Writing college-level assignments can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. This week, let’s have a discussion on writing strategies. Imagine that you have been asked to speak to your classmates and share your most helpful strategy for college-level writing. What would that strategy be?
When you write, what is the difference between writing a paper and writing a discussion post? How does the writing process differ for these two types of assignments? Furthermore, what is the difference between writing an initial discussion post and a response to one of your classmates?

Answer and Explanation:

1. The most useful strategy for me is to create an outline with the main topics I want to present in the official paper. In this outline, I show the order in which topics will be presented and which research sources I will use in each topic. This helps me not to run away from the topic and optimizes writing time.

2. Writing an article requires more preparation and extensive research. In the article, the author must present that he has done in-depth research on the topics discussed. In the article, it is necessary to outline ideas, follow a fixed structure and carry out fixation of research sources. The discussion post, on the other hand, does not require as much preparation and research, but it does require that the content presented in a class be understood and discussed with evidence, which shows that the student understood it efficiently.

3. The discussion post requires more formality than replying to a colleague, as the discussion post is an academic text. Responding to a colleague requires a more informal and less precise language.