Links to Resources for Writers

The IWCA Website is dedicated to fostering writing centers–places where writers, particulary, but not limited to, the academic community, gather to discuss and work on their writing. We in the writing center community, however, realize that you might have found this site while seeking out information about writing. With that in mind, we offer you links to various writing resources. If you are a student writer seeking advice about your writing, we suggest that you check our database to see if your institution has a writing center you can confer with.

Starting out

• The University of Richmond provides a few pre-writing handouts, including one that discusses clustering, and one that provides a list of questions to get the writer started. There is also an interesting handout about “Glossing.”
• The University of Victoria Writing Centre has many handouts on the different types of essays, including sample essays.

Organization

• Oklahoma State provides mini-lessons on areas such as thesis Development and transitions.
• The University of Victoria also have handouts for paragraphs (i.e. order, transitions etc.).
• St. Cloud State University has quite a few interesting handouts on many different issues – including conclusions and introductions.

English as a Second Language

• Dave’s ESL Cafe, maintained by Dave Sperling, offers many instructional and helpful pages, including an idiom page.
• Purdue’s OWL provides a comprehensive list of online second language resources.
• English as a Second Language is “a starting point for ESL learners who want to learn English through the World Wide Web.”

Language

• Merriam Webster’s Dictionary.
• Roget’s Thesaurus.
• NASA has a specialized technical thesaurus online that covers words related to aircraft, spacecraft, and the space program.
• A more advanced ASL dictionary using Quick-time video.
• Need a rhyme?

Writing style

• Colgate University also has a handout that covers professional essays for graduate school.
• See the quintessential Strunk The Elements of Style in its original (1918) version.
• Yale Web Style Guide.
• Technical writing issues, including step-by-step resume instructions, are offered by the Rensselaer Writing Center.
• A Guide for Writing Research Papers based on Styles Recommended by The American Psychological Association.

Citation

• Official APA Guide to Online Resources.
• APA documentation style.
• Official Guide to the MLA Documentation Style.
• Purdue’s MLA Guide.
• MLA documentation style.

Grammar and usage

• Purdue On-Line Writing Lab Web Server Home Page offers writers many resources, including extensive, and thorough “handouts” about grammar and usage.

Reading

• George Mason University has a few resources about reading, such as keeping a reading journal, questions to ask a poem, and and a checklist for reading poetry.

(c) 2006 International Writing Centers Association

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