing such as lack of coherence, long-winded sentences, and organization.

Let us delve further into writing strengths and weaknesses and understand how you can use your strengths and overcome your weaknesses!

8 Must-Have Strengths for a Writer

It is also important to know and have some particular strengths as a writer to be more than an ordinary writer.

Here are some of those essential strengths:

Focus is essential in almost everything you do. Without focus, you could have the best skill set and still produce average work dues to errors and complacency.

Every writer wants to stay focused, but it’s not easy. You have to teach yourself to stay focused, whether it involves conditioning your body or tricking your mind.

Do whatever is necessary and within healthy limits. When you start writing and reading routinely, your body and mind start responding to them as the normal order of your day.

Enough sleep and a cup of coffee also help you maintain focus during your writing sessions .

And, get rid of distractions! Put down your phone, turn off your Wi-Fi, and get away from your Tele.

2. A Rich, Diverse Vocabulary

We are not talking about having a rich vocabulary only, but also using the words expeditiously.

This diverse vocabulary should make you write pieces that are not readable and make your readers slave through their reading.

So, you should always make sure that you choose (from this excellent vocabulary and diverse word choice) the right and unique choice of words that would look appealing to your readers.

You have to keep learning new words and the correct usage of those words.

3. A Burning Passion for Reading

I hear a lot of writers—self-published writers to be specific—say that they don’t like reading. For them, writing is a natural talent that doesn’t need to be nourished by reading.

One thing they are oblivious of is that without reading, they can’t understand what they are doing wrong, what they’re doing right, and other things that made other writers successful.

These types of writers put themselves in a “box.”

By reading other people’s works, you get to see writing from different perspectives and you can analyze your writing, a vantage point that helps you perfect your writing skills.

You don’t even have to buy these reading resources because they’re gazillions of blogs, eBooks, novels, and others online.

4. Organized Writing that Follows a Logical Flow

If whatever you’re writing doesn’t flow and therefore isn’t coherent, it is nothing but utter rubbish!

Your writing needs to show a naturally logical progression of thought and must be easy to read for the intended audience. If the progression doesn’t make sense to your reader, then who are you writing for?

Your thoughts should be linked within and between paragraphs. The use of transitional words facilitates this purpose. Words such as “however,” “also,” “yet,” and “although,” among others help you show these transitions.

You should aim at making it easy for your readers to navigate and read through your content.

Organized writing is an essential strength for a writer. The way you present your ideas in sentences and paragraphs impacts the readability and navigability of your content.

Make sure your sentences are short and your paragraphs just meaty enough for the ideas presented in them—and avoid run-on sentences.

Your content needs to have enough signposts and breaks. Be efficient with headings and subheadings, and have so many if the information keeps changing from paragraph to paragraph to make it easy for your readers to find the right information in your content.

5. Creativity

For professional writers, creativity is of the greatest essence. It is even more indispensable for fiction writers.

Our goal as writers is not to bore our readers to death. We always have to think out of the box to craft pieces that will win the hearts of the readers and make them want more of our content.

A good and wonderworking—and sometimes libertine—imagination is necessary to craft unique, stirring pieces.

Sometimes, you have to let your imagination wander off and come back with crazy and wild ideas. If you’re a fiction writer, let your imagination help you create a unique world, with unique characters, using your own nomenclature!

Remember, there’s no single rule on what kind of imagination is bad or good in creative writing.

There are various ways of increasing one’s creativity, but I have discovered that I’m more creative when I take time to appreciate other pieces of art before I start writing. Before I write I listen to some music, read poetry, or just look at a painting.

It’s not for everyone, but it works for me!

Your writing should be as clear as a summer day, as lucid as you can make it.

This element goes hand in hand with the organized writing I discussed in strength number 4, your writing should be clear enough for your readers to grasp and appreciate the ideas in your content quickly.

For blogs, newspaper articles, and magazine pieces, writing chunky paragraphs is—for lack of a word—taboo. You should always be conservative with the size of your paragraph and be straightforward with your explanations.

Just make your writing simple but comprehensible.

7. A Unique Writing Style

One thing all successful writers have in common is a unique style. For example, when you read anything by Dr. Seuss, you understand that his style involved the use of mirthful new words. The best writers write using a distinguished voice or style.

You have to discover your writing style—and for many, it just happens naturally and in some cases, it’s the readers or critics that notice the uniqueness of the writer.

8. Understanding Your Audience

We write because it’s our passion, but if we think about it, that is rarely the sole reason for writing and publishing our work.

We want our audience to love our content or appreciate the message in it. So, it’s all about our interests, but also the needs of our audience.

If you want to make your audience happy, you have to know what they like first. Dr. Seuss understood what kids want to read and what characters would work well with a young audience. If you’re writing on a tech-related topic, tech experts and geeks like; likewise, if you’re about MLS, know what soccer fans like.

Armed with that knowledge, you can craft pieces that strike a chord with your target audience, leading to the success of those pieces.

Weaknesses in Writing and Ways to Overcome Them

1. lack of substance.

You might be a yeasty writer with much-needed experience, but if your writing lacks substance, it’s bound to run into negative reviews, and hence it is going to be less impactful!

This is especially crucial for nonfiction content, if your writing straggles and wanders all over the place, your content will be shallow.

For your content to have depth, you have to concentrate on one particular argument at a time.

And, to give your argument more depth, give supporting points and sprinkle some stats here and there.

How do you deal with the lack of substance in your writing?

Here are some tips:

• Focus on the depth of your arguments rather than the length of your article (you could have a cherry-sized paragraph that is more insightful than a chunky paragraph).
• Use literary devices to make your arguments more perspicuous.
• Use stats, case studies, or research findings to further exemplify your key arguments (use infographics where necessary).
• Your content should answer questions relevant to the topic.
• Offer tips to readers.

2. Your Writing Is Too Draggy for Your Readers

Among the 8 strengths that I explained in the previous section was understanding your audience.

If you don’t understand your audience or ignore them when writing, you end up communicating with nobody.

It’s like you’re speaking to yourself, in a big hall!

As said in the previous section, we write to touch our audience in some way; whether we want them to laugh, inspire them, inform them, or educate them.

It is a terrible idea to think that you write for yourself! If that’s the case, why don’t you just hang your content on your wall?

Here are some tips for polishing draggy content:

• Understand who you’re writing for and write for them. It doesn’t matter who (it could be you, your imaginary friends, anybody!).
• Write to solve the audience’s problems. Your writing should be a solution to your reader’s pain, personal struggles, and it should also improve their lives in some way.

3. Lack of Rhythm

Ignore the importance of rhythm at your peril. In truth, writing cannot entertain without rhythm, especially creative writing.

Just like in music, rhythm steers writing and acts as a guide for the reader.

Readers can feel your writing’s rhythm and that alone can be stimulating (that is if your writing has rhythm).

If your content lacks rhythm the pace seems invariable, it neither speeds up nor slows down.

The content also seems to lack a lot of natural pauses.

This is how you can improve it:

• While paying attention to context, mix up your sentence lengths; a long one here, a short there.
• Use transition words to maneuver the passage from sentence to sentence and paragraph to paragraph.

4. Chaotic Flow

Imagine listening to a 5-year-old talk about all the wonderful things she experienced during the day: school, her cousin’s weird laughter, the dog’s thievery.

Unloading all that without any logical arrangement of information. None, at all!

I’d have said that that’s how your readers feel, but they are not listening to an adorable 5-year-old, are they?

They’re looking at a piece of writing—written by a supposedly mature individual—that’s full of hiccups and abrupt endings.

Your writing needs to be structured to unload information step by step. Your readers need to know that from A, they go to B. They need to know this is because of that, and this and that are related.

Your content has to answer your readers’ questions, give tips the reader would care about, and have contextual solutions.

Here are a few tips on improving flow in your writing:

• Go through your main points and ascertain whether they feel logical. If they aren’t, re-organize them in a logical order or start all over again.
• Look at the questions your content is answering and For every section, write down which question the content answers (or summarize in one bullet point)
• When editing , slowly survey the content for inconsistencies. There are little details you could miss if you read fast.

How to Turn Your Writing Weaknesses into Strengths

Nobody is perfect. We all have weaknesses. But, some of these writing weaknesses can be turned into strengths.

As a writer, how can you improve your writing?

• Ask for help . You can strengthen your writing skills on your own (no doubt about it), but it’s a lot less tedious when you reach out to other writers to help identify your weak areas and offer other insights.
• Read . Not only will you get an education from books and publications, but you’ll also find inspiration.
• Persevere . Perseverance can help you deal with problems such as writer’s block. It is also perseverance that will see you through periods during which you’re suffering from imposter syndrome.

Final Words on Strengths and Weaknesses in Writing

To be a better writer, you’ve got to know which areas to strengthen and which weaknesses to overcome.

 You’ll—in abundance—focus, perseverance, creativity, and a lot of humility. It will be laborious work but worth every joule expended and every second used.

You have got to believe in yourself as a writer, but don’t let your confidence blind you—there will always be something that your writing is missing.

Recommended Reading...

How to get over writers block: 30 ways to unleashing your creative potential, 9 effective ways to overcome your fear of writing.

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Strengths in Writing: Weaknesses and Strengths of a Good Writer

Unlocking your innate strengths as a writer can elevate you from mediocrity to renowned authorship. While some may seem naturally gifted, anyone can harness their unique talents through self-awareness and strategic development. The HIGH5 strengths assessment provides insight into your distinct abilities, empowering you to enhance creativity, work ethic, and research prowess for maximum writing success. By understanding your strengths, you can optimize your writing journey and achieve your full potential.

Everyone has their unique individualized approach to writing, but there are ways to further your writing career while also bringing out your inherent strengths.

By furthering your writing strengths, you can excel in any writing style and boost your writing skills. In his article, we will discuss some writing tips that can greatly impact your success in your individual writing journey.

What are the Strengths and Qualities of a Good Writer?

Recognizing and leveraging your personal strengths is pivotal to accomplishing your writing ambitions. The HIGH5 strengths assessment illuminates your innate talents, allowing you to make informed decisions about the writing genres and subjects that align with your abilities. For instance, if creativity emerges as a dominant strength, you may thrive in fictional storytelling or descriptive writing. Conversely, if analysis is a core skill, expository or persuasive writing could be a better fit. By taking the HIGH5 test, you unlock self-awareness, enabling you to intentionally steer your writing career towards paths that accentuate your unique brilliance.

Many writers learn to utilize their strengths to contribute to their success. There are specific strengths that unite such successful authors and writers across all topics of literature.

A few of the benefits of having such strengths include:

• Assists you in getting a job and advances your career.
• Helps you clearly explain your points, communicate a story, and depict a narrative/persuade others.
• Improves your focus and gets you to learn more about yourself.
• Boosts knowledge, creativity, efficiency, and imagination.
• Gets you more productive and eliminates stress.

Pro Tip From HIGH5 After taking the HIGH5 assessment , reflect deeply on the revealed strengths. Make a list of potential writing projects, topics, or styles that could tap into and stretch those abilities. Experiment with new approaches that play to your strengths to uncover writing opportunities you may have previously overlooked.

15 Must-Have Strengths as a Good Writer

Some strengths are truly key to having a productive writing routine and succeeding as a writer in general. While the writing community is certainly diverse, the best writers share some key strengths.

15 Strengths of a great writer:

Perseverance

Being focused, consistent idea and content flow, being goal-oriented, clear and diverse word choice, organizational abilities, passion for reading, clear and concise writing, persuasive content, proper use of emotion, networking skills and charisma.

Writers are bound to be presented with challenges in their careers. Whether it be researching an unfamiliar topic or dealing with difficult clients/bosses, perseverance is key to success.

Being persistent simply involves continuing the writing process, even when you feel like giving up. While it seems easy, this can be difficult at times. Nonetheless, it can undoubtedly be the difference between achieving success and falling short on your goals.

When do even the best writers make silly errors? Usually, this happens when they are unfocused. Avoiding errors must involve being focused.

Having an automatic writing assistant could help you catch such errors, but simply rereading your work will serve the same purpose. Getting enough sleep can also ensure you can stay focused. Also, be sure to avoid distractions while working.

Many new notions for content are constantly popping into the heads of creative writers. Be sure to keep track of these ideas, and write down anything you find exceptional. Explore any of these ideas, even if you do not know much about them. Keep learning and participating in writer’s block to keep your ideas fresh.

Having writing goals can greatly benefit any author. This can help you outline a career path. You can identify what you truly what in your writing career, whether that be educating the masses or pitching an important service. You will also be able to plan better if you have clear goals.

While or may not be a pleasant thought, you must acknowledge the fact that you will have unpleasant moments in your career. You must be able to bounce back from any failures and realize that your career does not spoil after one misstep. Many famous authors have had rough starts in their careers, but because of their resilience, they were able to achieve success.

Readers should be engaged and intrigued by your writing. Any writing teacher will tell you that the key to engagement is quality word choice and great article structure. Your writing should be reflective of your diverse vocabulary and immense knowledge of a specific topic. The right words can really leave a lasting impact on your readers.

Even though word choice is crucially important, sentence structure and paragraph organization is equally critical. Having easily readable sentences and paragraphs can make your content more engaging. Try to shorten your sentences and paragraphs. Use subheadings so your readers can easily find the right information.

Good writers can quickly realize their own writing weaknesses and strengths. By consistently reading, you can find flaws in your own writing. You will be exposed to new ideas and perspectives. This new insight can later be applied to your own articles.

Many writers believe that their work is simply a reflection of their own inner creativity and thoughts. Out-of-the-box thinking can make your writing unique and offer your readers an intriguing perspective that they cannot find anywhere else. To get your creative juices flowing, consider reading new perspectives and adding your own unique spin to them.

Your readers must understand your content for it to be considered high quality. Be minimalistic and clear with the way you write, both in your word choice and in your sentence structure. Use vocabulary that is appropriate for the target audience and utilize shorter sentences.

Good writers are excited by the topics they write about. Because of this, they do not mind seeking out new knowledge about the topic they are writing about. While there are many forms of writing, all of them require a passion for knowledge seeking and communicating new knowledge to your audience.

You should not need to seek approval from anyone else before creating your articles. Have some faith in your work, and be sure to truly speak your mind when writing. Do not write something on someone else’s behalf, unless you feel comfortable doing so.

Your confidence will be evident in your tone of writing. When the audience knows you know what you are talking about, they are more likely to listen.

Some types of content require a persuasive approach. For instance, essay writing could focus on convincing the audience of the same view as the author. One of the main aspects of writing a great essay is using logic and emotion to convince the audience to see the world from your perspective.

Utilizing a persuasive approach to writing can give you more power within the industry and establish a clear, professional tone in your work.

Writing is not simply reciting facts and figures. Instead, injecting a proper amount of emotion into your articles is one of the greatest strengths for writers. It can make you sound more relatable to your audience. Being more approachable and relatable as an author can make your work more engaging and entertaining to readers.

Getting your name out there can be essential in the writing industry. This is precisely why networking is so key to being a great writer.

Being a great networker can also expose you to many great writing opportunities and you could also meet many new like-minded professionals. You could learn a plethora of new skills from these other writers, which you can later apply to benefit your career.

5 Examples of Weaknesses in Writing

As with any group of professionals, writers are not perfect. They have their own list of weaknesses. These common weaknesses can hold back writers to not achieving their full potential.

A 5 common examples of weaknesses that even quality writers have to include:

Unengaging Content and Boring Your Readers

Not enough focus, lack of substance, odd flow/structure, long-winded sentences.

Often, authors will have their writing spiral into many unrelated directions. This can be confusing to your readers. Instead, choose one topic and really focus on it to make your content sound narrowed and specific.

You can add more substance to your articles by including a personal story, metaphors, citations, research, statistics, or graphs/other visual elements.

The smooth flow is consistent and makes logical sense from the first word to the last. It ensures readers do not get confused or lost in the text.

Try to put yourself into the reader’s shoes to see what questions or comments they may have from reading your work. Then, address these questions or rewrite some of the phrasings to make your points clearer.

A sentence length mix within your articles can make your text less monotonous. However, sentences should generally be on the shorter side. They create more readable content for readers.

To address this common issue, try cutting your longest sentences into a few shorter ones. Try to keep the average sentence length to 14 words, preferably less.

How to Identify Your Strengths and Weaknesses in Writing?

Unfortunately, many writers are often blind to their own flaws. Other times, they are prone to overfocusing on the negative elements of their writing and overlook their strengths. To best identify your strengths and weaknesses, you should seek the assistance of an objective third party that you trust.

One way to get quality feedback is by asking your friends, family, coworkers, or bosses. If the individual is familiar with your writing style, they can give you some feedback on its engagement level. Be sure that they align with the intended audience, though.

Your boss may be able to provide more in-depth feedback, as he/she has the most consistent access to your work. Consider asking your audience directly, too. Send out a survey to your email list if you have one.

Another great way to assess your skills and flaws is by taking the HIGH5 test . It efficiently evaluates both your strengths and weaknesses by giving you a concise overview of your personal abilities. Once you get your strengths and weaknesses test results, all you must do is consider how these abilities contribute to your writing.

Pro Tip From HIGH5 After receiving your HIGH5 assessment results, schedule a consultation to discuss implementing the insights. An expert can help you map out a personalized plan to amplify your strengths and address weaker areas through targeted skill development.

What are the Strengths of Academic Writing?

Academic writers have a unique skill set, even when compared to other similarly trained authors.

In academic writing, the authors must be a master of using formal tone, appropriate sentence structure, specific word choice, and use of a third person. These writers should be willing to learn, adapt quickly, be able to argue, and provide high-quality evidence.

How to Turn Weaknesses Into Strengths in Writing

There are many ways to turn your writing flaws into writing skills. In fact, many of the most common weaknesses can be reimagined into strengths. Start by identifying which of the previously mentioned flaws most resonate with you.

From them, you can reapply your weaknesses. Sometimes, you simply need to change the audience you are writing to. Or, you may need to change the topic you are writing about. If you naturally write long, detailed sentences, consider writing more technical articles.

On the other hand, if you struggle with being persuasive and formal, consider writing lighthearted articles. With this method, you will better align your writing style with the correct topic and audience. Then, you must also find ways to grow as a writer.

While improving areas of weakness is admirable, a more sustainable approach amplifies your innate strengths as a writer. The HIGH5 assessment identifies your unique talents, allowing you to concentrate your efforts on roles and projects that naturally align with your abilities. If Brainstormer emerges as your forte, you could explore fiction writing or blogging rather than fixating on technical writing weaknesses. Conversely, if Analyst is your strength, editing or instructional writing may be a better avenue than a fictional narrative. By optimizing your efforts around your strengths, you can achieve greater fulfillment and excellence with less strain.

Also, keep your audience in mind when writing. If something you write does not make sense to your readers, rewrite it. Imagine what would resonate most with your audience. If they are technical professionals, write in a rich vocabulary with lots of citations. If your audience is reading for pleasure, consider a more relaxed, informal writing style.

Pro Tip From HIGH5 After reviewing your HIGH5 assessment results , list your top 3 strengths. Then, brainstorm potential writing projects, genres, or career paths that would allow you to immerse yourself in those strengths daily. Prioritize opportunities that lean into your natural talents over those requiring you to overcompensate for weaknesses.

Frequently Asked Questions About Strengths in Writing

What are your strengths in reading.

Strengths in reading help you understand literature better. It can help you put yourself into someone else’s shoes and better understand other perspectives. Strengths that contribute to efficient reading include imagination, creativity, empathy for other characters, quick comprehension, and so on.

What are the Weaknesses in Academic Writing?

While using an informal and relaxed tone is not usually inappropriate, it is not utilized in academic writing. Additionally, poor formatting, writing off-topic, badly chosen thesis statements, inadequate conclusions, weak transitions, vague writing, redundancy, awkward sentence structure, and poor grammar can also weaken an academic author’s impactfulness.

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Strengths in Writing (Find Out Your Strengths and Weaknesses)

Published: January 17, 2023 Last Modified: April 19, 2023

One of the best skills of a great writer is that they know their strengths in writing, and they know in which field they are weak.

With this knowledge, they can craft their work better than anyone else. They know how to turn a draft into a perfect piece of writing.

I love to write. It is one of my side passion and as a student, I always try to write whenever I get the time. I am writing online for about 4 years now and I’m committed to making myself a better writer.

With my experience of 4 years of constant writing, I discovered many things that may help a writer find their true potential of becoming a great writer. I still consider myself relatively new and I’m still learning many new things as I continue to write more and more.

Nowadays, there is an ongoing debate that AI will take over the writing industry. That’s why it’s more important to find out your strengths as a writer and also your weaknesses as a writer.

Finding out my strengths and weaknesses in writing has helped me understand what I write better, and it helped me improve my writing skills overall.

If a writer doesn’t know their strengths and weaknesses in writing, they won’t be able to understand how to edit their work or where to make improvements in their own writing.

So, in this article, I’m going to discuss the strengths in writing of a good writer. Additionally, you will also find out the weaknesses and how to overcome them.

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses in the field they work in. Similarly, every writer has some strengths and weaknesses in their writing.

For instance, a good strength in writing can be being able to create clear, compelling, and engaging content that resonates with your audience. You may have a good vocabulary and using this advantage you can craft better writing than others.

You may also have weaknesses in your writing such as, not being able to revise your work thoroughly and not being able to find out where to make edits to improve your writing.

You may procrastinate while writing, which is a common issue for many writers—even I suffer from this.

But don’t worry there are many ways to overcome these weaknesses and with enough practice, it’s possible to completely overcome these limitations of writing.

With this out of the way, let’s dive further into today’s topic—strengths and weaknesses in writing.

By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of your own writing abilities and be better equipped to improve your writing skills. Enjoy!

Strengths in Writing:

I always strive to improve and gain experience as a writer. With time, I’ve been able to find out my own strengths as a writer, which has improved my writing significantly.

Here are the 9 strengths in writing:

1. Originality

Originality is one of the most important strengths in writing. It is the ability to come up with new and unique ideas that make their writing stand out.

Being original about your writing makes you more believable and thus helps strengthen your relationship with the reader. As a result, their work often captures the reader’s attention. This will make readers come back to read your content more and more.

One of the key ways that good writers achieve originality is by being open-minded and being their own selves. They are always looking for new information and new perspectives, and are not afraid to explore uncharted territory in their writing.

They can see the connections between different ideas and concepts. They can use these connections to develop new and original perspectives.

Good writers have a distinct writing style that sets them apart from others. They are able to use their own experiences, observations, and emotions to create writing that is personal and authentic.

In short, originality is an essential strength for any good writer. It allows them to stand out from the crowd, capture the reader’s attention, and create writing that is truly unique.

2. Being Able To Focus More

Being focused is also a must-have ability of a good writer. Good writers have the ability to focus their attention on the task at hand, even when there are distractions around them.

You know this can be hard for beginner writers. Oftentimes, when you are new to writing, you will lose focus while writing, and words won’t come naturally while writing—I’ve been there.

When I was at the beginning of my writing career, I used to lose focus because of the silliest thing possible. But as time went on, I became more experienced and was able to focus more while writing.

One way of achieving more focus is to turn off distractions such as social media, notifications, and other external factors. This way you can focus more on the task at hand and maintain your concentration for extended periods of time.

If you are more focused you will make fewer mistakes while writing. This will help you to produce high-quality work that is free of errors and typos. Thus resulting in more content in less time.

3. Making Things Easy To Understand for the Readers

This is not as simple as it sounds. Most beginner writers fail to achieve this. You know, nobody will read your writing if you are just being factual and boring. While explaining a topic be more engaging with your readers and provide them examples so they can better understand the topic you are explaining.

Good writers understand the importance of tailoring their writing to their audience and adapting their style accordingly. Just be simple and use direct language. You don’t need to be over-scientific. Avoid using technical terms that may confuse your readers.

Use things like headings, subheadings, bullet points, and other formatting tools to help guide the reader through your writing. Always remember to use small paragraphs containing two or three lines. This will make your content more readable.

This ability helps a writer connect with their audience and produce writing that is accessible, engaging, and effective.

4. A Passion for Reading

I know, I know—you’ve probably heard this a dozen times. But believe me, if you don’t have a passion for reading, you probably won’t go too far in your writing career. This is a must-have strength of a good writer.

I love to read. I always learn from other creative writers and their writing styles. When I started writing for Medium, I started by reading other great articles. This helped me understand how a better writer writes for their audience.

You know reading will help you find inspiration from the writing of others. This will help you develop the ability to analyze and understand the writing of others.

Reading will help you identify the techniques and styles that other writers use to create effective and engaging writing. You can then apply these techniques and styles to your own writing, creating writing that is polished, well-written, and effective.

5. Researching

I’ve always said this to beginner writers and I will keep repeating it. Researching is the single best way to earn the trust of your readers. If you don’t have data in your writing why would anyone trust you?

At least do some research before writing, if you can’t generate data by doing your own experiments—no worries, use other people’s research and properly cite them in your article. This will help you gain more trust and make your writing more believable because it has actual real data.

If you learn the ability to conduct thorough research and gather information that is relevant to your topic, you will be a better writer in no time.

One of the key ways that good writers conduct research is by using a variety of different sources. They understand that different types of sources provide different types of information, and they use a range of primary and secondary sources to gather the information they need.

Books, articles, academic papers, interviews, online resources, and many other things may come in handy while researching and writing your piece.

6. Setting a Goal

Better writers always set goals before starting their writing. Good writers understand that setting goals helps them to stay on track and focused on their writing, which ultimately improves the quality of their work.

Many intermediate writers also set timelines for their goals, they understand that setting a deadline for a goal will help them to stay focused and motivated. They set deadlines for different milestones of the writing process and make sure to stick to them.

However, they don’t set goals that are very broad. They understand that setting a goal such as “I want to write a book” is too broad and does not provide enough direction.

Instead, they set specific goals like “I want to write a fiction novel of at least 90,000 words in the next 6 months, and I will write about 500 words every day to achieve this goal” This is measurable, specific, and achievable.

7. Diverse Vocabulary and Word Choice

Good writers understand the power of words and the impact they can have on the reader’s understanding and perception of the writing.

Good writers understand the power of descriptive language to create vivid images in the reader’s mind and to convey emotion. They use descriptive words and phrases to create detailed imagery and to make their writing more engaging and interesting.

Good writers also understand the importance of appropriate word choice for the audience and the purpose of the writing. They use formal language for academic writing and more casual language for blog posts for example.

Simply a passion for reading and exposing yourself to different forms of writing will go long way to help you achieve this strength as a writer. Reading more will help you to learn new words and phrases and to expand your vocabulary.

8. Understanding the Audience and Grasping Their Emotion Through Writing

As a writer, you will want to have the ability to identify the audience’s needs, preferences, and emotions, and to use this understanding to create writing that resonates with them.

This will help you to achieve a more engaged audience and help you make your own branding in writing.

Good writers understand the importance of using emotions in their writing. They understand that emotions can be a powerful tool to connect with the audience and to make their writing more engaging.

They are able to connect with their readers on a deeper level, which makes their writing more impactful and meaningful.

Using words and phrases that evoke emotions, such as joy, fear, anger, and sadness creates an emotional connection with the audience.

This can be very difficult to achieve as a beginner writer, but it will become easier as you gain more experience in writing.

9. Better Creativity

We have come to the final point of today’s topic, which is better creativity. Good writers are creative. They understand that writing is not just about putting words on a page, but about using those words to create something truly unique and special.

They have the ability to think outside the box, come up with new and interesting ideas, and take their writing in unexpected and exciting directions.

Better writers are able to use their own creativity and imagination and use it to create writing that is truly original and memorable.

You will have to see things differently as a writer. Don’t be afraid to challenge conventions, and explore new and unconventional ideas in your writing. This will help you be more unique and creative.

However, don’t try to overdo it as it can sometimes cause you to lose your personal voice and originality in your content, just try to sound as natural and original as possible while exploring new ideas.

How Do You Identify Your Strengths in Writing?

There are a few ways to identify your strengths in your writing. I’ve gathered some of them here:

• Try to take some time to think about your writing and the writing process. Find out what you enjoy about writing and what comes naturally to you. Think about what topic is easy and what topic is difficult for you.
• Ask for feedback from others on your writing. Look for patterns in the feedback you receive, and pay attention to what people compliment you on.
• Keep a journal of your writing process. Whenever you get the time, just write down your thoughts, ideas, and what you found easy or difficult about your writing. Review your journal regularly to see if you can identify any patterns or strengths.
• Experiment with different forms of writing such as poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and journalism. With this, you can identify what type of writing you are better at and what you enjoy the most.

Weaknesses In Writing

People have their own strengths and weaknesses in every field of work. Same for the writers as well. Just like identifying strengths, identifying weaknesses in writing is an important step in improving your craft. I’ve gathered some of the weaknesses in writing.

However, in this article, I’ll just mention the weaknesses and not actually describe them in detail. I may write another article about the weaknesses in writing later. Here are some of the weaknesses in writing:

• Lack of focus.
• Difficulty organizing thoughts and ideas in a logical and coherent manner.
• Difficulty using descriptive language.
• Not conducting thorough research and incorporating information into the writing.
• Lack of editing and revising after writing your content.

Ways To Overcome Weaknesses In Writing

You may have weaknesses in your writing. But there are ways to overcome these weaknesses as well. To be a better writer, it’s important to identify and overcome your weaknesses in writing. Here are some ways you can overcome them and take a step closer to becoming a better writer:

Practice Practice and Practice:

Regular practice is one of the best ways to improve your writing skills. The more you write, the more you will become familiar with your weaknesses and will be able to work on them.

You will easily understand your limits as a writer and what to do in order to improve.

Read Read and Read:

I can’t stress this enough. Reading is really very essential part of becoming a better writer. If you read articles and books by great writers you will understand what I’m talking about.

This will also help you improve your mistakes and weaknesses as a beginner writer.

Set Specific and Achievable Goals:

Setting clear goals can help you to focus on areas where you need to improve and measure your progress. I always try to follow this.

You know if you target to write a 5000 words article in one sitting you will easily get bored. Instead, set small goals of writing 500 words in one sitting then take a break, and then continue on to complete the full article. This helps a lot.

Use Editing Tools:

If you are a slow writer and want to reduce your editing time then this is a must. You know, there are several online tools and software that can help you to identify and correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors.

I use Grammarly to reduce typing and grammatical mistakes. Titlecaseconverter to edit my titles and headlines. You can use Hemingway Editor to simplify your sentences for readers. There are many other useful tools to help make your writing journey easier, use those to your advantage.

Be Consistent:

Consistency is the key to writing success. You have to continue to write no matter how hard it gets. Try to write every day and stop procrastinating .

Develop a writing routine, maintain a consistent tone and voice, and keep a clear focus on the message and purpose of your writing.

You will get more experience and this way you can improve your writing and overcome your weaknesses.

Get Feedback From Your Audience:

This can be a great way to overcome your weaknesses. Feedback will help you improve the quality and effectiveness of your writing. You can conduct surveys or questionnaires to gather feedback from your audience.

However, it’s also important to consider the type of feedback you receive. Some feedback may be positive, while other feedback may be more critical.

It’s important to take all feedback into consideration but to also use your own judgment in determining which feedback to incorporate into your writing.

Final Thoughts

To improve your writing, it’s important to identify your strengths and weaknesses and to take steps to overcome your weaknesses. Knowing your own strength can help boost your confidence as a writer, which goes a long way to keep you motivated while writing.

Keep in mind that becoming a good writer is a continuous process, and it takes time and practice. Be patient with yourself, and remember that every writer has strengths and weaknesses.

The key is to keep practicing and gain more experience as a writer. Identify your weaknesses and work your way to overcome them. With time and effort, you can improve your writing skills and become a better writer.

I hope this article helped you understand how to identify your strengths in writing and overcome weaknesses in writing. Thanks for reading.

You might be interested to read the following to increase your experience and strengths as a writer:

• How to write a d&d campaign

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Writing a Paper: Reflecting & Improving

Introduction.

The writing process is circular; it does not end when you submit the paper to your instructor. In order to make progress with each assignment, you will need to optimize feedback, reflect on your strengths and weaknesses, and plan for improvement. Review the sections below for more guidance on evaluating and improving your own writing.

Reflecting on Strengths & Weaknesses

To reflect is to think deeply about something. The activity of reflection does not need to be formal in nature.  Simply sit down with a copy of your paper and consider the last week or so you spent writing it.

Areas to consider:

• Time management (Did I plan out time to complete this assignment effectively? What steps should I devote more to in the future?)
• Research skills and use of sources (What great research resources did I discover?  Where can I look for help?)
• Critical reading and note taking (Did I read the assignment closely to make sure I addressed every component? What prewriting strategies seemed to work for me?)
• Organization (Was there an introduction and a conclusion? Did each paragraph have a topic sentence?)
• Argument and analysis (Was my thesis statement clear and specific? Did I explain the evidence for the reader by integrating analysis with summary?)
• Rhythm and flow of the language (Did I use transitions to show relationships? Were my sentences a variety of long and short?)
• In-text citation and references (Did I cite sources appropriately? What aspects of citation or references are still confusing to me?)
• Grammar and punctuation (Were all sentences complete, with a subject and verb? What punctuation was problematic for me?)

Actions to consider:

• Take notes on what difficulties you encountered during the writing process and brainstorm solutions for the future.
• Record your instructor's comments and track these for each assignment.
• Read through the paper, highlighting problem areas in one color and successful areas in another.
• Jot down these strengths and weaknesses and keep them by your writing desk.
• Compare an earlier paper to the one you just completed. Do you see positive change?

Planning for Improvement

Reflection can help you identify the areas for improvement, but in order to actually move forward, you will need to make a plan and remind yourself of your goals. After identifying your writing strengths and weaknesses:

• Celebrate your strengths by congratulating yourself on what you did well.
• Browse the Writing Center website for material on the particular skills you would like to acquire. 
• Attend a live webinar or view past lessons on anything from academic argument to engaging sentence structure. 
• Sign up for a writing course to supplement your other courses and elevate your writing.
• Use the automated grammar checker Grammarly , free for Walden students.
• Practice new writing techniques in discussion post assignments, where there is less pressure to perform well.
• Take one of the Writing Center's interactive quizzes to test your knowledge as you learn.
• Create a checklist for your next writing assignment. The most important thing to remember is that becoming a better writer takes time.

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4.6 SELF-REFLECTION: What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses in Writing an Academic Research Essay in English?

• What are your strengths in writing an academic research essay in English? 
• What are your weaknesses in writing an academic research essay in English?

ACADEMIC Writing Skills

• Getting ideas, planning, and organizing my essay
• Writing thesis statements for an essay
• Writing effective introduction and conclusion paragraphs
• Developing and supporting my ideas with good examples and complex sentences
• Organizing my ideas logically into strong paragraphs
• Using grammar correctly (verb tenses, subject-verb agreement, etc.)
• Using vocabulary correctly (including spelling)
• Using MLA format to cite information that I use from other sources
• Identifying and evaluating secondary sources of information to support my own ideas or opinions
• Summarizing and paraphrasing information from other sources
• Editing and proofreading, finding and correcting mistakes

Synthesis Copyright © 2022 by Timothy Krause is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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How to Structure An Essay: Avoiding Six Weaknesses In Papers

TIP Sheet HOW TO STRUCTURE AN ESSAY: AVOIDING SIX MAJOR WEAKNESSES IN PAPERS

Writing a paper is a lot like painting your house: the bulk of the work is in the preparation–scraping, sanding, cleaning, applying primer. If you fail in the prep work, the finished product will be less than excellent. Similarly, it is the quality of prep work-the brainstorming, prewriting, drafting, revising-that makes some papers stand out as excellent.

It is a common mistake for students to want to start editing their papers before they have substantially revised them. Before you start to stress over individual words and punctuation marks, give your paper a critical read. Does your claim hang together in such a way that an educated reader can follow it? Elegant phrasing and multi-syllable words will not make up for weakness in the development of your argument.

Identifying six major weaknesses Six major weaknesses can doom your paper to mediocrity or worse:

A too-broad thesis statement A poorly formulated thesis Inadequate or unfocused topic sentences Writing off-subject Failing to anticipate objections An inadequate conclusion

The checklist below can help you discover whether your paper suffers from any of these errors. Ask yourself whether all of the following statements are true of your paper.

My subject is limited enough for adequate treatment for this length of paper. My thesis statement is a discussable point and is in the form of a declarative sentence. I have used specific, focused topic sentences to support my thesis statement. All my sentences directly or indirectly support my thesis statement-I have not digressed or written "off the subject." I have not contradicted my thesis statement. I have anticipated the major objections to my thesis and have tried to address and overcome them. My closing paragraph restates the thesis (if necessary) and draws conclusions based on the points I have already discussed in my paper.

If any of these statements are not true, read ahead to find explanations and suggestions that may help.

1. The too-broad thesis statement Many papers fail largely because the writer attempts to write on a subject so broad that he simply cannot adequately address it. Narrow down the topic to one that interests you, and for which source information is available, and that you can discuss adequately in the length assigned. The following sentence might have a legitimate place in a paper (as part of an introduction, perhaps), but it would fail as a thesis statement because it is too broad for a typical three- to four-page paper:

In American schools, there are many kinds of acceptable dress codes and classroom behaviors.

The phrase "American schools" includes pre-, elementary, intermediate, and high schools; public and private colleges; technical schools; adult schools; schools with and without uniform requirements; schools in conservative Midwestern towns and those in diverse urban areas; religious schools; progressive schools–too many schools, too many populations of students to discuss all at once.

Many urban-area public schools are weighing the advantages and disadvantages of requiring students to wear uniforms, and quite a few are deciding that uniforms are the way to go for several reasons.

2. The poorly formulated thesis A thesis should treat a discussable point-that is, a topic that merits discussion because more than one point of view is sane and plausible. While it is possible, for example, to support the following statements, the resulting paper would likely not be very interesting because the points are not discussable:

A dog is a four-legged domestic mammal. A friend is someone who is always there for you. Humans need oxygen to live.

Reformulated, these statements can become more discussable and interesting:

Dogs are smelly, dumb, destructive eating machines, and I couldn't live without mine. My friend Brad uses humor to encourage me to set high standards for myself. In the absence of free oxygen, very different life forms might have emerged on earth.

Even a discussable thesis can fail to make its point clear. This is frustrating to the reader, who at the very least is entitled to a clear statement of your claim (unless it is obviously implied–a technique not recommended for beginners!). Compare the following vague theses with the stronger examples given above:

What do most people think about dogs? Are they man's best friend or worst enemy? In my estimation, a sense of humor is a valuable thing. Oxygen is especially vital for animal life forms.

Try the following to help sharpen a vague thesis statement:

• Avoid questions, which are useful as attention-getting devices, but are difficult to use as a thesis statement. For example, avoid "Why should students be given more freedom to choose elective subjects?" Instead use "Students should be given more freedom to choose elective subjects," or even "Students should not be given more freedom to choose elective subjects."
• Avoid "I think," "I believe," "In my opinion," or "To me." Such expressions are overly subjective and unnecessary; remember that you are presenting evidence to support your thesis statement, even if you are writing a narrative or descriptive paper. Besides, a simple declarative statement is a much stronger way to say what you think.
• Contrary to what you might think, absolute statements do not strengthen a thesis. Avoid them unless you are certain you can support them. Few statements (other than known facts–like the nondiscussable points above) can be proven completely to everyone's satisfaction. If you overstate your case with an absolute statement, and then fail to support it, you lose credibility. Use words like "seems," "seldom," "maybe," "probably," "possibly," and "almost." Avoid "certainly," "absolutely," "always," or "never."

3. Inadequate or unfocused topic sentences Do not, out of enthusiasm, haste, or laziness, abandon the basics of paragraph structure for paragraphs subsequent to your thesis statement. From start to finish the paper should follow a consistent progression leading coherently to a reasonable, well thought out conclusion. Therefore, make sure every single paragraph in your paper contains its own clearly stated topic sentence as well as the specific details to support each, though not necessarily in that order–the following example, for instance, starts with an illustration and concludes with a topic sentence:

At George Washington Junior High School, after students had been wearing uniforms only five months, groups of students who formerly occupied separate areas of the lunch yard began sitting closer to each other and talking to each other more. School administrators concluded that the wearing of school uniforms had obscured the socioeconomic differences between students and resulted in more social mixing between the groups.

Compare the above example with the following too-general claim:

Wearing school uniforms is socially good for junior high school students.

In short, fuzziness in topic sentences suggests fuzziness in thinking. If you settle for vagueness in your topic sentences, you will be more likely to write off-topic or jump around from topic to topic. Clarifying your topic sentence–clarifying your thinking–will go a long way toward producing an organized and convincing paper.

4. Writing off-subject Your thesis statement is a promise to your reader about what you will cover in your paper. Don't write "off" this subject; don't include sentences that do not support or elaborate on this main idea. For instance, if your thesis statement for an expository "process" paper is "Making a set of bookshelves requires precise skills," don't include sentences describing your favorite author or the kinds of books you plan to place in the bookshelves. If your thesis statement for a descriptive paper is "My room is a place of refuge," don't include more than incidental references to the other parts of the house or to your neighborhood.

A narrative sometimes seems particularly difficult to contain within the confines of a thesis statement. Consider, for example, a narrative paper about the biggest fish you ever caught. "The biggest fish I ever caught at Bass Lake hit on my spare house key at the very end of a long day of fishing." A common mistake is to tell the story of the entire fishing trip: when you left home, where you stopped for gas and bait, a description of the scenery, and so on. Remember that what you have promised to tell your reader is about catching the biggest fish ever; every sentence and paragraph should relate to this.

5. Failing to anticipate objections Especially for an argumentative or persuasive paper, you must acknowledge and attempt to overcome objections to your thesis. For example, consider the following thesis statement: "Courses in Western Civilization should not be required of American college students. If they prefer Asian, African, or Native American Studies, for example, these should be acceptable alternatives to Western Studies." Here are two plausible objections to the preceding statement:

Western civilization represents the core culture of American students; to be successful in this culture, they must understand it.

The study of Western culture should be required in addition to Asian, African, or other cultures, in order to foster understanding of the modern global community.

Objections like these can be merely acknowledged-"Although some people insist that all students in American should study Western culture..."–or broken down and discussed in detail, point by point. Decide whether your topic–or the objection itself–is strong enough to warrant detailed discussion of opposing viewpoints.

6. An inadequate conclusion Usually, student writers should write a concluding paragraph that summarizes the topic sentence (in words different from those used earlier) and restates the thesis (again, in different words). The conclusion should include the most important idea from your paper, the one you most want readers to remember. (Some papers may differ; the conclusion to a narrative essay, for example, may not follow this pattern.)

My room is one of the quietest, most beautiful, and most spacious rooms I have seen. Within the confines of my room, I can work, I can think, I can rest. It is, indeed, a place of refuge in a noisy, crowded, and often ugly world.

An effective conclusion "returns" to the material in the introduction–the imagery, metaphor, or analogy found there, for instance. A satisfying conclusion may also contain one last anecdote to illustrate the thesis. Choose a technique that seems appropriate to your subject matter and the tone of your paper.

Although beginners should stick to the techniques outlined above, experienced writers often do one more thing-they draw a conclusion beyond the points already made.

I would not be where I am today if I had not been forced to view my life in an honest manner. Alcohol almost killed me many times, and I am still only one drink away from a life of hell. I have been sober for almost two years, and I have never felt happier or more serene. With God's grace, I will stay sober today. Tomorrow will take care of itself.

While not introducing new material, this kind of conclusion both summarizes and points out more far-reaching consequences, gives a warning, or offers an alternative suggested by or based on the ideas already put forth.

Minor Weaknesses In addition to the major weaknesses above, minor errors can diminish the apparent strength of your argument and result in a paper that is merely adequate. After correcting major problems, check for some of the errors below:

Weak, vague or poorly developed introduction Sentence errors including Unintentional fragmentary sentences Run-on sentences, especially the "comma splice"–using a comma to separate two sentences Short, choppy sentences or lack of sentence variety Poor or nonexistent transitions Awkward sentences due to lack of parallel structure or due to dangling or misplaced modifiers Word errors such as Use of the wrong word or phrase, for example, its or it's Nonstandard English–"they was," "he don't,"-use of double negatives, and so on Trite expressions such as "hit the hay," "gave me a turn," "acid test" Monotonous or ineffective repetition Wrong word choice for the style, tone, or content: formal language in an informal paper, for example, or informal language in a formal paper. Verb tense disagreement Wrong use of subjunctive verb forms, such as in conditional statements Subject/verb non-agreement Errors in pronoun reference "Padding"–using words simply to fill space Plagiarizing, that is, failing to cite source material

Finally, proofread adequately to correct punctuation, spelling, and typing errors

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Editing: analyzing your writing strengths and weaknesses.

You’ve hopefully integrated many of the principles covered in the Fundamentals of Writing for Researchers module in writing several drafts of your manuscript. It’s now time to put the finishing touches on your work.

By reflecting on these summary principles and checking your work based on the questions presented here, you’ll ensure your research is both easily accessible and understandable, therefore persuading your reader that your problem, approach, and findings are valid.

Editing for Content

Is your purpose immediately clear? Or will readers have to wade through six or eight paragraphs before understanding the purpose of each of the sections or the paper as a whole? Get to the point right away. Be explicit. Don’t write in a mystery-story fashion.

Have you limited your subject in each of your sections sufficiently? Or did you cover items that don’t relate to the main theme or purpose of each?

Did you leave out major points that could help readers gain a better understanding of your purpose or point?

Are your supporting details adequate? Have you developed each topic fully enough?

Did you include too many supporting details? Are your paragraphs or sections weighed down with more facts than your readers need or want to know?

Is your organization easy to follow? Did you move from beginning to end in a logical way? Or does your flow of ideas ramble and confuse readers? Did you use headings and subheadings consistently to guide the reader?

Does your copy answer the following questions as they relate to the main theme: “Who, What, When, Where, Why and How”?

Does your writing also answer the question, “So what”? In other words, do you tell readers the implications of your research; that is, how your research adds to the literature?

Editing for Paragraph Strength

Does each paragraph contain a topic sentence and deal with only that topic.

Including more than one will confuse your readers. In the example below, each sentence supports or elaborates upon the topic sentence, “Whales are the most intelligent creatures ever to inhabit the earth.” Each subsequent sentence tells the reader why. The logic of the paragraph would have suffered had the writer included a sentence such as, “Whales continually need to search for food in order to survive” because searching for food has nothing to do with intelligence. Amoebas search for food.

Well written: “Whales are among the most intelligent creatures ever to inhabit the earth. Scientists studying whales rate their intelligence on a level with higher primates because of their complex group behavior. For example, these huge and impressive mammals have been seen teaching and disciplining their young, helping wounded fellow whales, engaging in elaborate sexual foreplay, and playing in definite game-like patterns. They are able to coordinate complex group activities because of their apparently effective communications system of sonar clicks and pings. All in all, scientific evidence shows that whales have a higher order of social organization. Unfortunately, the whales&rquo; intelligence is ignored by an industry that threatens them with extinction.”

Does each sentence in the paragraph contribute to the main idea in the paragraph?

Have you supported your main idea with one or more of the following: facts, examples, incidents, arguments, and reasons?

Well written: “Employees in both business and industry should receive pay raises to cope with the rising cost of necessities. Food, for example, costs almost twice as much as it did five to ten years ago. Not too long ago a family of four had an adequate supply of food for about forty dollars a week, but today the same items cost eighty dollars or more. For example, ground beef that had sold for one dollar a pound now costs two dollars a pound. A loaf of bread now costs two dollars instead of eighty to ninety cents. Unless wages match rising prices, people will have difficulty buying necessities such as food.”

The above example illustrates excellent supporting statements for the main idea (topic sentence). The writer moves from a general statement or claim to increasingly more detailed examples as to why the claim is made; that is, why employees pay raises should align with cost of living increases. This can best be illustrated by the following paragraph breakdown:

Employees in both business and industry should receive pay raises to cope with the rising cost of necessities.

• For example, ground beef that had sold for one dollar a pound now costs two dollars a pound.
• A loaf of bread now costs two dollars instead of eighty to ninety cents.

Unless wages match rising prices, people will have difficulty buying necessities such as food.

Is each paragraph developed in a logical way? Will your readers be able to follow your thoughts?

Both of the example paragraphs above contain a naturally logical progression of thought and are easy to read because of it. It doesn’t matter if the first draft of your paragraph makes sense to you; you must ensure that the progression makes sense to your reader.

Are your thoughts in each paragraph linked where necessary by:

• Transitional words, such as “however,” “also,” “yet,” “although,” and so on?
• Repetition of a word or idea (sometimes in form of synonym) from the preceding sentence?

The following paragraph includes highlighted words and phrases to show how they increase readability; they link the writer’s thoughts and help with the flow of the paragraph, despite a rather boring topic. The last sentence also serves as a transition because it prepares the reader for the topic in the succeeding paragraph.

Excellent use of transitions: “We do not read textbooks for amusement. Therefore, we should not use the same method for studying them that we use when reading novels. For one thing, much of the pleasure of reading fiction comes from our continuing surprise as the story unfolds, but we are usually confused by surprises in textbooks. For another, a good piece of fiction keeps us interested, awake, actively involved. However, textbooks often put us to sleep because there is no “action.” And finally, it is not very important if we miss or forget some of the details or events in a novel. But that is surely not the case when dealing with a textbook.”

Have you varied the lengths of your paragraphs?

When you look at each of your pages, check to see if your paragraphs vary in length. And length here refers to the “visual height” of the paragraphs. You need to vary the lengths of your paragraphs. Otherwise, readability is compromised by visually predictable blocks of text.

Editing for Brevity and Clarity

Have you purged each sentence of extraneous words.

Weed out every word that adds nothing to meaning and understanding. Examples: Change “during the course of” to “during” and “few in number” to “few.”

Example: “The end result of the report is that it presents a full and complete account of the project’s final outcome.”

Revised: “The report presents a full account of the project’s outcome.”

Did you choose concrete words and terms instead of abstract ones whenever possible?

Example: “The research group structured the report in a functional manner.”

Revised: “The research group put the conclusions first and then explained how they arrived at them.”

Have you avoided technical terms your readers might not understand?

If you had to use them, did you briefly explain or define them? Did you use acronyms without first explaining their meaning? For example, did you write, Institutional Review Board (IRB)” on first mention? Did you use vague adjectives when specifics are called for?

Example: “We received numerous inquiries.”

Revised: “We received 84 inquiries.”

Is your meaning clear to the reader?

Did you write to impress or communicate clearly? It doesn’t matter whether your writing is clear to you; it must be clear to the reader.

Unclear: “Our models worked well when compared with the calculated values, which is evidenced by the percent errors.”

Revised: “As the percent errors indicate, our models worked well when compared with the calculated values.”

Unclear: “Isotopes, which were discovered in 1853, are radioactive.”

Accurate: “The isotopes that were discovered in 1853 are radioactive.”

Is your average sentence length about 17–20 words?

Unusually long sentences contain too many ideas and force readers to work harder to understand your message.

Exhausting: “In a smoke-filled room, teary eyes and runny noses occur, and auditory discrimination and visual perception are altered, which is irritating but not associated with any serious disease, except for people with heart and lung diseases who are threatened with major problems from smoke.”

Revised: “A smoke-filled room does not only cause teary eyes and runny noses. The smoke also can alter auditory and visual perception. Although the smoke itself does not produce disease, it does pose a threat to people with heart and lung ailments.”

Editing for Vigor and Pace

• You used some dynamic verbs, such as “determined,” “examined,” “synthesized,” “identified,” etc. They energize your sentences.
• Example: Change, “The experiment was productive” to “The experiment generated significant data.”

Determine if you used long nouns or phrases that can be changed to simple verbs.

Change “give consideration” to “consider” and “arrived at an agreement” to “agreed.” Look especially for nouns ending in “-tion,” “-tive,” “-ability,” “-ment,” “-able,” “-ness,” and “-ance.” Don’t overuse these.

Example: “The manager made a recommendation that new employees should be given an invitation to join the credit union.”

Revision: “The manager recommended that new employees be invited to join the credit union.”

Eliminate pesky prepositions (e.g., overusing to, of, in, on, by, with).

Example: “The decrease in profit margins is of great concern to leaders of business.”

Revision: Decreasing profit margins greatly concern business leaders.”

Did you vary the length of your sentences?

Even though your sentences should average about 17–20 words, your writing should contain some short, some medium-length, and some longer sentences to add rhythm and pace. Read your paragraphs aloud; you’ll quickly hear whether or not you’ve varied the length of your sentences and helped with readability.

Overly simple sentences: There are some drawbacks about diesel engines. Diesel engines are much noisier than standard engines. They are difficult to start in cold weather. They tend to cause considerable vibrations. They also give off an unpleasant odor. For these reasons, many car manufacturers are limiting their diesel models to light trucks only.

Revised: Diesel engines have some drawbacks. Most obvious are their noisiness, cold-weather starting difficulties, vibrations, and unpleasant odor. Therefore, many manufacturers are limiting their diesel models to light trucks.

Did you vary the beginnings of your sentences or do most of your sentences begin with the same part of speech?

Some writers, for example, start most sentences with nouns or noun phrases. Don’t. Variety adds spark. Caution: Don’t try to start each sentence with a different part of speech. Just strive for a moderate amount of variety.

Did you use the same word repeatedly throughout a paragraph?

Use synonyms to avoid repetitiveness unless reader understanding requires it.

Editing for Tone and Style

• Instead of writing, “We utilized UV light to induce Arabidopsis for mutations,” write, “We used UV light to . . . for mutations.”
• Tip: Apply the conversational test: Ask yourself if you would use the same words if you were speaking to your reader.

The Final Editing

• Remember, it doesn’t matter if what you’ve written is clear to you; it must be clear to the reader.

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Writing: Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses Essay

Writing is not an easy task, and people involved in it should do their best to structure and express their thoughts accurately. It means that those people who regularly deal with writing tasks should have a set of necessary skills and abilities to achieve successful results. As for me, I have a few strengths that allow me to create pieces of writing of decent quality. Firstly, I am well familiar with the general principles of academic writing. As a result, I know how to format an essay to develop a particular topic. Secondly, I focus on writing assignments of the correct length on time. It means that a deadline and word count are as significant as the content. Thirdly, my broad general knowledge allows me to understand many topics and create high-quality papers on various subjects.

In all honesty, the information above does not mean that my writing skills are excellent because I still have some weaknesses. Firstly, it is sometimes difficult for me to choose the most stylistically suitable word for a particular context. Secondly, I can use more words than necessary to express a thought. It results in the wordiness of some sentences, but I try to identify and correct such mistakes during proofreading. Finally, tautology and the overuse of the same words are my main weaknesses, and this refers mainly to long papers. It often happens that neighboring sentences have similar constructions, but proofreading is also useful for avoiding these repetitions. I believe that the acknowledgment of weaknesses is the first step to eliminating them. With this in mind, I consider every writing assignment as an opportunity to improve my strengths and minimize the impact of weaknesses to become a more professional writer.

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IvyPanda. (2021, July 10). Writing: Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses. https://ivypanda.com/essays/writing-assessment-of-strengths-and-weaknesses/

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IvyPanda . 2021. "Writing: Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses." July 10, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/writing-assessment-of-strengths-and-weaknesses/.

1. IvyPanda . "Writing: Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses." July 10, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/writing-assessment-of-strengths-and-weaknesses/.

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Enchanting Marketing

Writing advice for small business

How to Spot 8 Weaknesses in Your Writing (and Fix Them)

by Henneke | 68 enchanting opinions, add yours? :)

U nderstand the strengths and weaknesses in your writing, and you can become your own teacher and improve your writing skills .

This article discusses how to spot and fix the following 8 writing weaknesses:

Writing strengths and weaknesses

Do you ever read your content and wonder …

Why is this not better?

But then you struggle to decide what’s actually wrong?

Being your own writing teacher can feel like a tough task.

After sweating over your draft, you need to decide what’s good and what needs improving. It’s a matter of tough love for your favorite sentences and precious words. You have to scrap sections and scrub off the dirt to communicate your message with power.

But how can you spot your writing weaknesses so you can let your words shine?

Become your own writing teacher

Remember your favorite teacher from high school?

Be as kind as she was, and tell yourself what you’re doing well already. Perhaps you write fantastic openings, or your word choice is excellent, or you share super-valuable tips and have a wealth of experience to draw from. Remember to celebrate these writing strengths.

As a good teacher, you can’t be negative about your own progress. It’s your task to spot your weaknesses, but also to encourage yourself to embrace your learning and have fun.

Want to write better? Get my best writing tips for business here > > >

• Understand what makes writing good—you can do this by creating your own swipe file
• Learn to spot the weaknesses in your writing—I’ve listed the most common weaknesses below
• Practice fixing your weaknesses—that’s how your content improves

Additional reading to become your own writing teacher:

Trying to solve all problems in one go creates a learning experience from hell.

To make learning how to write more fun, address weaknesses one by one. The list below is in order of importance.

Ready to explore?

Writing weakness #1: You’re boring your readers to tears

So, it’s easy to forget who they are, and write as if lecturing a faceless crowd.

But writing isn’t a monologue. We write to communicate with our readers. And when we write to educate, entertain and inspire, no content is boring.

How to spot whether you’re boring your readers:

If you feel bored writing your content, then this is a sign something isn’t working. Have you lost your mojo? Have you lost your connection to an (imaginary) reader?

Or perhaps you don’t know who your ideal reader is or you don’t like them?

How to turn this common weakness into a strength:

• Describe the person you’re writing for—it can be a real or imaginary person
• Write down in one sentence which specific problem your content solves

Remember, when our writing eases our reader’s pain, solves their struggles and improves their lives, our content can not be boring.

Writing weakness #2: Lack of focus

But, think about your readers … how many of them feel overwhelmed? And would they prefer one valuable tip to improve their life or an in-depth bible with all do’s and don’ts?

As writers, we often feel insecure. We think we’re not good enough . We wonder what we can do to make our content better, more valuable, and more extensive. We want to write THE definitive guide.

But the idea that longer content is always better is wrong. The task of a writer is not to be more comprehensive, but to communicate a message and inspire a reader to take action—to implement their advice or to buy a product if it’s right for them.

How to spot this weakness in your writing:

Can you distill the essence of your content in one sentence?

If you can’t, try this exercise:

• Write down in one sentence which problem your content solves
• Define in one sentence the “sunny destination” of your content: how does your content make your reader’s life better?

Remember, your content makes an impact when it makes your reader’s life better—even if the improvement is tiny.

Writing weakness #3: Lack of substance

Instead of an article sprawling out into multiple directions, focus on one specific topic and add more depth to your argument. For instance, a personal story adds depth because it can illustrate how you’ve benefited from your tips; and statistics or research results help back up your arguments.

How to spot whether your writing lacks substance:

Does your content remain abstract or superficial? Have you given examples to make your advice concrete? And if you’re writing sales copy, do you communicate both benefits and features ?

• A personal story, examples or case studies to illustrate your key point
• A metaphor to make your point crystal-clear
• Research results to back up your story with facts
• Quotes from experts or testimonials to put the spotlight on your key point
• Common mistakes your readers should avoid
• Answers to questions readers are dithering about
• Suggestions on overcoming hurdles that may block readers from implementing your advice
• Drawings or graphs to add comprehension

Remember, substance is about the depth of your arguments, not about the length of your article. It’s about the insight you offer your readers. Even an email of 100 words can have substance. A nugget of wisdom. A super-practical tip. A spark of inspiration.

To write substantial content, first find focus, then add substance.

Further reading on writing with substance:

Writing weakness #4: dodgy flow.

An easy way to think about flow is to imagine yourself having a conversation with your ideal reader. Are you taking your reader by the hand and explain a problem step by step? Does your sales page answer the questions when they come up in their mind?

A sales page often follows this structure:

• What’s this page about—what problem does your product solve?
• What exactly does the product or service do and why does it matter to buyers?
• How does it work?
• How do buyers know you’re legit?
• What exactly is the deal?
• How to buy?

If you’re unsure where to place content, ask yourself: When would my reader ask this?

Blog posts work in a similar way. Start with the most important information:

• Why would the reader care about your tips in a post? What problem does your article solve?
• How exactly do readers solve this problem?
• How do readers overcome hurdles to implement your advice?

How to spot a lack of flow in your writing:

Read your content at a decent pace to determine the flow. When you read fast enough you’re not bogged down by details and it becomes easier to grasp the big picture:

• For every section, write down which question the content answers (or alternatively, summarize in one bullet point)
• Read through the questions or bullet points—do they feel logical or can you re-arrange them in a logical order? Can you skip any sections?

Further reading on content flow:

Writing weakness #5: long-winded sentences.

My trick is to keep my sentences short.

At school, you may have been taught to write long, impressive sentences. But shorter sentences are easier to consume and make your content more accessible to all.

How to spot long-windedness in your writing:

• The Hemingway app (the online version is free) highlights long and very long sentences in your writing
• Microsoft Word provides readability stats, including your average sentence length
• Several other online tools measure readability stats, too

To reduce your average sentence length, chop the longest sentences in two or three. Communicate one tiny idea in each sentence, and ensure each sentence follows the previous one logically—don’t jump ahead as you may lose your reader.

Your aim is not to make every sentence as short as possible. That’s monotonous and tiring to read. So, vary long and short sentences, and try keeping your average sentence length to 14 words max. An occasional long or very long sentence is fine.

Further reading on writing good sentences:

Writing weakness #6: gobbledygook and jargon.

Gobbledygook is always wrong because they make your content sound hyped up. In contrast, jargon can be fine—as long as your readers understand your words.

How to spot jargon and gobbledygook in your writing:

• Would you use the word in a face-to-face conversation with your ideal reader?
• When you read out your content, does it sound like you?
• Do you write to clarify or to impress?

Gobbledygook and jargon sneak into our writing when we forget who we are, when we forget why we’re in business (to help!), and when we write for a faceless crowd rather than our favorite clients. So, imagine yourself in a cozy cafe with your favorite client, and use only the words you’d use while drinking a beer together.

Further reading on gobbledygook:

Writing weakness #7: fluff.

Fluffy words are phrases like very, actual, in my opinion, really, just . But also verbs like to make, to provide, and to add . These words are fluffy because you can’t visualize them.

When you scrap meaningless words and focus on powerful phrases , your content becomes more concise and your message becomes clearer. Like good wine, it engages all senses.

How to spot fluff in your writing:

The key trick to getting rid of fluff is counter-intuitive: Focus on meaningful words first. Then try to rewrite each sentence with as few weak phrases as possible. ( Here’s more detail about this technique )

Many words have some meaning, but aren’t particularly strong. So don’t fret too long whether a word is meaningful or not. Go with your gut feeling; it’s not an exact science.

Further reading on cutting the fluff:

Weakness #8: a bad sense of rhythm.

But readers can sense the rhythm in your writing—just like music can guide your workout rate. Even when people aren’t reading your copy aloud, they can hear its rhythm because they listen to their inner speech.

A good rhythm makes a reading experience more pleasurable.

How to spot whether your content lacks rhythm:

Read your copy aloud (or use an app to read the content to you) and listen to its rhythm—do you speed up and slow down? Do you have natural pauses?

To make your rhythm more pleasurable:

• Vary sentence length —mix long and short sentences, and try a few ultra-short sentences
• Pay attention to transition words—such as but, and, in contrast, for example —so readers go smoothly from one sentence to the next

Further reading on rhythm:

How to become your own writing teacher.

Let’s not pussyfoot around it.

Improving your own writing is a challenge.

When you don’t have a teacher to cheer you on, it’s easy to feel down and worry you’ll never be good enough.

So, remember to stop negative self-talk , and cheer yourself on instead. Your writing journey should be fun.

Focus on one weakness at a time. Start at the top of this list, and work your way down—tackle the weaknesses one by one.

Embrace your learning experience.

Treasure your writing moments.

And remember how lucky you are to have time to write and improve your skills.

Recommended reading on fixing writing weaknesses:

4 proven principles to practice your writing How pro writers create a swipe file to improve their skills The 5-step revision process to edit rough drafts

You may also like:

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Reader Interactions

Leave a comment and join the conversation cancel reply.

June 8, 2021 at 2:09 pm

Thanks for explaining the weaknesses so lucidly. I now have a clearcut idea of how to go ahead with improving my writing. It’s always a pleasure reading your thoughtful and well-written blog posts. Thanks a lot, Henneke!

June 8, 2021 at 2:59 pm

That sounds good. Happy writing, Devi!

May 7, 2020 at 3:54 pm

Fantastic information. Thanks. I needed this because I’m constantly looking for ways to improve my writing.

I’m glad this was useful, Suzana. Happy writing!

April 29, 2020 at 9:45 am

I think that emails have become the curse of the English language. They are easy to misinterpret and often suffer from the many mistakes you have identified. Why say 100 words when 10 will suffice. I found your tips very useful and they will help me to think before I press the SEND button. Thank you

April 29, 2020 at 9:51 am

Yes, email has made us lazy. So often, we dash of a quick email rather than consider why we’re sending the email and edit our writing accordingly. I’m glad you’re enjoying my tips.

March 4, 2020 at 3:43 am

Hi Henneke Enjoyed this article…very helpful and informative. Loved the tips. Keep them coming!

March 4, 2020 at 4:06 pm

Thank you, Leena. Happy writing!

February 4, 2020 at 1:15 pm

thanks for your your great and amazing tips!!!

February 4, 2020 at 1:23 pm

Happy writing, Jaqueline!

July 28, 2019 at 1:50 pm

Hey Henneke, you are such a great writer. Your articles are very helpful and easy to digest. Every single heading has meaningful insights. You sound like a polite teacher students love to learn from.

July 28, 2019 at 3:55 pm

What a lovely compliment. Thank you, Kulsoom. Happy writing!

March 28, 2019 at 2:28 am

Hi Henneke, I enjoyed reading your blog on the 8 weaknesses in your writing and how to fix them. I always felt that less was more in writing. You need to get to the point with as few words as possible, as much as possible to eliminate boredom. I will incorporate these 8 tips to help improve my writing skills.

March 28, 2019 at 4:51 pm

Thank you, David, and yes, I agree—less is more and that can feel like a tricky skill to master.

July 10, 2017 at 7:04 pm

Hi Henneke,

Epic Post. Salute to your idea..”Becoming your own writing teacher”. I can see my writing weaknesses vividly now. 🙂

There’s magic in your writing. That enriching & grounding my writing journey. I try to re-read your every post until I grasp fully. Never get bored.

Your honesty brings clarity in your writing. And allows words to shimmer. I feel it.

Loads of thanks.

July 10, 2017 at 10:34 pm

Thank you, Mehera for your lovely comment.

Happy writing!

July 7, 2017 at 5:59 pm

While I believe that I suffer from all of these, the hardest for me to identify is whether I am boring my readers or not. I tend to be able to entertain myself in my writing as I mostly write about myself! I like the idea that you can be your own writing teacher. With a little bit of time, hard work and focus we can all take away so much from this wonderfully insightful article. Thank you for sharing your expertise!

July 7, 2017 at 7:22 pm

Even when you write about yourself, you can still address your readers and think about what’s in it for them. Usually, when we write about ourselves, our readers can learn from the processes we’ve been through and the mistakes we’ve made.

Happy writing, Patrick!

July 4, 2017 at 3:21 pm

Lack of focus is what I struggle with.

I’m the one that’s always trying to come up with the definitive guide when I can easily just write one great post on one point. I’ve even been told that when I tried to submit a guest post to a site and the person suggested to focus on one main point.

Lesson learned.

Great post once again. Have a great day.

– Andrew

July 4, 2017 at 7:13 pm

Focus can feel hard to achieve, especially when we feel under pressure to write an “epic blog post” or “skyscraper content.”

A lot of people suggest we need to be definitive and write longer posts so there’s a lot of incentive to cram as much as we can into a post. I’ve been there, too.

Happy writing, Andrew. And thank you for stopping by!

July 3, 2017 at 7:07 pm

This is a really amazing post for every writer out there. Indeed, the points mention are the big reasons for weak writing. It actually helps me a lot in identifying my style of writing. Thank You, Henneke, for sharing it with us. And yes, I liked the graphics with every point.

July 4, 2017 at 5:14 pm

Thank you for your comment, Rahul. I’m glad you like both the tips and the graphics.

June 28, 2017 at 3:48 pm

Great actionable article Henneke! Lots of information to put into practice right away.

You mentioned a concern about putting too much substance is this article. A small suggestion from Backlinko – in longer articles, a table of contents with clickable links helps both with navigation and understanding the overall structure. It’s such an excellent resource, a downloadable PDF would be fantastic.

Thanks for this incredibly helpful post!

July 4, 2017 at 4:57 pm

Yes, I can see a PDF would be useful. I guess it’s just laziness on my side. I also don’t like to ask people to sign-up so they can download a PDF, so I’d only do it as an extra service to readers. Maybe I should …

I’ve thought about creating a table of contents, but I’m not quite sure I like it as it doesn’t encourage people to read the post—the items may seem random, but they follow each other in a logical order. I have used tables of contents on my content overview pages, so people can find the most relevant content for them; in such a case, I think it’s useful.

Thank you for your suggestions, Faye. Food for thought!

June 26, 2017 at 9:39 am

Hi great article. I am just starting to write a blog and this sort of information ensures I will not write a boring piece. Thank you.

June 26, 2017 at 9:35 pm

Great! Happy writing, Roger.

June 22, 2017 at 1:19 am

Lovely tips for working around fluff. Fluff is definitely a problem that, unfortunately, muddies much of the work I do. Keep it up! 🙂

June 22, 2017 at 10:52 pm

Thank you, Barry. Keep up the fight against fluff! 🙂

June 21, 2017 at 12:00 pm

You make it sound so simple and attainable. I like the part about improving step by step, you’re an encouraging teacher. Bless you, H.

June 21, 2017 at 8:51 pm

Somehow writing is both simple and hard. The principles are simple, but implementing them can feel hard and it’s easy to feel down when content doesn’t turn out like we had originally envisioned it (it still happens to me all the time).

Take it easy on your writing journey. Good writing is definitely attainable as long as we learn step by step. Happy writing!

June 21, 2017 at 9:30 am

Henneke, you continue to be my in situ writing teacher and to run my favourite writing blog! I was glued to every sentence as I’ve been searching for just this kind of advice for some time now. While I’m, on the whole, happy with my writing, I know that it needs to improve. This will definitely help me to do that.

June 21, 2017 at 8:05 pm

You made my day, Matthew. I’m so glad this was just the advice you were looking for. Happy writing, and thank you for stopping by. I appreciate it 🙂

June 21, 2017 at 6:14 am

I love this blog! After reading it, I felt like I just had a good wholesome dinner. As a newbie writer/blogger, I am going to use your tips and helps step by step to learn and grow as a writer.

And I love your drawings too!

Thanks for all the helpful information.

June 21, 2017 at 4:28 pm

Thank you so much for your lovely comment, Meralyn. I’m glad you enjoyed this post.

June 21, 2017 at 12:32 am

You are good at what you do Henneke.

This post came at the most opportune time for me. I have been having this feeling that my writing needs something fresh to enliven it. I wasn’t feeling it anymore. I hate to submit to a client something I don’t even enjoy reading myself.

And then this article pops up in my inbox. Suddenly it’s all clear. I just need to clean up my writing. Somehow I have let a lot of bad habits build up and the quality of my writing dropped as a result.

This will definitely help.

Thanks for sharing.

June 21, 2017 at 4:21 pm

It can be extra tough when you’re writing for clients and when perhaps the topics you’re writing about aren’t the ones you’d choose yourself. When I was still writing for clients, some topics seemed utterly boring at first, but by imagining who might be interested in it, I often could get more excited about a topic (and produce better content0.

Happy writing, Patrick, and thank you for stopping by.

June 20, 2017 at 9:53 pm

While I always look forward to your emails, I believe that this one is my favorite. You cover eight topics quite well, while creating the “flow” you write about. All important stuff for writers, and presented like an info feast!

Great job, Bill

June 20, 2017 at 9:57 pm

Oh my, that’s a big compliment. Thank you so much, Bill. I love your phrase “info feast.”

And silly me was worried that I had crammed too much into this post!

June 20, 2017 at 9:28 pm

Oh, wow, Henneke, I just read a post aloud to my husband the other day, because I thought he’d like it. However, the more I read, the more I did not like it! I was so shocked. It was not good. This post of yours should be just what I need to fix! Thanks so much. I’ve been a bit scared to post any more since that episode!

June 20, 2017 at 9:55 pm

Oh my, you shouldn’t be scared to post! When you read it aloud and don’t like it, try to figure out why you don’t like it and then post it.

It’s fascinating how reading something aloud can change our perspective, isn’t it?

June 21, 2017 at 4:07 am

I know. I ‘m not really scared to post, but just hesitant, not trusting my ear while I’m writing. And yes, that read-aloud moment surely taught me a thing or two! I think what’s wrong is that I am mostly a pencil writer and when I take to the keyboard, I make garbage; it’s some kind of disconnect with my core, as if my brain is writing but my heart is elsewhere. That, and I broke almost every rule you listed above! 😀 I’m going to print that yuk post, double-spaced, and attack it with a pencil while on vacation, soon, thanks to you. 🙂

June 21, 2017 at 4:27 pm

That’s an interesting point you make about “not trusting your ear while writing.” This makes me realize I don’t really trust my ear either–at least not when I am writing my first draft. I use the revision and editing phases to make the writing feel more like me—something I’m happy with.

I need to think about heart vs brain. I think it’s always a balance for me, but I’m not sure. And, of course, we’re all different in our writing process, so what works for me doesn’t necessarily work for you.

Happy revising!

June 20, 2017 at 5:41 pm

Hey Henneke,

Boredom is a big weakness! Yes it occurs when we ourselves are bored with our writing. Losing the mojo can happen to anyone. But spotting it right away to avoid the same from conquering the writing is the key.

Following a very strict pattern, or working on publishing the same type of content can cause boredom too!

Just like readers, writers do become bored with a strict pattern.

Fluff = adding water to wine. Yes!

Thanks for sharing this awesome piece 🙂

Cheers, Jane.

June 20, 2017 at 6:34 pm

Yes, so true. Everyone can lose their mojo, and it can be hard work to get it back.

Thank you for stopping buy again, Jane. I appreciate it.

June 20, 2017 at 5:36 pm

Great post, as always. 🙂

I will definitely be having all these in mind on all of my future posts.

One writing tip I love is about the word “that”. It’s totally overused. Have you noticed?

I try not to use it when it doesn’t need to be included in a sentence. For example:

Instead of this… I’m going to show you everything that you need…

You’d go with this… I’m going to show you everything you need…

It gives your writing a better flow.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to your next post. And thanks for all the advice.

Cheers, Julian

June 20, 2017 at 6:33 pm

Yes, that’s a good tip!

I cross out many “that’s” in my draft posts, but it could be that some “that’s” still sneak in 😉

Thank you for stopping by, Julian. Happy writing!

June 20, 2017 at 5:00 pm

Great Post Madam. Thanks for sharing. May God bless you.

June 20, 2017 at 6:30 pm

Thank you, Dhaya. Happy writing!

June 20, 2017 at 3:35 pm

I just looked at two drafts I did last week and I had lots of lackluster writing. I revised with your suggestions and I do believe they are better now! Thanks.

Yay! Reading this makes me happy. Thank you, Kathy.

June 20, 2017 at 2:59 pm

One thing you will never be accused of, Henneke, is a lack of substance. Your posts are always chock-full of great tips and visuals. 🙂 Thanks for another super post.

June 20, 2017 at 6:29 pm

To be honest, I was a little worried that there might be too much substance in this post, but it seemed like a useful overview so I went ahead to publish it anyway (and I’m glad I did).

Thank you for your encouragement, Cathy!

June 20, 2017 at 12:44 pm

Hey! I laughed out loud at Henrietta with the cigar doing the “sham-wow” sales pitch. 😉 I’ve been paying a lot more attention to specific detail in both my reading, writing, and teaching, and it really is a game-changer in so many ways. It differentiates the level of mastery. Thanks for all you do!

June 20, 2017 at 6:28 pm

And thank you for being you, and for being such a loyal reader and commenter.

I remember you once teaching me the word “sham-wow” 🙂

June 20, 2017 at 12:34 pm

Your articles always give me 100% boost to my skills 🙂 Consider yourself a copy doctor? You should.

June 20, 2017 at 6:26 pm

Thank you so much for your compliment, Wojtek. I appreciate it. Happy writing!

June 20, 2017 at 12:17 pm

Before this landed in my inbox, I had been swirling in my pits of misery and doom, thinking why I ever thought I could write. Your post is not only timely, but amazing! Thank you so much for telling us to knock of the negativity, pull up our socks and work on our weaknesses.

Great tips 😀

Much love from India!

Oh my, I’m sorry you were swirling in pits of misery and doom.

Learning to write can feel like a lonely struggle. Please don’t give up, Vinita, and celebrate your successes—congratulate yourself for each a piece of writing you finish. Happy writing!

June 20, 2017 at 12:13 pm

You couldn’t say it better, if I enjoy writing, my readers will enjoy reading- what an awesome test. And, also, here onwards, I commit to focus on writing only and only to clarify and not to impress.

June 20, 2017 at 6:23 pm

Happy writing, Hena. Thank you for your lovely comment. I like your commitment to writing for clarity, not to impress. 🙂

June 20, 2017 at 12:03 pm

Hi Henneke, brilliant article. You give so much.

I know I probably sound ridiculously lazy, but this is all so much work. I love the idea of deliberate practice, but find it almost impossible to set myself the problems, so I can practice later. Why is there no app for deliberate practice for writers? Surely I can’t be the only one that would be happy to pay for such a thing.

June 20, 2017 at 6:22 pm

It doesn’t sound lazy at all, we all have to set our own priorities and we can’t do everything. You’re absolutely right: writing and improving our writing skills IS a lot of work. It’s just like with learning to play the piano or tennis—you have to practice a lot.

June 20, 2017 at 12:01 pm

Hi Henneke! 🙂

Missed your posts, and this one is a beauty! I think I now need to rearrange my list of top 3 of your favorite posts. Super useful and actionable, and I love the drawings, too (I didn’t know Henrietta smoked cigars! ;D)

Can’t wait to spread the word!

June 20, 2017 at 6:20 pm

Thank you so much, Gill. I’m glad you like this one 🙂 In your top 3 of my posts? That’s a big compliment!

PS Henrietta seems to only smoke cigars when she’s impersonating a sleazy sales person 😉

June 20, 2017 at 11:58 am

What an insightful post. I make all of these mistakes and until you pointed them out I was probably unaware – thanks. The last one was quite surprising but logical. I will pay more attention to that in the future.

Also, this trick for the overused words and sentences made me laugh out loud “Would you use the word in a face-to-face conversation with your ideal reader?”.

June 20, 2017 at 6:19 pm

It sounds like you could perhaps be a bit kinder to yourself and more upbeat about your writing skills? You’re publishing your first book!

June 20, 2017 at 6:27 pm

hahahah yes! This cracked me up, it’s something my sister would say to me in that tone. Also, I am writing a personalized email with lots of sugar to my backers so expect a “dessert” in your inbox soon 😉

June 20, 2017 at 6:31 pm

I’m looking forward to dessert 🙂

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I never saw myself as a writer, but in my early forties, I learned how to write and discovered the joy of writing. Now, I’d like to empower you to find your voice, share your ideas and inspire your audience. Learn how I can help you

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How to Showcase Your Strengths in Your College Application Essays

Your admission essay is an adcom’s greatest insight into who you are as a person. It can also be a tool to showcase your high school accomplishments. So, how can you craft an essay that both conveys your personality and portrays your strengths—without coming off as arrogant? Here are four tips to guide you.

1. Paint a picture.

This is a phrase that English teachers have drilled into your head, but it’s true for your college essay and in all your written work. Painting a picture of your accomplishments through examples and rhetorical devices helps adcoms visualize the steps you’ve taken to get to where you are today and the person you are and strive to be.

How can you show rather than tell? There are many ways to express yourself through language, from personalized metaphors —actions, experiences, or objects that mirror and symbolize your journey—to rich, vivid details. This is especially true in your essay, but you can also employ these rhetorical devices and language throughout your application, such as in your extracurricular accomplishment descriptions.

For instance, if you’re a pianist, you might use imagery to describe the progression of your musical development, initially exploring playing one note at a time to learning how to play the music you play today. You could evoke specific sounds and melodies to illustrate this development.

2. Use action-oriented verbs.

Rather than relying on soft adjectives, use action verbs like “implemented,” “facilitated,” and so on. These types of words are much more powerful and demonstrate that you do and make things happen. They also emphasize your ownership of your achievements, signifying that these achievements don’t just happen to you: you made them happen.

For example, rather than saying that you were responsible for speaking on behalf of the student body as student council president, you might say, “Raised awareness of X issue and implemented a procedure for handling complaints.”

3. Offer examples and details.

Examples are an essential feature of your essay. They illustrate your accomplishments, provide context, and show adcoms how you’ve made an impact in concrete ways. You should also use numerical values and other details to quantify your accomplishments.

In this post on successful activity entries, students use details to summarize and portray their accomplishments. While this post concerns another section of your application, you can apply the same concepts to your essay.

Example: “Provided homework and study help to underprivileged kids. I studied with one girl until her Cs became As. I love being the “go-to” mentor.”

Here, the applicant shows the impact of her tutoring, rather than simply stating that she tutored. In doing so, she demonstrates the impact on both her and the students she tutored.

Example: “I have been studying piano and performing in recitals since kindergarten. I’m currently working on Beethoven’s Sonata No. 1 in F minor from Opus 2.”

This entry shows the progression of the applicant’s work by demonstrating how far she has come, exemplified by the challenging piece she’s currently playing.

These examples bring your experiences to life, so you’re not just listing achievements but also quantifying them and pointing to concrete ways in which they’ve affected you and others.

4. Tell a story.

Like any good story, your essay should have a narrative arc. Instead of a list of achievements, it should portray an experience that shaped you. No matter what topic you choose, you should be able to tell an account that captures your reader’s attention and has all the hallmarks of a compelling narrative.

For instance, if you’re a first-generation student, you might begin by describing a specific moment in your childhood when you realized that you would be the first member of your family to attend college and then narrate specific events along your journey, such as encouragement from your parents or teachers, difficulties you faced and how you overcame them, and how you finally reached this moment and are excited about the next chapter. This is much more effective than simply stating that you’re a first-generation student and listing the reasons why attending college is important to you.

If you can’t weave together a compelling story with the topic you’ve chosen, you may want to rethink it. Spend some time brainstorming to hone your topic and ensure that it is one that will both capture your audience and showcase your accomplishments.

Your Essay: A Reflection of You

Your essay is a concise glimpse into you as a person. While other areas of your application detail your accomplishments, grades, and extracurricular achievements, this is a place to showcase your qualities as a person. Still, your accomplishments are most likely integral to your personality. Keep these tips in mind as you craft an essay that both captures your character and your strengths as a candidate for admission.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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4: Assessing the Strength of an Argument (Logos)

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• City College of San Francisco via ASCCC Open Educational Resources Initiative

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Learning Outcomes 

• Check arguments for common problems such as exceptions, faulty evidence, invalid assumptions, and inadequate treatment of counterarguments.
• Identify insights in an argument that can contribute to future discussions on the topic.
• Write a complete assessment of an argument’s strengths and weaknesses with a thesis that points to the most crucial ones.
• Use precise and varied phrases to highlight the argument’s flaws and insights.
• 4.1: Use a Summary to Launch an Opinion College essay assignments in many disciplines ask us to give our own reasoned opinion on the validity of an argument.
• 4.2: Check If the Meaning Is Clear A strong argument will leave no doubt about its precise meaning.
• 4.3: Look for Exceptions If we can find an exception to something in the argument, the exception may help us identify a problem in the reasoning.
• 4.4: Decide How Strong the Evidence Is A strong argument will offer trustworthy evidence of the kinds needed to support the particular claims.
• 4.5: Check the Argument's Assumptions To test an argument’s strength, we can identify the assumptions it depends on and determine whether or not they are valid.
• 4.6: Check How Well the Argument Addresses Counterarguments A strong argument will accurately summarize any important counterarguments and respond to them.
• 4.7: Reflect on an Argument’s Strengths Even if an argument has significant flaws, it may also contain insights worth noting.
• 4.8: Come up with an Overall Assessment Once we have assessed many aspects of an argument, we can come up with an overall assessment by reflecting on which strengths and weaknesses are most significant.
• 4.9: Fallacies List A list of the fallacies, or logical problems discussed in this chapter, by their technical names.
• 4.10: Common Assessment Phrases A list of common phrases used to praise and critique arguments as discussed in this chapter.
• 4.11.1: Sample Assessment- "Spread Feminism, Not Germs"
• 4.11.2: Sample Assessment- "Typography and Identity"

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How to Answer “What Are Your Strengths and Weaknesses?”

• Joel Schwartzberg

Advice and examples to help you craft an authentic answer to this common interview question.

Don’t take common interview questions lightly just because they’re predictable. Underpreparing for them can make the difference between moving ahead and moving on. One question that often comes up: What are your strengths and weaknesses? In this article, the author outlines clear steps for how to describe your strengths and weaknesses along with sample language to use as a guide.

Some questions come up again and again in job interviews . At the top of the list: “ Tell me about yourself ,” “ Why do you want to work here? ” and “What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?”

• JS Joel Schwartzberg oversees executive communications for a major national nonprofit, is a professional presentation coach, and is the author of Get to the Point! Sharpen Your Message and Make Your Words Matter and The Language of Leadership: How to Engage and Inspire Your Team . You can find him on LinkedIn and X. TheJoelTruth

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Writing Critiques

Writing a critique involves more than pointing out mistakes. It involves conducting a systematic analysis of a scholarly article or book and then writing a fair and reasonable description of its strengths and weaknesses. Several scholarly journals have published guides for critiquing other people’s work in their academic area. Search for a  “manuscript reviewer guide” in your own discipline to guide your analysis of the content. Use this handout as an orientation to the audience and purpose of different types of critiques and to the linguistic strategies appropriate to all of them.

Types of critique

Article or book review assignment in an academic class.

Text: Article or book that has already been published Audience: Professors Purpose:

• to demonstrate your skills for close reading and analysis
• to show that you understand key concepts in your field
• to learn how to review a manuscript for your future professional work

Published book review

Text: Book that has already been published Audience: Disciplinary colleagues Purpose:

• to describe the book’s contents
• to summarize the book’s strengths and weaknesses
• to provide a reliable recommendation to read (or not read) the book

Manuscript review

Text: Manuscript that has been submitted but has not been published yet Audience: Journal editor and manuscript authors Purpose:

• to provide the editor with an evaluation of the manuscript
• to recommend to the editor that the article be published, revised, or rejected
• to provide the authors with constructive feedback and reasonable suggestions for revision

Language strategies for critiquing

For each type of critique, it’s important to state your praise, criticism, and suggestions politely, but with the appropriate level of strength. The following language structures should help you achieve this challenging task.

Offering Praise and Criticism

A strategy called “hedging” will help you express praise or criticism with varying levels of strength. It will also help you express varying levels of certainty in your own assertions. Grammatical structures used for hedging include:

Modal verbs Using modal verbs (could, can, may, might, etc.) allows you to soften an absolute statement. Compare:

This text is inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field. This text may be inappropriate for graduate students who are new to the field.

Qualifying adjectives and adverbs Using qualifying adjectives and adverbs (possible, likely, possibly, somewhat, etc.) allows you to introduce a level of probability into your comments. Compare:

Readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand. Some readers will find the theoretical model difficult to understand. Some readers will probably find the theoretical model somewhat difficult to understand completely.

Note: You can see from the last example that too many qualifiers makes the idea sound undesirably weak.

Tentative verbs Using tentative verbs (seems, indicates, suggests, etc.) also allows you to soften an absolute statement. Compare:

This omission shows that the authors are not aware of the current literature. This omission indicates that the authors are not aware of the current literature. This omission seems to suggest that the authors are not aware of the current literature.

Offering suggestions

Whether you are critiquing a published or unpublished text, you are expected to point out problems and suggest solutions. If you are critiquing an unpublished manuscript, the author can use your suggestions to revise. Your suggestions have the potential to become real actions. If you are critiquing a published text, the author cannot revise, so your suggestions are purely hypothetical. These two situations require slightly different grammar.

Unpublished manuscripts: “would be X if they did Y” Reviewers commonly point out weakness by pointing toward improvement. For instance, if the problem is “unclear methodology,” reviewers may write that “the methodology would be more clear if …” plus a suggestion. If the author can use the suggestions to revise, the grammar is “X would be better if the authors did Y” (would be + simple past suggestion).

The tables would be clearer if the authors highlighted the key results. The discussion would be more persuasive if the authors accounted for the discrepancies in the data.

Published manuscripts: “would have been X if they had done Y” If the authors cannot revise based on your suggestions, use the past unreal conditional form “X would have been better if the authors had done Y” (would have been + past perfect suggestion).

The tables would have been clearer if the authors had highlighted key results. The discussion would have been more persuasive if the authors had accounted for discrepancies in the data.

Note: For more information on conditional structures, see our Conditionals handout .

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Guidelines for Writing Strengths and Weaknesses

As a reviewer , you are asked to identify and clearly state major strengths and weaknesses for each published review criterion. Your statements should be constructive and absent of bias and outside information. Please keep in mind that your comments will be read by the applicant, and therefore should be appropriate and helpful to the applicant. The following are some guidelines to crafting statements of strengths and weaknesses.

• Use complete sentences (present tense) with language that presents your ideas fully. Incomplete sentences and fragments delay the work of producing a cogent and cohesive combined summary statement.
• Depersonalize your criticisms. When describing a weakness, always refer to the application's weaknesses, not the applicant's weaknesses. Try to avoid using phrases like “fails to” and other negative statements. For instance, instead of stating “The applicant fails to demonstrate organizational expertise,” write “The application does not clearly demonstrate the organization's expertise.” The difference is subtle but significant.
• Avoid arcane jargon. Terminology used widely and commonly in the field is acceptable, but niche jargon should be avoided. If you are using uncommon or recently coined terms, please explain them.
• Provide a clear and succinct synopsis of the project in the “Overview” in your own words. Do not retype the introduction of the application.
• Write in the third person (i.e., “The applicant plans to…”) rather than the first or second person, (i.e., “This Reviewer feels…” or “In the opinion of this Reviewer…”). The final summary statement will be the combined opinions of all of the application Reviewers. The strengths and weaknesses listed should be simple, declarative statements of opinion.
• Provide definitions for acronyms when used for the first time.
• Remember that each application is to be evaluated on its own merit. The evaluation should reflect a clear, objective, explicit, and justified assessment of the application. The Reviewer should write the strengths and weaknesses based on how well the applicant develops the proposed project and the extent to which the project is responsive to the published criteria.
• Use the same published review criteria for all assigned applications.
• Avoid comparing one application's content, process, or budget to any other assigned application. Each application should be reviewed independently, and be assessed and analyzed based on the facts presented within the application.
• Avoid scoring an application based on your personal experiences, outside knowledge, and personal feelings of the application's feasibility.
• Avoid complex formatting in the document. Reviewers are asked to use only basic formatting (i.e., bold, italic, underline, bullets, and tabs). Please refrain from using numbered bullets.
• Provide information that helps the applicant understand why a particular statement or recommendation was made.

Home — Essay Samples — Life — Personal Strengths — Exploring Personal Strengths and Weaknesses for Self-Improvement

Exploring Personal Strengths and Weaknesses for Self-improvement

• Categories: Personal Strengths Struggle Weakness

About this sample

Words: 865 |

Published: May 14, 2021

Words: 865 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Table of contents

My strengths, my weaknesses, works cited, fostering organization as a strength, the strength of observation, confronting the weakness of confidence, resisting change: a challenge to overcome, striving for academic excellence despite intelligence challenges.

• Buckingham, M., & Clifton, D. O. (2001). Now, discover your strengths. Simon and Schuster.
• Goleman, D. (1995). Emotional intelligence: Why it can matter more than IQ. Bantam Books.
• Grant, A. M., & Dweck, C. S. (2003). Clarifying achievement goals and their impact. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(3), 541-553.
• Linley, P. A., Willars, J., & Biswas-Diener, R. (2010). The strengths book: Be confident, be successful, and enjoy better relationships by recognizing where you're strong. CAPP Press.
• Lopez, S. J., & Snyder, C. R. (Eds.). (2009). Oxford handbook of positive psychology. Oxford University Press.
• Marsh, H. W., & Yeung, A. S. (1997). Causal effects of academic self-concept on academic achievement : Structural equation models of longitudinal data. Journal of Educational Psychology, 89(1), 41-54.
• Neff, K. D. (2011). Self-compassion: Stop beating yourself up and leave insecurity behind. HarperCollins.
• Peterson, C., & Seligman, M. E. P. (2004). Character strengths and virtues: A handbook and classification. Oxford University Press.
• Rothwell, W. J. (2015). In mixed company: Communicating in small groups and teams (9th ed.). Cengage Learning.
• Stajkovic, A. D., & Luthans, F. (1998). Self-efficacy and work-related performance: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 124(2), 240-261.

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Essay on My Strengths And Weaknesses

Students are often asked to write an essay on My Strengths And Weaknesses in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on My Strengths And Weaknesses

My strengths.

Everyone has things they are good at. My strengths are being kind, working hard, and learning quickly. I like to help friends and always do my best in school. When I get new lessons, I understand them fast. This helps me do well in class.

My Weaknesses

But, I also have things I’m not so good at. I sometimes worry too much, which can make me feel stressed. Also, I get shy around people I don’t know, making it hard to make new friends. I’m working to get better at these things.

250 Words Essay on My Strengths And Weaknesses

Introduction to my strengths and weaknesses.

Everyone has things they are good at and things they are not so good at. These are called strengths and weaknesses. Knowing what these are can help us get better and feel proud of what we can do.

My Good Points

I have a few strong points that help me in school and with friends. One of my best strengths is being kind to everyone. I like to share and make sure no one feels left out. I am also really good at reading. I can understand stories and learn new words quickly. Being organized is another strength. I keep my things tidy, so I don’t lose them, and it helps me do my homework on time.

Things I’m Working On

Just like everyone, I have some weak points too. I find math hard sometimes. Numbers and formulas can be confusing, and I need more practice to get better. Another weakness is that I am shy. Speaking in front of the class makes me nervous, and I am quiet when I meet new people. I am also not very good at sports. I am not as fast as the other kids, and I don’t catch the ball very well.

In the end, knowing my strengths and weaknesses is important. It shows me what I am good at, like being kind and organized. It also shows me what I need to work on, like math and speaking up. By understanding these things, I can try to become better every day.

500 Words Essay on My Strengths And Weaknesses

Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s like having a bag of tools that we use to handle different situations in life. My strengths are the tools I use the most, and they help me do things well. My weaknesses are like the tools I don’t use often because I might not be very good at using them. Let’s talk about what some of these are for me.

One of my big strengths is being a good listener. When my friends talk to me, I pay close attention to what they are saying. This makes them feel important and cared for. Another strength I have is being organized. I keep my school work and toys in order, so I know where everything is when I need it. This helps me save time and stay calm because I’m not looking for things at the last minute.

I’m also pretty good at learning new things. When I get interested in a topic, I read a lot about it and try to understand as much as I can. This curiosity makes school more fun because I like finding out new facts and ideas. Lastly, I’m kind to others. I believe that being nice to people is important, and it makes me happy to see others smile when I help them.

Now, for my weaknesses. Sometimes, I can be shy, especially around new people. It takes me a while to feel comfortable enough to talk a lot with someone I just met. This can make it hard for me to make new friends quickly. I’m also not very good at sports. I can be clumsy, and I don’t catch or throw balls very well, which makes team games a bit tough for me.

Another weakness is that I get frustrated when things don’t go the way I planned. If I’m working on a puzzle and can’t find the right piece, I might feel like giving up. This is something I need to work on because not everything will always be easy. Lastly, I sometimes rush through my homework and make silly mistakes because I want to go play. This means I have to do it again, which takes even more time.

Working on My Weaknesses

I know that it’s okay to have weaknesses because everyone does. The important part is that I try to get better at them. For example, to help with my shyness, I practice talking to my family about my day, so I get used to sharing more with others. For sports, I keep playing and having fun, even if I’m not the best at it. I learn from my mistakes, and slowly, I get a little better each time.

When I get frustrated, I take deep breaths and remind myself to be patient. I tell myself that it’s fine to take breaks and come back to a tough puzzle later. And to stop rushing through my homework, I set a timer to make sure I spend enough time on each question.

In the end, knowing my strengths and weaknesses helps me understand myself better. It shows me what I’m good at and what I can improve. By working on my weaknesses, I can turn them into new strengths one day. And by using my strengths, I can help others and do my best in school and life. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, and that’s what makes each of us special.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Stakeholder: How Ed Freeman’s Vision for Responsible Business Moved From Theory to Reality

By McGregor McCance

In 1983 Ed Freeman was a young university researcher and lecturer barely off the starting line in his academic career. Though he had produced plenty of papers about business issues, that summer would see the publication of Freeman’s first book: “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach.”

He didn’t exactly expect it to set the world on fire.

“Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach” was published in 1984.

“My expectations were, ‘Look, I’m just trying to write something that says I really think companies are better off if they run their businesses for their stakeholders, not just their shareholders,’ ” Freeman said in an interview in his office at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, where he’s taught the principles of that core philosophy, ethics, leadership and related topics for more than three decades.

Stakeholder theory holds that businesses exist to do more than just make profits and money for shareholders. Instead, they function best and serve the greater good when their actions reflect what’s best for all stakeholders – employees, suppliers, the community, partners and, of course, shareholders.

“It’s a business for human beings rather than business for a few human beings,” Freeman said. “I think that’s a better way to think about business.”

Freeman hoped the book would help him get tenure one day. He thought it might be useful for academics and corporate managers. He never expected to make money from it. Forty years later, what’s broadly known as stakeholder theory or stakeholder capitalism carries more weight than anyone might have imagined.

High Level Impact

Embraced by some of the country’s biggest corporations and many influential leaders, the concepts articulated in “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach,” and refined and expanded in subsequent writings by Freeman and his colleagues, enjoy global acceptance. Leaders at corporate giants like Costco, Wal Mart and Whole Foods endorse them.

In 2019, more than 200 CEOs affiliated with the Business Roundtable officially adopted a new “Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation.”

In it, the Business Roundtable officially moved away from the long-held and widely accepted narrative that the existential purpose of a business is to generate economic returns for its shareholders and instead embraced the stakeholder approach. The CEOs declared: “Companies should deliver long-term value to all of their stakeholders – customers, employees, suppliers, the communities in which they operate, and shareholders.”

Over the years, probably no economic idea has become more synonymous with Darden or its guiding values. “Stakeholder” has become part of the School’s cultural fabric. While the term has a specific definition, it also has become shorthand for Darden’s teaching philosophy based on responsible business management and ethically grounded leadership.

Bobby Parmar, the Shannon G. Smith Bicentennial Associate Professor of Business Administration at Darden.

“The success of stakeholder theory and Darden’s distinctive competitive advantage are tied together,” said Bobby Parmar, the Shannon G. Smith Bicentennial Associate Professor of Business Administration, who has known Freeman for nearly 30 years. “Ed has had a huge impact at Darden and helped us become a place that is unique and attracts students, faculty and recruiters who care about this set of ideals.”

A ‘Hero’s Journey’

If Freeman’s humility prevents him from accepting much credit, others are happy to assign it.

“All of us are called to a hero’s journey,” said John Mackey, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, the natural and organic grocer that grew from a single store to 540 stores with $22 billion in annual sales and more than 105,000 employees. “Most people don’t answer that call. Ed answered it, and he’s a hero. He’s made a big difference in the world, and he’s a remarkable human being.”

Mackey’s journey through entrepreneurship and business leadership – and his (unknowing at the time) exposure to stakeholder theory – began in the mid-‘70s when he was living in a vegetarian housing co-operative. Those in the food co-op line of work didn’t focus much on profits. In fact, they were essentially anti-profit and mostly wanted low prices and broad access. But any notion to serve more people eventually ran into their aversion to profits. There simply was no money to invest in expanding the business.

Mackey took note. A business couldn’t truly flourish with just one objective or one group in mind.

In 1980, Mackey and his girlfriend Renee Lawson merged a young natural foods store they started together in Texas with another local store to establish Whole Foods Market. The company struggled after a disastrous flood nearly wiped it out in 1981. It survived because a banker personally guaranteed an emergency loan after the institution declined Mackey’s application. Whole Foods employees worked without pay for a month until payroll could get back on track. Suppliers fronted the company inventory to restock shelves.

“I began to realize, we are in this network of relationships, and they love us and care about us, and we owe them,” Mackey recalled. “We need to pay back the generosity they’ve shown us.”

By the early ‘90s, as both Mackey’s company and his own business acumen continued to mature, the CEO grew more interested in this concept that a business could improve the world by focusing on more than just profits. Another famous business book, “Ethics and Excellence: Cooperation and Integrity in Business,” deeply impressed Mackey. As it turned out, its author, Robert C. Solomon, and Ed Freeman were friends and philosophical brethren. Soon, Mackey began devouring anything Freeman had written on the topic.

The common thread connecting Mackey’s own experience, his business strategies and his personal values finally had a name: Stakeholder theory .

“I got excited about it because I realized, ‘Well, that’s it!’ That’s the term I’ve been looking for, what we’ve been doing at Whole Foods,” he said. “The brilliance of what Ed did is that he saw the interdependencies. He saw it as a system, and it wasn’t seen that way before Ed came along.”

Stakeholder Vocabulary

Parmar credits Freeman for clearly articulating this approach to running a responsible business, and for a providing a “vocabulary” that cut against a narrative that dominated since economist Milton Friedman’s famous 1970 New York Times commentary. In it, Friedman stated that the only social responsibility of business is to increase its profits as long as it does so legally and in open competition. While “Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach” shared some terms and concepts you’d find in any economic writing of the day, it spoke an altogether different language for businesses.

“Ed’s 1984 book was a watershed moment because it helped turn the tide and helped us see business as a deeply human institution,” Parmar said.

Not that it immediately changed things. That would take time.

Andy Wicks is the Ruffin Professor of Business Administration and director of the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at Darden

Andy Wicks witnessed the evolution. Wicks is the Ruffin Professor of Business Administration and director of the Olsson Center for Applied Ethics at Darden. He’s taught here for 22 years, and before that, was a UVA religious studies graduate student focused primarily on medical ethics, followed by a decade teaching at the University of Washington. He met Freeman in the late ‘80s, soon after learning about stakeholder theory.

Wicks recalled having his students in a 2002 class read an article by Milton Friedman (companies exist to create shareholder profits) and another by Ed Freeman (all stakeholders are integral). In a class of 70, only one student raised a hand to indicate alignment with stakeholder theory.

“When I teach that material today in a Darden classroom, I will get anywhere from 60% to 80% of the students who raise their hand for Ed,” Wicks said.

Origin Story

Spreading the word has proven to be a lifelong passion.

During his career, Freeman has written and co-authored hundreds of books, articles, commentaries and essays about stakeholder concepts and the importance of business ethics. He’s taught thousands of students. Accepted honorary degrees across the world. Provided countless media interviews. Freeman travels frequently to deliver guest lectures at business and management schools, participate in conferences about responsible business practices and management, and consult directly with corporations.

The concepts have come a long way since he first was exposed to the idea of business “stakeholders” at the Wharton School of Business in the mid- and late-‘70s. Even before then, Freeman has stressed over the years, researchers at the Stanford Research Institute and a Swedish theorist were analyzing how different groups affiliated with or interacting with businesses could affect a company. Recognizing those pressures and influences was part of being strategic. Those pioneering researchers introduced the term stakeholder into the discussion.

But stakeholders at that time predominantly were considered disparate elements that could influence the operations or success of the company, rather than integral components or partners whose shared interests could enable them all to flourish.

That bigger idea “was in the air,” Freeman said. And during one Wharton gathering of economists and academics, the chalkboard featured a diagram of different stakeholders. Freeman remembered one person suggesting that it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss the interests of those other stakeholders in the context of the corporation’s fortunes because their issues were matters of “justice” rather than strict business considerations.

“I’m just sitting there like a fly on the wall, probably 25 or 26. And I thought, ‘Well, wait a minute. I don’t know why you can’t say anything about justice.’”

Freeman didn’t voice his thoughts in that setting. But he and his boss at the time, Jim Emshoff, were thinking and writing together along those lines. Emshoff encouraged Freeman to further explore the idea of a stakeholder approach, to try to answer, “Can you run a business this way?”

“Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach” was about to be born.

A Most Awesome Feeling

Published in summer 1983 with a 1984 copyright date, only 2,000 copies comprised the initial run. (The book has been updated and reissued, and along with Wicks, Parmar and others, complementary volumes build on the original themes.)

Freeman remembers holding the book in his hands for the first time.

“It was, at that time, the most awesome feeling I had had professionally,” he said.

Evidence of stakeholder capitalism’s enduring influence abounds – whether it reflects Freeman’s specific contributions or the continued general recognition of the value of businesses that account for the wellbeing and success of its full set of participants.

In a report published in 2021, the Conference Board said its research and surveys showed that nearly 90% of C-suite executives surveyed around the world believed that “there is a shift underway from stockholder to stakeholder capitalism, and almost 80% say the shift is occurring at their firm.”

The organization reported increased focus among corporate leaders on environmental and social issues, diversity, employee wellbeing, workforce management and community impact. “Executives who recognize and embrace the shift now are better positioning themselves and their companies for success in the future,” the Conference Board suggested.

But it’s not time to declare victory by any stretch. Almost any edition today of the Wall Street Journal or other major news outlets will remind one that unethical or selfish corporate behavior will always come with the territory if humans are involved.

Mackey, though optimistic overall, said stakeholder theory faces threats on multiple fronts. On one hand, he said, a growing number argues that focusing exclusively on creating returns for shareholders will actually help all stakeholders in the end because they’ll share in or indirectly benefit from the profits. On the other extreme, he sees growing anti-business sentiment in some quarters, with groups seeking control of corporate boards to advance narrow agendas reflecting political priorities of the few, rather than the good of all stakeholders.

Mackey finds both approaches flawed and limiting.

“Stakeholder theory is being challenged on these different fronts,” he said. “But it works . If it didn’t lead to competitive advantage it would disappear.”

Freeman, too, conveys optimism. However, he identifies authoritarian political movements as a threat to approaches like stakeholder capitalism because they can lead to crony capitalism, in which the government skews a functioning competitive marketplace by getting involved in ways that favor specific businesses or industries.

“If you pay attention to stakeholders, and you have a high purpose, you’re basically going to beat the hell out of companies that don’t, unless these companies get a leg up from government. So that worries me.”

A Task Not Yet Finished

His continued experience in the classroom particularly heartens Freeman. Students come to Darden with a strong appreciation of the importance of business ethics. It could be that many choose Darden today because of its reputation for teaching and emphasizing ethics – and that suits him fine.

“They come in with a stronger sense that they want to do something that has meaning,” he said. “They want to do something that makes the world better. There’s no question about that.”

Two years ago, as his book was nearing 40, Freeman reassessed how well it has stood the test of time in “My Own Book Review. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach,” published by the International Association of Strategic Management.

One of the book’s enduring strengths is that “it is based on real business situations, and it does not shy away from prescribing how business can improve,” he wrote. Among the weaknesses: a chapter focusing on internal stakeholders, which Freeman later recognized as a potential distraction from his goal of making businesses more cognizant of external stakeholders.

He also linked the heart of the theory and practice to core values – such as those he earned and learned growing up on a Georgia farm – especially the truth that “one needed to be responsible for the effects of one’s action on others.”

“I get far too much credit for a very small role that I played in developing the stakeholder idea,” Freeman concluded in his humble and self-critical review. “But the task is not yet finished. We desperately need to hasten the transition to a more inclusive stakeholder capitalism. That is a worthy task for our generations, and one to which I am committed.”

The University of Virginia Darden School of Business prepares responsible global leaders through unparalleled transformational learning experiences. Darden’s graduate degree programs (MBA, MSBA and Ph.D.) and Executive Education & Lifelong Learning programs offered by the Darden School Foundation set the stage for a lifetime of career advancement and impact. Darden’s top-ranked faculty, renowned for teaching excellence, inspires and shapes modern business leadership worldwide through research, thought leadership and business publishing. Darden has Grounds in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the Washington, D.C., area and a global community that includes 18,000 alumni in 90 countries. Darden was established in 1955 at the University of Virginia, a top public university founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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Election Updates: Trump has ‘no problem’ including R.F.K. Jr. in debates, an idea Biden has rejected.

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Chris Cameron

Donald Trump posted his own take on the economy on his social media site this evening, saying incorrectly in a video that inflation rose last month ( it went down , slightly, according to the Labor Department) and likening increased prices to “a sales tax, but much bigger, more painful, and more destructive,” adding, “I will end this nightmare and we will once again have the greatest economy in history — the history of the world.”

The stock market briefly hit a record high milestone today , and the Biden campaign has taken the opportunity to needle Donald Trump for his claims — both recently and during the 2020 campaign — that Joe Biden would crash the economy if elected. Biden just joined in on the victory lap from a personal social media account, posting a meme of himself handing Trump an “L” while holding an ice cream cone.

Jazmine Ulloa

Representative Henry Cuellar’s indictment may reinforce the distrust of public officials, local Democrats in his district said, at a time when the party is seeking to engage the larger Hispanic electorate nationwide. Latinos now make up the largest and one of the fastest-growing segments of voters of color in the nation, yet have the lowest levels participation at the ballot box.

Democrats in Washington have refrained from calling for Representative Henry Cuellar’s resignation after he was indicted on federal bribery charges. But tensions are brewing in Cuellar’s South Texas district, where local leaders fear his case could dampen Democratic turnout in the historically blue, majority-Hispanic counties that have lately seen a surprising rightward turn.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

President Biden announced today that he has taken another step to reclassify the way the federal government treats marijuana. We reported last month the Justice Department recommended easing restrictions on marijuana, which is currently classified on the same level as substances like heroin, sparking an arduous rule-making process. But the decision to release a video announcement reflects the eagerness among Democrats to use the marijuana announcement to energize young voters.

Even though the process for reclassifying marijuana will take months, Democrats are hoping such a move can appease those still hoping for systemic changes to the criminal justice system. “It’s an important move towards reversing longstanding inequities,” Biden says in a video posted to social media announcing the decision. “No one should be in jail for merely using or possessing marijuana. Period.”

Neil Vigdor

Mike Pence, who was Donald J. Trump’s vice president, offered Trump’s yet-to-be named running mate advice about debating Vice President Kamala Harris. “Just remember, she’s a prosecutor,” he told the conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt . “I think, look, we’ve got the better portion on our side.” He continued: “She’ll try and raise the question of abortion. She’ll try and relitigate the past.”

Rebecca Davis O’Brien

Last night’s “Night of Comedy” fund-raiser for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in Nashville was notable for a range of hippie sentiment and embittered conspiracy mongering that has become typical of his independent presidential campaign. It’s not every show that begins with an acoustic singalong of “You Are My Sunshine,” and ends with Russell Brand describing Anthony Fauci as a “ghoulish little gnome.”

Nicholas Nehamas

The Biden campaign told CBS that it had accepted the network’s invitation to participate in a vice presidential debate, on either July 23 or Aug. 13. The Trump campaign, which does not have a vice presidential candidate, has not yet accepted.

Former President Donald J. Trump taunted President Biden over his opposition to including the independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the debates that the rivals agreed to on Wednesday. In a social media post, Trump said that Kennedy was “sharper and far more intelligent” than Biden and that the two would be “debating over the same territory, like ridiculous Open Borders and the Green New Scam.”

There is growing tension over the rules for the CNN debate that President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump agreed to. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent, has vowed to qualify and participate — and it is possible he could qualify. But the Biden campaign has said its terms were “for two one-on-one debates” with Trump, slamming the door on any third-party participation.

Donald J. Trump weighed in on the grisly story of Kristi Noem shooting her family dog in an interview that aired on Tuesday, suggesting that Noem had not read the book carefully after her ghostwriter completed it. “That’s a tough story,” Trump said, adding, with a chuckle, “She had a bad week. We all have bad weeks.”

Trump says he has ‘no problem’ including R.F.K. Jr. in debates.

Former President Donald J. Trump said on Thursday that he would be open to including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, in two upcoming debates between him and President Biden, though Mr. Biden’s team has made clear that is not an option.

Speaking to Scripps News , Mr. Trump said that as long as Mr. Kennedy met the criteria for participation set by the networks hosting the debates — CNN and ABC News — he would not object to having Mr. Kennedy onstage.

“Well, I have no problem with him,” Mr. Trump told Charles Benson, a political correspondent for the Scripps television station WTMJ in Milwaukee, before taking a swipe at Mr. Kennedy. “I think he’s really not doing well in the polls at all. His numbers have gone down a lot lately.”

President Biden’s campaign stipulated in a recent memo that the debates should be limited to him and Mr. Trump . While Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump agreed to participate in two debates, one on June 27 and another on Sept. 10, the terms are still being worked out.

In a social media post on Thursday, Mr. Trump taunted Mr. Biden about the possible inclusion of Mr. Kennedy, writing that Mr. Kennedy was “sharper and far more intelligent” than Mr. Biden, and that the two would be “debating over the same territory, like ridiculous Open Borders and the Green New Scam.”

A spokesman for Mr. Biden’s campaign referred to a statement on Wednesday from Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, Mr. Biden’s campaign chair, asserting that “Donald Trump has a long history of playing games with debates.”

Mr. Kennedy vowed to qualify for next month’s debate on CNN in a social media post on Wednesday. He also vented about his possible exclusion. “They are afraid I would win,” he said of Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump.

CNN and ABC News are using similar criteria, requiring participants to have received at least 15 percent support in four approved national polls and to have qualified for the ballot in enough states to have the chance to earn the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.

Only two national polls currently have Mr. Kennedy above the 15 percent threshold — one from Quinnipiac University and another from CNN — and he is presently on the ballot in just six states, worth a combined 89 electoral votes.

His campaign is trying to secure ballot access in all 50 states, an expensive and time-consuming process that is expected to draw legal challenges from Democrats aligned with Mr. Biden.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California accuses Trump of ‘open corruption’ at climate meeting.

Burnishing his climate credentials at a conference hosted by Pope Francis at the Vatican on Thursday, California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, criticized former President Donald J. Trump for reportedly meeting with fossil fuel executives and asking them for $1 billion in contributions to his election campaign.

“Open corruption,” Mr. Newsom said to a gathering of religious officials, scientists and politicians from around the world. “A billion dollars to pollute our states, to pollute our country, and to pollute this planet and to roll back progress in the open.”

Mr. Newsom hasn’t been shy about his stance on climate change. He often attends climate conferences and as governor he has signed a raft of laws and regulations to speed the nation’s most populous state away from fossil fuels, including a ban on the sale of new gas-powered cars by 2035 and a mandate to stop adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere by 2045. He wants to end oil drilling in his state, a major oil producer, also by 2045.

Under his watch, the state of California has also sued several of the world’s biggest oil companies , claiming that their actions have caused tens of billions of dollars in damage and that they deceived the public by downplaying the risks posed by fossil fuels.

Mr. Trump, on the other hand, has promised to reverse laws intended to accelerate the nation’s transition to electric vehicles, and to push policies aimed at opening up more public lands to oil and gas exploration.

The conference at the Vatican is being attended by many global mayors and governors, including Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York and London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan. Pope Francis also used the occasion to call out world leaders as doing too little to limit global warming. In remarks on Thursday to attendees, he said, “This is the question: Are we working for a culture of life or for a culture of death?”

The pope called for particular attention to be paid to developing countries that are less able to adapt to a changing climate, and that have contributed far less to the accumulation of greenhouse gases causing those changes.

In 2015, the pope wrote an encyclical letter, “Laudato Si,” in which he exhorted political and corporate interests to act on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, he updated the letter, lamenting how little progress had been made since he refocused the Roman Catholic Church more fully on environmental issues.

Like Mr. Newsom, he, too, on Thursday called for the elimination of fossil fuel use and an end to the “greedy pursuit of short-term gains by polluting industries and by the spread of disinformation.”

Here’s what to know about CNN’s presidential debate.

President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump will participate in a CNN debate on June 27, just six weeks away.

It is one of the earliest presidential debates ever scheduled, and the event was brokered without the involvement of the Commission on Presidential Debates, which has hosted debates for nearly 40 years. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, could qualify for the debate as well if he meets certain criteria.

Here’s what to know:

What are the terms of the debate?

Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump will face off against each other at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, just a few miles from the Fulton County jail where the former president was booked last year in his felony criminal case in the state. That case concerns his effort to overturn his loss in the 2020 election.

The debate will be held in a crucial swing state that Mr. Biden won in 2020 by just 11,779 votes . But it will take place without an audience, satisfying a condition from Mr. Biden’s team, which wanted to avoid an in-person audience that could cheer, boo or otherwise derail the discussion. Mr. Biden’s team also called for CNN to cut off the candidates’ microphones when they use up their allotted time.

The debate will be moderated by Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, the hosts of CNN’s marquee political news program, “State of the Union.”

Could R.F.K. Jr. participate?

Yes, it is possible. CNN has laid out several conditions for third-party candidates. One requires earning at least 15 percent support in four national polls, approved by the network, between March 13 and June 20. Mr. Kennedy already has at least two approved polls that show him above 15 percent, one from CNN and one from Quinnipiac University . He has another five weeks to pick up two more qualifying polls.

Mr. Kennedy must also get on the ballot in enough states that he has a chance to win the 270 electoral college votes needed to be elected president. He is currently on the ballot in five states , worth a total of 84 electoral college votes.

Mr. Biden, in announcing his desired format on Wednesday, said that he expected the debates to be one on one. Mr. Trump said on Thursday that he was not wedded to that condition.

CNN did not comment.

What makes this debate different from ones in previous elections?

Both the Trump and Biden campaigns have a mutual interest in circumventing the Commission on Presidential Debates and excluding Mr. Kennedy, who is drawing support from their own voters .

But it might actually be easier for a third-party candidate like Mr. Kennedy to qualify for the CNN debate, as compared with a traditional debate hosted by the commission. Under the rules for the commission’s debates, Mr. Kennedy would need an average of 15 percent support across five recent national polls , instead of 15 percent support in any four of the approved polls.

The average could have sharply decreased Mr. Kennedy’s viability. One poll released this week by The Economist and YouGov showed Mr. Kennedy with just 3 percent support , and Mr. Kennedy has polled only as high as 16 percent in other recent polls . Even the most favorable average of five recent polls would give Mr. Kennedy about 13.8 percent support.

Maggie Astor contributed reporting.

Rebecca Davis O’Brien and Chris Cameron

Rebecca Davis O’Brien reported from Nashville, and Chris Cameron from Washington

R.F.K. Jr. draws another $8 million from his running mate, Nicole Shanahan.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate, the Silicon Valley investor Nicole Shanahan, said on Wednesday night that she had given another $8 million to their independent presidential campaign as it carries out the expensive endeavor of gaining ballot access across the country and tries to propel Mr. Kennedy onto debate stages.

Ms. Shanahan’s new donation, which she announced at a comedy fund-raiser in Nashville, brings her total contribution to the campaign to $10 million, not including the $4 million she gave to a super PAC backing Mr. Kennedy to help pay for a Super Bowl advertisement early this year. Ms. Shanahan, a lawyer who was formerly married to the Google co-founder Sergey Brin, gave the campaign $2 million shortly after Mr. Kennedy named her as his running mate in March.

After a nod to the media, Ms. Shanahan said, “I think I know what they’re going to say — they’re going to say Bobby only picked me for my money,” a remark that drew laughter from the crowd.

Ms. Shanahan’s comments came near the end of a four-hour event at the storied Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. She followed performances by comedians including Russell Brand, Rob Schneider and Jim Breuer, a former “Saturday Night Live” cast member. Many of the performers praised Mr. Kennedy, but they also used their time onstage to rail against Covid vaccinations, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the mainstream news media and President Biden.

Ms. Shanahan’s personal wealth has been a significant asset for Mr. Kennedy. While campaign finance laws constrain individuals from donating more than $6,600 to a campaign, the candidates themselves can give unlimited sums of their own money.

Her cash has provided a financial lifeline as their campaign undertakes a costly effort to get on the ballot in all 50 states — which would be a challenging and expensive undertaking under any circumstances, even more so because the Democratic Party and its allies have pledged to mount legal challenges to the effort.

Ms. Shanahan made her announcement the same day that Mr. Biden and former President Donald J. Trump agreed to two debates , one on June 27 on CNN and another on Sept. 10 on ABC News. In doing so, they rejected the traditional Commission on Presidential Debates, which had hosted the events for decades.

Both candidates were seeking to keep Mr. Kennedy off the stage, with Mr. Biden’s campaign chair, Jennifer O’Malley Dillon, writing explicitly in a letter to the commission, “President Biden made his terms clear for two one-on-one debates, and Donald Trump accepted those terms.”

But Mr. Kennedy could potentially qualify for the CNN debate, and the effort could actually be easier under the network’s polling rules than it would have been under the guidelines set by the debates commission. Mr. Kennedy needs to show at least 15 percent support in four approved national polls between March 13 and June 20. He already has at least two polls that show him above that threshold, one from CNN and one from Quinnipiac University . He has another five weeks to earn more qualifying polls.

To qualify for the CNN debate, Mr. Kennedy must also get on the ballot in enough states so that he could potentially win the 270 Electoral College votes needed to be elected president. He is currently on the ballot in five states , which in total have 84 electoral votes, but his campaign has another five weeks to place him on the ballot in other states before the deadline to qualify for the debate.

Mr. Kennedy criticized both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump after news of their planned debates became public on Wednesday.

“They are trying to exclude me from their debate because they are afraid I would win,” he wrote on social media . “Keeping viable candidates off the debate stage undermines democracy.”

Adam Nagourney

With debate deal, Trump and Biden sideline a storied campaign institution.

The agreement by President Biden and Donald J. Trump to move ahead with two presidential debates — and sideline the Commission on Presidential Debates — is a debilitating and potentially fatal blow to an institution that had once been a major arbiter in presidential politics.

But the roots of the commission’s decline go back at least a decade and came to a head in 2020, when the commission struggled to stage a debate with Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden during the pandemic.

The candidates’ first encounter that year was caustic and raucous, as Mr. Trump shouted over Mr. Biden and the moderator. “I’m a pro: I’ve never been through anything like this,” the moderator, Chris Wallace , said.

As it later turned out, Mr. Trump had a Covid diagnosis days before the event, leading to strong objections from the Biden campaign to the commission. The second debate was canceled by Mr. Trump after the commission sought to make it virtual because Mr. Trump was recovering from the illness. By the third debate, the commission gave the moderator a mute button to cut off a candidate who broke the rules.

But even before then, the commission has been on political thin ice. Anita Dunn, a longtime senior adviser to Mr. Biden, helped write a 2015 report that called for the debates to be updated for a modern media environment. Mr. Trump accused the nonpartisan commission, created by the leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties in 1987, of bias toward the Democrats. The Republican National Committee announced in 2022 that it would not work with the commission.

“The campaigns have always wanted to take the debates back for themselves,” said Alan Schroeder, a professor emeritus at the Northeastern University School of Journalism in Boston, who has written several books about presidential debates. “They have been trying for years to get rid of the commission. So we are back to the future with this and back to a future that didn’t work that well.”

Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., who as Republican Party chairman helped create the commission and is now its co-chair, said in an interview that he was stunned by the campaigns’ decision to bypass the organization — and skeptical about how it might work.

“I would love to be a fly on the wall when the campaigns start to get together to go over the details of this,” he said. “Who sits where, who is the moderator, who is there, where these are. We were created to do all of this.”

Indeed, the commission was created to insert a bipartisan and empowered negotiator into the planning, covering matters such as moderator choices, how many guests each campaign could bring into the studio and the height of the lecterns the candidates stood behind.

It took over from the League of Women Voters, which had overseen the debates for a decade and was criticized for its lack of success in managing the demands of campaign operatives maneuvering for advantage. In 1984, the campaigns of Ronald Reagan, the Republican president, and Walter F. Mondale, his Democratic challenger, vetoed the names of 100 journalists suggested as panel questioners.

“The problem was that the league didn’t have a lot of clout against the campaign so the campaigns tended to run roughshod over them when it came to details of the format, the schedule, whether there would be a live audience,” Mr. Schroeder said.

The commission pushed aside practices that had evolved since the first televised presidential debates, in 1960, between Richard M. Nixon and John F. Kennedy. Panels of questioners, which made it more difficult to stay focused on a topic, or allow for follow-up, were replaced by a single moderator. The commission decided who could participate and where the debates would be held, and made sure that they would be televised on all the major networks.

Locations, dates and the focus of the debate — would they be about foreign policy or domestic issues — were announced well in advance, with the idea of making it harder for the campaign to try to influence the rules of the game.

“I am a fan of the commission,” said Gibbs Knotts, a professor of political science at the College of Charleston. “They have a consistent record of good work. It’s unfortunate if it’s going to be returned back to the campaigns; there will be more strategic calculations going on and less overall what’s in the best interest in the American public.”

Mr. Trump and Mr. Biden were quick to agree on the dates and networks sponsoring the debates, but tough negotiations lie ahead. Mr. Biden wants debates without an audience and with microphones that automatically cut off when a speaker exceeds his allotted time. It’s unclear whether Mr. Trump has agreed to those terms.

It is also unresolved whether the debate would be carried exclusively on the host network, or shared with other broadcasters and streamers. One of the sponsors, ABC, said it would allow other networks to show the debates as well; CNN, at least initially, said it would not.

For viewers, there might be no obvious difference between a commission-organized debate and one negotiated by the candidates and a network.

“A debate is a live program. It doesn’t have a script. Because as history has shown us over and over again, the debates have a mind of their own and take on a life of their own,” Mr. Schroeder said.

Despite the years of discontent, Mr. Fahrenkopf said the commission was caught off guard by Mr. Biden’s proposal on Wednesday. “We had no head’s up,” he said. But he said he was hopeful the campaigns, after taking into account how difficult these negotiations can be, will ultimately allow the commission to step in and run the show.

“We are set to go,” he said.

Michael M. Grynbaum contributed reporting.

Far-right candidate in Missouri draws backlash for homophobic video.

It was a fringe Republican campaign ad that could be ripe for parody on late-night television, ideal material for a skit on “Saturday Night Live” or the target of a monologue from a bewildered Jon Stewart. Except it was real, and it is hard to imagine how it could be further satirized.

“In America, you can be anything you want,” Valentina Gomez, a 25-year-old immigrant from Colombia and real estate investor running in the G.O.P. primary for secretary of state in Missouri, says in the video as she jogs through a historic district of St. Louis to the uplifting beats of “The Show Goes On” by Lupe Fiasco.

“So don’t be weak and gay. Stay hard,” she continues, emphasizing her statement with an expletive. The neighborhood where the video was filmed, Soulard, has a significant L.G.B.T. community.

The campaign ad, which Ms. Gomez shared on her social media accounts, then transitions from the video of Ms. Gomez — wearing running shorts and a vest resembling body armor — to a still photo of the candidate in front of a truck and wearing a National Rifle Association hat, with an American flag at her side and a gun in each hand.

The campaign ad, first posted on Sunday, has drawn condemnation and scrutiny online. Mr. Fiasco, who has condemned homophobia in the hip-hop scene , distanced himself from the video that featured one of his hit singles, saying in a statement that he was “currently taking action.” Jason Kander, a former Democratic secretary of state in Missouri and a former Army intelligence officer , mocked Ms. Gomez in a social media post on Tuesday.

“So refreshing to see a female GOP candidate who never served in the military doing the whole veteran cosplay, stolen valor, bigotry as a substitute for strength routine as well as any man,” wrote Mr. Kander , who deployed to Afghanistan in 2006 and has since struggled with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder .

But Ms. Gomez’s online trolling campaign, rife with homophobia and attacks against transgender people, has also earned her the admiration of far-right lawmakers, including Representative Matt Gaetz, online conservative influencers and the expelled former Representative George Santos — who is himself gay.

The jogging video is also not the first such homophobic stunt from Ms. Gomez, who appears eager to stand out as a political newcomer in a crowded Republican primary to be Missouri’s top elections official. In February, she posted a video of herself burning L.G.B.T.Q. books with a homemade flamethrower . A month later, she said that countries that ban flamethrowers were also “weak and gay,” and has since repeatedly used the homophobic phrase as an insult, wielding it as a campaign slogan.

Ms. Gomez has spent little on the race so far in comparison with some of her better-known opponents, including Dean Plocher, the speaker of the Missouri House . But her social media posts — which come at a frantic pace on X — have lifted her profile as she rails against the state party as corrupt and compromised.

“I speak the truth, and I am waking up the lions to save America,” Ms. Gomez wrote on social media on Wednesday, in defense of her ad. “Weakness will get us nowhere. The gloves are off, and I am here to protect and fight for Missouri.”

Ms. Gomez did not respond to a request for comment on social media.

Ms. Gomez’s remarks stand out not just for their provocative nature, but also because they are something of a non sequitur in the race she is running. A secretary of state is essentially a state’s chief bureaucrat, in charge of record-keeping and overseeing the state’s elections. Ms. Gomez is a 2020 election denier, and has said she would abolish voting machines and deploy the National Guard — an authority a secretary of state does not have — to secure elections.

Neil Vigdor and Yan Zhuang

Trump’s jet clipped a parked plane in Florida.

Former President Donald J. Trump landed in Cincinnati on Wednesday for a campaign fund-raiser, but without his ubiquitous Boeing 757, which had clipped a parked plane as it was taxiing at a Florida airport early on Sunday morning.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Trump was aboard his plane at the time of the mishap, according to details released by the Federal Aviation Administration and public information about the two aircraft that were involved. The incident happened several hours after Mr. Trump held a campaign rally at the Jersey Shore .

No injuries were reported, according to the F.A.A.’s notice about the incident , which listed the Boeing’s registration number as N757AF .

That is the same tail number as “Trump Force One,” the moniker for Mr. Trump’s airliner, which regularly shuttles the former president to campaign rallies and court appearances. The aircraft has been a source of braggadocio for Mr. Trump over the years — not to mention speculation about whether it might be seized as part of his civil fraud penalty in New York.

But on Wednesday, the aircraft was conspicuously absent as Mr. Trump descended from a considerably smaller private jet at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport.

Mr. Trump’s campaign did not respond to questions about the status of his plane.

According to the F.A.A., a Boeing 757 landed at Palm Beach International Airport at about 1:20 a.m. on Sunday and was taxiing when one of its winglets struck the rear elevator of a parked plane. A winglet is a small tip curving off the end of an aircraft’s wing in order to reduce aerodynamic drag.

No one was inside the parked plane, which was registered to VistaJet, a private charter company, the F.A.A. said in a statement , adding that the incident occurred in an area of the airfield where the agency does not direct aircraft. The agency said it was investigating the incident.

According to the F.A.A.’s aircraft registry, the Boeing plane is registered to DJT Operations I LLC, one of the companies Mr. Trump owned and resigned from at the beginning of 2017, when he became president.

The agency did not say how much damage the two planes sustained or specify the type of VistaJet aircraft that was involved. VistaJet did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Mr. Trump, who is in New York several days each week for a criminal trial related to a hush-money payment , lives just a few miles from the Palm Beach International Airport, at Mar-a-Lago, his private club.

He has frequently used airport tarmacs and hangars as a setting for his campaign rallies, saving him time and giving his supporters a chance to cheer on the plane’s approach.

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