The Writing Project Grid

<< Back to the Purpose of and Acknowledgements for the Writing Project

WRITING TOPIC	BEST LINK	NUTSHELL	SUGGESTED LINKS	ADVICE
The Writing Process	This site from Cleveland State University provides a colorful, three-dimensional illustration of the writing process.	Some Basic Terminology for the Writing Process		“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Approaching the Assignment	How to Read an Assignment from the Writing Center at UNC.	Reading Strategies	Reading Towards Writing How to Be Original	“If written directions alone would suffice, libraries wouldn’t need to have the rest of the universities attached.” — Judith Martin
Choosing a Topic	The AIM Principle			“As is your sort of mind, so is your sort of search: you’ll find what you desire.” — Robert Browning
Brainstorming	Planning/Prewriting from the Purdue OWL		Creative and Lateral Thinking	“Ideas are the cheapest part of the writing. They are free. The hard part is what you do with ideas you’ve gathered.” — Jane Yolen
Writing a Thesis	Thesis Writing	Discussion of the Thesis	How to Write a Thesis Statement Thesis Statements	A well-crafted thesis statement reflects well-crafted ideas. It signals a writer who has intelligence, commitment, and enthusiasm.
Writing an Outline	Developing an Outline from the Purdue OWL	The Art of the Outline	Outline: How They Can Improve Your Writing Writing and Using Outlines	“Measure twice. Cut once.” –Construction worker’s saying.
Doing Research	Researching Your Topic		Tips for Writing Research Papers	“The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write; a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” — Samuel Johnson
Writing a First Draft	Writing the First Draft			Writing is “easily as complex and demanding as high-level mathematics or theoretical physics.”
Revising	Revising Prose		Higher Order Concerns and Lower Order Concerns Cultivating a Critical Eye	“I believe more in the scissors than I do in the pencil.” — Truman Capote
Proofreading	Editing and Proofreading Strategies		Improving Sentence Clarity	“The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug.” — Mark Twain
Using Sources	Using Source Materials: An Introduction		Acknowledging Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism	“The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.” — Mark Twain
The Essay	What is an Academic Paper?	Beginning the Academic Essay	Some Basic Terminology for the Writing Process Effective Academic Writing: The Argument	“Have something to say, and say it as clearly as you can. That is the only secret.” — Matthew Arnold
The Research Paper	Academic Writing: Research Papers	The Research Paper	Planning and Writing a Research Paper (see also Other Tips)	“The work never matches the dream of perfection the artist has to start with.” — William Faulkner
Critical Thinking	Critical Reading Towards Critical Thinking			“What is written without effort is read without pleasure.” — Samuel Johnson
Style	Improving Your Writing Style	Attending to Style		“Good writing is clear thinking made visible.” — Bill Wheeler
Introductions	Preparing to Write an Introduction			“If you start with a bang, you won’t end with a whimper.” — T.S. Eliot
Conclusions	Conclusions		Ending the Essay: Conclusions	“A hard beginning maketh a good ending.” — John Heywood
The Paragraph	Developing Coherent Paragraphs			“Not that the story need be long, but it will take a long while to make it short.” — Henry David Thoreau
Transitions	Writing Effective Transitions			“The strokes of the pen need deliberation as much as the sword needs swiftness.” — Julia Ward Howe
Common Errors	Twelve Common Errors: An Editing Checklist			“Easy writing makes hard reading.” — Ernest Hemingway
Grammar	Guide to Grammar and Style		Guide to Grammar and Writing	“The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.” — Thomas Jefferson
Essay Exams	Timed Essays: Planning and Organizing in a Crunch	The REDOER Strategy for Essay Exams	Tips on Essay Exams Writing Essay Exams	“I never know what I think about something until I read what I’ve written on it.” — William Faulkner
The Personal Statement	Writing Application Essays	Effective Admission Essays	Graduate School Essays	“Personal examples carry more weight than preaching.” — Chinese Proverb
ESL Issues	Article Usage		ESL Resources ESL Independent Study Lab Mark’s ESL World	“The english language is no one’s special property. It is the property of imagination.” — Derek Walcott
Citing Sources	Style Sheets for Citing Sources		Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism	“The human plagiarism which is most difficult to avoid for individuals is the plagiarism of ourself.” — Marcel Proust
MLA Citations	MLA Citation Guide		Citation Guides	“The intelligible forms of ancient poets, The fair humanities of old religion . . .” — S. T. Coleridge
APA Citations and others	Guide to Citation Style Guides	Citing Sources APA Style	Citation Guides	“The only ‘ism’ Hollywood believes in is plagiarism.” — Dorothy Parker
Avoiding Plagiarism	The Academic Integrity Project Plagiarism	How Not To Plagiarize	Student Judicial Affairs at UC Davis	“The secret of good writing is to say an old thing in a new way or to say a new thing in an old way.” — Richard Harding Davis
UC Davis Resources	Writing in the Disciplines		The University Writing Program Prized Writing Writing in the Disciplines Workshop Program	“An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.” — Mark Twain
Writing the MCAT Essay	Strategies for the Successful MCAT Writing Sample		The MCAT Writing Sample	“A doctor, like anyone else who has to deal with human beings, each of them unique, cannot be a scientist; he is either, like the surgeon, a craftsman, or, like the physician and the psychologist, an artist.” — W.H. Auden