Writing Tips

"I'll call for pen and ink and write my mind."

Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part I

Before you begin, some thoughts:

This is a spot with so many resources, and you should take advantage of all of them. Good writers don't happen overnight, and not everyone will be the next Jane Austen (I love her) or F. Scott Fitzgerald. That's okay. You can, however, be a solid communicator of written thought. You can give your words power, even if they don't always have poetry--again, that's okay. If everyone communicated poetically, would anything ever make sense?

Written communication, however, will always be part of your life, no matter what field you pursue. You might never write a novel--you might never read one again after high school (sad thought)--but reading and writing will always matter. You may be called on to read or write letters, instructional manuals, marketing presentations, business proposals, scientific journals, recommendation letters, cover letters, etc. It really never ends, so you need to be prepared.

To that end, this page is full of writing resources, and I will continue to add to them. Once you get past the generic rubrics for my class, you will find generally helpful materials on research, formatting, citing (really important), etc., and if you scroll past those, you will find some general style and grammar aids--and yes, these are important. You are only as good as your word, so you'll want that to be 1. your own, 2. honest, and 3. intelligible.

So happy writing, all!

Plagiarism: Do NOT Try This at Home (or Anywhere)!

Plagiarism Prevention with Dr Seuss

Style and Form

Tips for Writing Formally

These are just a few general hints on formal writing, and they are taken from some of the most common trouble areas I have found in student writing: Tips for Writing Formally

Grammar Crimes against Humanity

This is from my wall (so it should look familiar) and it details many common mistakes in writing. You should print this and put it in the writing section of your notebook: Stop the Insanity

Formatting and Citation

Formatting a Formal Paper

Setting Up Your Format

MLA Citation

Internal Citations

Sample Intro with Citations

In-text Citation
mla_format[1]

Writing Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences

topic_sentence_practice
integrating_quotes[1] (2)

Pre-writing Organization

creating_an_outline


Research

Research Databases

ProQuest

To access ProQuest, you will need the user name ArdreyKell and password Knights. Click on the My Products page. Then click on the SIRS database.

Owl Purdue

Here you will find lots of MLA information, including how to cite the oddball stuff, like videos and anything else that seems complicated.

Easy Bib

You already know EasyBib is your best friend. Don't forget: if you want EasyBib to create your Works Cited page for you, you will need to export to a Word Document. (Did you know? You can export sources from ProQuest into EasyBib. Ain't life grand?) Also remember: double-check EasyBib. The citations aren't always perfect or complete, so check them against your actual website.