Resources for Students

“Fear is at the root of all bad writing.” --Stephen King

Creating a piece of good writing is a little like packing a suitcase.  If you approach the task methodically, you are likely to arrive at your destination with everything you need.  If you approach the task haphazardly, you are likely to arrive at your destination missing something very important.  Separating the writing process into its sequential parts will help you generate a well thought out piece of writing. There are five simple steps: Plan, Draft, Revise, Edit and Publish.  Consider the suitcase analogy as a way of thinking about the writing process:

• Plan – Make a list of what you need to pack
• Draft – Locate all of the things on your list and assemble them in one place
• Revise – Try to pack all of those things into your suitcase
• Edit – Eliminate anything that won’t fit or isn’t really necessary
• Publish – Check the list for anything forgotten, close the bag and go!

Watch This

Most students say the hardest part about writing is just getting started.  See what other students think about starting the writing process and then use the Plan/Draft/Revise/Edit/Publish resources on this page to help you succeed.

• Why is Writing Hard? (3:32)

“If you want to be a writer, write.”    --Epictetus, AD

Planning what you are going to write means answering a few simple questions.  Among other things, these questions address who you are writing to, what you are writing them about and why you are writing them.  Simple stuff really.  Answering these questions also helps get the creative process started.  Here several key questions that will help you complete the planning part of the writing process.

• Topic – What do I want to write about?
• Audience - Who do I want to write to?
• Purpose – What do I want my reader to do once they have read my writing?
• Thesis – What is the main thing I want to tell my audience?

Get Going

Often you may be asked to write about a specific type of work and want to see what approaches to take, or you may simply want some good strategies for getting going no matter the subject.  Try these resources from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University to get started.

• Writing a Research Paper - Information on how to write research papers
• Writing About Fiction – Discusses major topics relating to writing about fiction
• Writing About Literature - Provides examples and description about writing papers in literature
• Writing About Poetry - Covers the basics of how to write about poetry
• Starting the Process – Tips for beginning writing
• Prewriting - Processes, strategies, and questions to help you begin writing
• Writer's Block - Help and exercises for overcoming writer's block
• Creating a Thesis Statement - Tips for creating a thesis statement and examples of types

Watch This

Mapping, Brainstorming and Freewriting are three popular techniques you can use to get the planning process started.  Check out these videos to see how it works.

• Mapping (5:16)
• Brainstorming (6:46)
• Freewriting (6:48)

“One learns by doing a thing…”    --Sophocles

A draft is a repository for your rough ideas.  Creating a draft first requires lending some organization to those rough ideas.  The trick is to identify what information supports your topic, and then narrow that to what best supports your topic.  An outline is a good tool for guiding this narrowing process because it helps you prioritize ideas and then create a first draft.  Here several key steps that will help you complete the drafting part of the writing process.

• Gather and Prioritize Ideas
• Outline the Ideas
• Create the First Draft
• Check for Paragraph Transitions
• Add Rhetorical Devices

Get Going

For more help with the drafting stage of your writing, try these resources from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.

• Developing an Outline – Describes types of outlines and offers suggestions for developing effective outlines
• Paragraphs and Paragraphing – Provides basic instruction for creating understandable and coherent paragraphs
• Transitions and Transitional Devices - Discusses transition strategies and specific transitional devices to help sentences flow more effectively

“If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend six hours sharpening my ax.”    --Abraham Lincoln

Revision is where your writing can go from good to great.  This is the portion of the process where you hone your material to make it as clear, logical and supportive of your purpose as possible.  Revision may happen over one or more redrafts of your original first draft.  The key to good revision is to ask yourself whether all of the various parts you have assembled on paper achieve your purpose as well as they can.  Refine or eliminate those that don’t, and fill in any missing pieces that prove necessary.  Here several key steps that will help you complete the revision part of the writing process.

• Clarify Meaning
• Organize Material Logically
• Refine Rhetorical Devices

Get Going

For more help with the revision stage of your writing, try these resources from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.

• Establishing Arguments - Explains arguments in writing and using research to support a thesis
• Rhetorical Situation - Presentation on factors that contribute to strong, well-organized writing
• Adding Emphasis in Writing - Provides information on adding emphasis to writing
• Conciseness - Explains the concept of concise writing and how to ensure clear prose
• Paramedic Method: A Lesson in Writing Concisely – Offers exercises to eliminate wordiness
• Sentence Variety - Presents methods for adding sentence variety and complexity to writing
• Using Appropriate Language – Covers some of the major issues with appropriate language use

“The chief virtue that language can have is clarity.”    --Hippocrates

Editing is vital.  Your writing should be error free—period.  Error free is the standard expectation for any correspondence in the business world and for published writing of any kind.  Don’t rely on software spelling and grammar checkers alone.  A wonderful benefit of editing is that it will often provoke you to further revise and sharpen your writing, not just look for mechanical errors.  There are three main types of editing checks you need to perform on each piece of writing:

• Check Grammar
• Check Mechanics (voice, tense)
• Check Spelling

Get Going

For more help with the editing stage of your writing, try these resources from the Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University.

• Punctuation - Clarifies when and how to use various marks of punctuation
• Proofreading - Provides information on proofreading, finding and fixing common errors
• Commas - This resource offers a number of pages about comma use.

Watch This

Clocking is a method of editing that improves your writing and your editing skills at the same time.  You can do it with two or three friends or a whole class.  Take a look.

• Clocking (8:27)

“If you do not write for publication, there is little point in writing at all.”    --William Faulkner

Publishing your work is the culmination of all of your writing efforts.  Before you publish, though, you will want to have your work reviewed closely by others.  Another set of eyes is very helpful in finding a missed edit.  Also, another reader can often suggest ways to make your work more clear or forceful.  Be willing to consider the input of others.  Once you have finalized your work, you are ready to format it according to the requirements of the publication or recipient.  The four key steps to preparing a piece for publishing are:

• Get Feedback
• Revise and Finalize
• Format
• Publish

Get Going

There are many online publications that welcome submissions from beginning writers.  You may also want to self-publish by starting your own website or blog.