A Retrospective: My Strengths and Weaknesses as a Writer (the Media Writer's Self Reflection Scale)

    Recently, our group was tasked with taking on another assignment, one focused on self reflection when it came to our writing styles. More specifically, I’m referring to the Media Writer's Self Reflection Scale, which boiled down to us reflecting on our perceptions of media writing. Basically, what our strongest suits were, and areas we needed to improve. Along with our reflections, we were also posed with the following question:

Discuss the areas of your writing that you most want to improve in order to meet your career goals.

To begin, I would just like to mention that as of now, I don’t really have a career goal in mind when it comes to the realm of media. Before considering anything, my idea was to get into something related to advertising or marketing analysis. The closest thing I can imagine for myself now is a journalist in the technology and video game industry, since those are two areas I keep myself heavily involved in. For the sake of continuity, I will keep myself aligned to that path of being a journalist. As per the title of this blog post, I ended up taking the test myself. Most of the results tended to be in line with how I see my own skill sets, almost entirely average. 

The first 2 tests measured both my Elaborate/Surface and Reflective/Revisionist skill sets. The Elaborate/Surface test refers to my knowledge of the writing process and associating positive feelings to writing, while also wanting to improve. Meanwhile, the Reflective/Revisionist test entailed making outlines and putting in some effort into planning a writing piece. As such, both scores were in line with what my work ethic usually entailed. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest, as my score ended up being in range with how I usually worked, both receiving 2 points within the average between the highest and lowest possible scores. I never neglected learning anything when it came to my own writings, such as essays and other large papers, but I always insisted that I put some effort and care into my works to make sure they satisfy me. It also listed me as someone who occasionally puts effort into revising and reflecting on the works I had created, rarely putting in time to plan my works ahead of time, which was also true. In fact, it was honestly shocking and a tad bit worrying how accurate these reflections of my scores were in relation to the test.

My score for Writing Self-Efficacy was something I was fairly confident about. Most areas regarding grammar, punctuation, and other related topics were something I did pride myself in. I always made sure my messages came off as clearly as they did. Unfortunately, I did score pretty close to the lower end of the high spectrum, which came as a bit of a shock. I was trying to figure out what may have caused it, so rummaging back through the test, it came as a result of question 19, asking me about coming across clearly in my works. This is something I do tend to struggle with, as even though I use more sophisticated vocabulary to convey meaning to my writings, I tend to put less focus on having others understand what I write. As a result, I tend to confuse and bewilder people, myself included, which is not a good sign if even I can’t understand what I’m saying half the time.

Looking into my Writing Apprehension score, again, it was pretty in line with how I see myself as a writer. Most times when writing, I tend to let my brain go numb and word vomit, revising on any areas that tend to be too wordy or too unintelligible. I never feel any anxiety or worry when it comes to writing, as I let myself get lost in my writing. As juxtaposed as it sounds, not focusing on my writing helps me alleviate my anxiety, and helps me write better. Although I’m not sure if it’s a healthy habit or not.

Finally, the last individual score was in regards to the Social Media / Professional score. This basically refers to how much of the informal writing I do within texting and social media is quality enough to be used in a professional setting. In all honesty, I expected this score to be completely at the bottom, as between the two, I see no correlation. My writing online is far different than the writing used in a professional setting. My suspicions were correct, as my score listed me in the bottom percentile, meaning that my writing online and professionally were distinct between the two.

Given my projected career path, there’s definitely a substantial amount that I need to continue improving on to meet my goals. Although I am comfortable with the level I am at in terms of all these basic skills, it’s not something that will be able to assist me going forward. My total MWSP score places me dead average, which is something I expected from myself, but not what will aid me in the future. The two sections that I do want to improve on going forward are my Revisionist and Efficacy skills, as those are two areas that I do tend to struggle on. Especially with being a journalist, it’s important that my messages come off as clear as they possibly can, though without proper reflection of my works and simply being content with the first few drafts, I will go nowhere.

Although I’m simply basing this off of prior experience in my creative works and other works of writing I’ve manifested, it’s important that I start making these changes as soon as possible. I know with the assistance of my fellow peers and professors, I can make that change occur. Though, I need to put in some effort of my own, I need to have that self confidence, you know?