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So, I would like to work on clarifying, structuring, and simplifying my future writings so that they are better from the start and do not require as much work to alter them in future drafts.
Friday, February 26, 2016
My strengths and weaknesses in my writing
My writing is not perfect and is in need of a thorough examination in order to discover what my weaknesses and strengths are. Some of the things that I want to work on include procrastination, grammar, and paper organization. These three weaknesses really hinder my writing. They affect my writing process, my end result, and the way my content is heard and displayed. When these things are not done to the degree necessary for successful writing a well-done writing product becomes impossible. Some strengths that I have include being thorough and very detailed. I tend to write very detailed papers that are full of information, but this strength turns in to another weakness as well. This is the weakness of redundancy. I tend to write so much that I bring up things I have already talked about and, while I think this is important, I do not need to do it as much as I do because it makes my writing wordy. This wordiness makes clarity in my paper difficult to achieve.
With the above being said, my writing needs a lot of work. My biggest fear in my writing though, out of those that were mentioned, is the redundancy and over detailed writing I produce sometimes when I do not pay attention to all of the content I am producing. I have to realize that I can delete stuff and that just because my papers are long it does not make them good.
So, I would like to work on clarifying, structuring, and simplifying my future writings so that they are better from the start and do not require as much work to alter them in future drafts.
So, I would like to work on clarifying, structuring, and simplifying my future writings so that they are better from the start and do not require as much work to alter them in future drafts.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Tools for Proper Note-taking
Today I am going to write on the subject of field note-taking in law enforcement. One of the most important tools in effective note-taking we discussed in class through information presented to us in our book, Just the Facts: Investigative Report Writing by Michael Biggs, is picking the right notebook that is best for you. We learned that there is no notebook that is above all others and has to be used, but rather that the only thing that matters is that you, as the officer, must be comfortable with the notebook you choose.
With that being said, I looked up three different types of notebooks that can be used in law enforcement to take notes in the field. The first two included the LawTech extra large note-pad, and the LawTech normal size note-pad. The only difference between these two notebooks are the sizes. The extra large notepad is 4 1/2'' by 8 1/2'', while the normal size can be bought at 2 3/4'' by 4 1/2'' or 4'' by 6''. So, the extra large one is much bigger than the normal size one that can be bought at much smaller sizes. Now, the notebooks both include a crime broadcast checklist, note-taking/report writing checklist, and a Miranda advertisement. Yet, the extra large LawTech notebook has 120 pages to the 64 or 92 pages that the normal size LawTech versions have and the extra large LawTech has a spiral binding on the top as opposed to the normal size versions that seem to not. So, these two versions, while very similar, have different features that make each interesting and likable in their own ways.
Now, the third notebook I found is called the police field interview notebook. It's size is similar to the normal size version of the LawTech at 4'' by 8'', it has 70 pages, it has an extra large cover that allows for writing while the individual is standing up, and it has plenty of space to take down facts about many different issues. So, this notebook is great as well. It allows you to have plenty of space, pages, and surfaces to take down good notes, which is crucial to law enforcement if you want to get to the bottom of any case.
Now, with these three notebooks or notepads being described, I would choose the normal size 4'' by 6'' LawTech notebook. I would choose this because I feel like it is the perfect size and the other two are too big. I feel like it is important to be able to slip your notebook in your pocket easily and quickly if you need to take action. Then, I think the features it comes with, highlighted by the Miranda advertisement, are invaluable and would be very helpful to have as reminders in the field. The police field interview notebook has a lot of great features too, headlined by the thick cover that allows you to take notes while standing up, but the features mentioned earlier that the LawTech has are unique and give you an excellent resource in the field that the police field interview notebook does not.
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With that being said, I looked up three different types of notebooks that can be used in law enforcement to take notes in the field. The first two included the LawTech extra large note-pad, and the LawTech normal size note-pad. The only difference between these two notebooks are the sizes. The extra large notepad is 4 1/2'' by 8 1/2'', while the normal size can be bought at 2 3/4'' by 4 1/2'' or 4'' by 6''. So, the extra large one is much bigger than the normal size one that can be bought at much smaller sizes. Now, the notebooks both include a crime broadcast checklist, note-taking/report writing checklist, and a Miranda advertisement. Yet, the extra large LawTech notebook has 120 pages to the 64 or 92 pages that the normal size LawTech versions have and the extra large LawTech has a spiral binding on the top as opposed to the normal size versions that seem to not. So, these two versions, while very similar, have different features that make each interesting and likable in their own ways.
Now, the third notebook I found is called the police field interview notebook. It's size is similar to the normal size version of the LawTech at 4'' by 8'', it has 70 pages, it has an extra large cover that allows for writing while the individual is standing up, and it has plenty of space to take down facts about many different issues. So, this notebook is great as well. It allows you to have plenty of space, pages, and surfaces to take down good notes, which is crucial to law enforcement if you want to get to the bottom of any case.
Now, with these three notebooks or notepads being described, I would choose the normal size 4'' by 6'' LawTech notebook. I would choose this because I feel like it is the perfect size and the other two are too big. I feel like it is important to be able to slip your notebook in your pocket easily and quickly if you need to take action. Then, I think the features it comes with, highlighted by the Miranda advertisement, are invaluable and would be very helpful to have as reminders in the field. The police field interview notebook has a lot of great features too, headlined by the thick cover that allows you to take notes while standing up, but the features mentioned earlier that the LawTech has are unique and give you an excellent resource in the field that the police field interview notebook does not.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Exercise 13 from Chapter Two
The following post is my answer to exercise 13 in our textbook, Just The Facts: Investigative Report Writing by Michael Biggs, where we were asked to rewrite a report using the rules of narrative writing.
On 7-25-15, at approximately 1230 hours, I received a radio call to meet the reporting party, Katherine Tunney, at the address 1647 Rancho, El Fuego. Katherine Tunney lives at home with her parents, Carol and Gary Tunney.
I then made contact with Katherine Tunney, date of birth: 9-16-89, who stated that at around 1215 hours she was getting ready to leave her residence when she observed a white Toyota van wagon stopped in front of her residence facing westbound on the opposite side of the street. What brought her attention to the vehicle was the fact that the driver was turned in his seat taking pictures of her house. Katherine Tunney said that the vehicle was stopped in the middle of the street and not on the complete opposite side.
Katherine Tunney said that she thought this was suspicious and remembered that her mother, Carol Tunney, date of birth: 1-21-66, was approached by a suspicious person back in April.
Katherine Tunney tried to make contact with the individual. When she approached the vehicle the individual immediately rolled up his driver side window and drove away. Katherine Tunney said she was able to get the license plate number on the van when it slowed down. So, I then asked Katherine for the license plate number and she said it was 836L92F.
Then, a radio call was initiated on the license plate and it came back to a 2004 Toyota Wagon, registered to Bond, Stephen D. , at 3381 El Balzo, El Fuego. Katherine Tunney describes the male subject involved to be a white male, with graying hair.
When talking to Carol Tunney, she said she filed a report with the police department back in April. She was in front of her garage re-potting a plant when a male individual came up to her and asked her what her name was. Carol Tunney said that she did not give him her name and then proceeded to ask what his name was. He declined to respond.
Carol Tunney said the individual left in a car that had a personalized plate of ISPYONU. Then, the information belonging to the vehicle was run. It came back to a 2008 SAAB registered to Toomey, Richard, 36 Paseo De Bonito, El Rancho.
I told Carol Tunney and Katherine Tunney that at this time no crime has occurred. At this time, no contact has been made with Bond or Tunney and information has been passed on to the investigation division.
Nothing further to report.
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I then made contact with Katherine Tunney, date of birth: 9-16-89, who stated that at around 1215 hours she was getting ready to leave her residence when she observed a white Toyota van wagon stopped in front of her residence facing westbound on the opposite side of the street. What brought her attention to the vehicle was the fact that the driver was turned in his seat taking pictures of her house. Katherine Tunney said that the vehicle was stopped in the middle of the street and not on the complete opposite side.
Katherine Tunney said that she thought this was suspicious and remembered that her mother, Carol Tunney, date of birth: 1-21-66, was approached by a suspicious person back in April.
Katherine Tunney tried to make contact with the individual. When she approached the vehicle the individual immediately rolled up his driver side window and drove away. Katherine Tunney said she was able to get the license plate number on the van when it slowed down. So, I then asked Katherine for the license plate number and she said it was 836L92F.
Then, a radio call was initiated on the license plate and it came back to a 2004 Toyota Wagon, registered to Bond, Stephen D. , at 3381 El Balzo, El Fuego. Katherine Tunney describes the male subject involved to be a white male, with graying hair.
When talking to Carol Tunney, she said she filed a report with the police department back in April. She was in front of her garage re-potting a plant when a male individual came up to her and asked her what her name was. Carol Tunney said that she did not give him her name and then proceeded to ask what his name was. He declined to respond.
Carol Tunney said the individual left in a car that had a personalized plate of ISPYONU. Then, the information belonging to the vehicle was run. It came back to a 2008 SAAB registered to Toomey, Richard, 36 Paseo De Bonito, El Rancho.
I told Carol Tunney and Katherine Tunney that at this time no crime has occurred. At this time, no contact has been made with Bond or Tunney and information has been passed on to the investigation division.
Nothing further to report.
Friday, February 12, 2016
My biggest challenge
The time has finally come to for our class to be done with our documentary summary projects. I have to tell you that it was not easy at all. This project really challenged me as a writer in a multitude of ways, but the biggest challenge I faced was definitely learning how to maintain the information I needed while meeting the length requirement of five pages.
The presence of a problem in meeting the length requirements of my writing is not a new issue for me in the slightest unfortunately. In my academic career I have always written more then the assignment required. I always found that when I was writing that I had more to say and so I wrote. This style of writing was allowed by some teachers and professors alike, but also rejected by some as well. I think the bigger issue of the two would be the professors and teachers I had that did not care about myself exceeding the length requirements that were set for the assignment. Now, the type of papers I produced for these classes were good and often yielded me high marks. So, the content is not usually the issue with my papers, but the habit creates a problem when the assignment and subsequently the professor or teacher are strict in regard to the length requirements.
Now, this assignment was particularly difficult for me because the maximum length that I could reach was five pages and I produced about nine and a half pages on my first draft. So, I had a long way to go to get my paper cut down to the required amount of pages that the assignment called for. It was difficult for me to do this at first because it is hard for me as a writer to get rid of writing that I feel is perfectly good. So, I had to read through my draft and go over the main issues that arouse in my documentary and make sure I kept those, but eliminated the things I did not need. So, with each passing draft from my first draft forward I broke up paragraphs, fixed verb usage, and eliminated four and a half pages, two with the second revision and two with the fourth revision, and achieved the maximum length requirement that the assignment called for.
So, in order to overcome my challenge of meeting the length requirements in this assignment I had to work very hard and produce multiple drafts. I did not do this by myself though. I could not have done this by myself. I used the help of my professor and my classmates in order to see my drafts issues and produce a stronger draft each time. This then led me to producing my fourth and final draft that was exactly five pages in length. It was more concise, organized, and structurally sound because of the help I received, which gave me the tools I needed to complete this assignment, as well as motivated me to overcome this issue and succeed in completion of this assignment.
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The presence of a problem in meeting the length requirements of my writing is not a new issue for me in the slightest unfortunately. In my academic career I have always written more then the assignment required. I always found that when I was writing that I had more to say and so I wrote. This style of writing was allowed by some teachers and professors alike, but also rejected by some as well. I think the bigger issue of the two would be the professors and teachers I had that did not care about myself exceeding the length requirements that were set for the assignment. Now, the type of papers I produced for these classes were good and often yielded me high marks. So, the content is not usually the issue with my papers, but the habit creates a problem when the assignment and subsequently the professor or teacher are strict in regard to the length requirements.
Now, this assignment was particularly difficult for me because the maximum length that I could reach was five pages and I produced about nine and a half pages on my first draft. So, I had a long way to go to get my paper cut down to the required amount of pages that the assignment called for. It was difficult for me to do this at first because it is hard for me as a writer to get rid of writing that I feel is perfectly good. So, I had to read through my draft and go over the main issues that arouse in my documentary and make sure I kept those, but eliminated the things I did not need. So, with each passing draft from my first draft forward I broke up paragraphs, fixed verb usage, and eliminated four and a half pages, two with the second revision and two with the fourth revision, and achieved the maximum length requirement that the assignment called for.
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So, in order to overcome my challenge of meeting the length requirements in this assignment I had to work very hard and produce multiple drafts. I did not do this by myself though. I could not have done this by myself. I used the help of my professor and my classmates in order to see my drafts issues and produce a stronger draft each time. This then led me to producing my fourth and final draft that was exactly five pages in length. It was more concise, organized, and structurally sound because of the help I received, which gave me the tools I needed to complete this assignment, as well as motivated me to overcome this issue and succeed in completion of this assignment.
Friday, February 5, 2016
My writing process so far....
Throughout the past couple of weeks I have been working hard to complete a perfected copy of my documentary summary on The Thin Blue Line. I have had to overcome several obstacles in order to perfect my writing and perfecting you own writing is something I have found to be quite difficult at times. I think, and have discovered overtime, that we as human beings view our work differently then others, but need others in order to get the right advice to advance in our writing process. So, overall this experience has made me a better writer, has made me alter my writing habits, and will allow my professional career to be made easier.
To begin, this process has made me a better writer. When I wrote my first draft I do not think that I allotted myself the appropriate amount of time to make the best draft, but, nonetheless, I produced a workable first rough draft. I learned myself that my procrastination, which resulted in myself not allotting enough time to write the original draft to the fullest potential I could, was a large weakness that I had. Then, I really had some excellent growth after going to class and getting my paper examined in class. I was shown the many problems it had that I could not see as the author. I was shown how my MLA format was not correct, how my lack of double spacing negatively affected how my paper was viewed, how my paragraph creation and spacing needed work, and finally how I needed to add a small introduction of some kind in order to appropriately introduce my documentary, so that my audience knew what was going on. I took these issues and I went to work fixing them. I was able to appropriately fix my MLA format issues and my paragraph and spacing issues. This immediately made my paper easier to read and look at. Then, I added the introductory information and made a more complete and perfect draft, which was the goal from the start. All in all, I have become a better write due to the trials I have endured writing this summary.
Moving on, I think my experience with procrastination and the emphasis on using proper structure will help me in my professional career. In law enforcement you have to be ready to go at all times and cannot get off task or behind. You must be on time when doing reports and on point with writing down notes in the moment in order to get the information needed to do said reports. If I procrastinate I will not be able to advance positively in these areas. Further, writing in law enforcement has to be concise and structure has to be error free, so if I am aware of proper structure now it will only help me later. So, this experience will benefit me in my hopeful future career in law enforcement I think.
With the above said, there are things I would do differently now. I would make sure that I made time everyday to work on my summary originally instead of doing it all at once. I procrastinated and did not give myself the chance to make a complete and perfected draft. Further, I would take more time to examine the structure of my summary. I would make sure spacing, format, and paragraph separation were correct. This could have saved me time in the future and made my original draft look better and more perfected.
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To begin, this process has made me a better writer. When I wrote my first draft I do not think that I allotted myself the appropriate amount of time to make the best draft, but, nonetheless, I produced a workable first rough draft. I learned myself that my procrastination, which resulted in myself not allotting enough time to write the original draft to the fullest potential I could, was a large weakness that I had. Then, I really had some excellent growth after going to class and getting my paper examined in class. I was shown the many problems it had that I could not see as the author. I was shown how my MLA format was not correct, how my lack of double spacing negatively affected how my paper was viewed, how my paragraph creation and spacing needed work, and finally how I needed to add a small introduction of some kind in order to appropriately introduce my documentary, so that my audience knew what was going on. I took these issues and I went to work fixing them. I was able to appropriately fix my MLA format issues and my paragraph and spacing issues. This immediately made my paper easier to read and look at. Then, I added the introductory information and made a more complete and perfect draft, which was the goal from the start. All in all, I have become a better write due to the trials I have endured writing this summary.
Moving on, I think my experience with procrastination and the emphasis on using proper structure will help me in my professional career. In law enforcement you have to be ready to go at all times and cannot get off task or behind. You must be on time when doing reports and on point with writing down notes in the moment in order to get the information needed to do said reports. If I procrastinate I will not be able to advance positively in these areas. Further, writing in law enforcement has to be concise and structure has to be error free, so if I am aware of proper structure now it will only help me later. So, this experience will benefit me in my hopeful future career in law enforcement I think.
With the above said, there are things I would do differently now. I would make sure that I made time everyday to work on my summary originally instead of doing it all at once. I procrastinated and did not give myself the chance to make a complete and perfected draft. Further, I would take more time to examine the structure of my summary. I would make sure spacing, format, and paragraph separation were correct. This could have saved me time in the future and made my original draft look better and more perfected.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Free write thoughts from class
In class we were asked to discuss how we felt in regard to the freedom we had the last week in our class. Then, in addition we were asked what we learned about ourselves as writers and then how we can make changes in the future. My thoughts on these questions are as follows.
This week I learned a lot about myself as a writer. I learned that I am good at organizing my thoughts, achieving my goals, and completing that goal by getting it on paper or online through a blog. I did this by making sure I made a post each day of the week. I made sure I watched my documentary and that my professor knew I did. Then, I showed I had watched it by blogging about my initial reactions. These reactions took the form of answers to four reflective questions that were posted for us. These questions allowed me to dive into the film further and then allowed me a more in-depth look at something I would need to summarize at a later time. Unfortunately, I did procrastinate with putting my first complete draft together. So, I had some errors that need to be fixed, but it's a rough draft and I know mistakes are expected.
With that being said, in the future I need to manage my tie more effectively. If I had made just a little more time for myself to create my final summary I think it could have been much better and it is not bad to start with. So, in order to do this I think planning out my days and leaving an hour for draft creation or revision each day could make a big difference.
Further, with the week concluded, it feels great having a tangible draft done though. It makes you feel accomplished and that you have done a good job, which is a step in the right direction. It may not be complete and fantastic yet, but with more effort and revision it will get where I want and need it to go.
This week I learned a lot about myself as a writer. I learned that I am good at organizing my thoughts, achieving my goals, and completing that goal by getting it on paper or online through a blog. I did this by making sure I made a post each day of the week. I made sure I watched my documentary and that my professor knew I did. Then, I showed I had watched it by blogging about my initial reactions. These reactions took the form of answers to four reflective questions that were posted for us. These questions allowed me to dive into the film further and then allowed me a more in-depth look at something I would need to summarize at a later time. Unfortunately, I did procrastinate with putting my first complete draft together. So, I had some errors that need to be fixed, but it's a rough draft and I know mistakes are expected.
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With that being said, in the future I need to manage my tie more effectively. If I had made just a little more time for myself to create my final summary I think it could have been much better and it is not bad to start with. So, in order to do this I think planning out my days and leaving an hour for draft creation or revision each day could make a big difference.
Further, with the week concluded, it feels great having a tangible draft done though. It makes you feel accomplished and that you have done a good job, which is a step in the right direction. It may not be complete and fantastic yet, but with more effort and revision it will get where I want and need it to go.
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