I’m at the end of the semester and I’m in the middle of reviewing about 20 write-ups my students wrote in a case that we discussed in class. And how to write better assignments? The situation was about a venture capitalist who offered an entrepreneur cash in exchange for what the entrepreneur believed was a huge stake in his company. Students were required to draft a report as a consultant giving the entrepreneur advice on how to handle the offer.
Table of Contents
Tips for Writing Better Assignments
Begin with a basic “high level” outline and then work it into smaller and finer details.
Find out what your mission is before you begin
Do you writing an advisory note? Are you describing the issues that are involved in the valuation process? Do you give a recommendation? That’s right, all good writing (just like a well-presented presentation) has a purpose to achieve. Do not begin writing until you are certain of what you want to achieve. You can also get experts help from “Write My Essay” source.
Get organized BEFORE you begin writing
back in the dark ages prior to the advent of computers (and prior to the meteor that that hid that wiped out my village) the process of changing your writing was a challenge once you had it down on paper. Therefore, in order to avoid that writing, we needed to be well-organized before writing. Dierdre McCloskey (who’s been doing many studies on writing better in the field of economics) has said that “90% of empirical work is getting your data straight, and 90% of good writing is getting your thoughts straight”. Your best friend is a thorough outline.
Later, you can make it more specific for better assignments writing. This will ensure that your writing remains “on point”. If you’ve created a clear outline, writing becomes simple – you’re simply doing what you want to do.
Do not employ flowery or awe-inspiring words at impressing me.
In the elementary and high schools teachers inform us that writing that is good means being creative and employing more emotive words. This means that the message gets through that using more words indicates it’s more likely that the work you’re writing is more appreciated (you appear more intelligent, you’re more attractive and ladies (or guys) will be on their feet and the list goes on). This doesn’t generally apply to business writing. Keep it simple, concise and straight to the point. Avoid using a long word when a shorter word will suffice.
Eliminate redundant phrases and words:
Phrases like “the fact that …” and “basically” are the equivalent in writing better assignments of saying “ummmmm.” They do nothing but interfere with the flow. One of my former teachers once advised me to create a draft first and then cut at the very least one word from each sentence. Try to write with the minimum amount of words that can accomplish the task.
Edit and Edit:
I’ve only encountered one person throughout my life who was able to consistently create a draft that was perfectly. The majority of people (and I’m a part of this category) are only able to get it half-right in the first attempt. My experience is that it typically requires about four rewrites before I’m even a little happy with the writing I’ve done.
Your work to your most stern critic:
We all have the tendency to believe that the work we create is good. However, the true test of quality writing is the way OTHER people view it. Therefore, you should get at least one other person to evaluate your writing before putting it in out in the open. When you select the people to read it, pick the most hard-hitting (and the most careful) critics you can locate. Someone who says “everything looks great” is not the kind of critic you want You want the most selective and most savage critic you can find.
Give yourself time:
All the above steps require time. Therefore, if you are due to submit an assignment on the 13th of Friday it is recommended to have your initial draft written at a minimum an hour or two prior to. Writing that is good takes time and often requires several revisions. Start early and allow yourself enough time to revise.
Ending
Again, my students proved that a large number (not everyone, but lots) do not know how to write effectively. Therefore, I decided to provide a service to students that have to write better assignments (and for the professors who are required to review the assignments) and provide some tips for writing better.
