Writing Strategies & Tips

Getting started is often the hardest part of writing. But you don’t have to begin with a blank page and no direction. Writing is a process of thinking, experimenting, and revising, and there are proven strategies that can help you move forward with clarity and purpose. Whether you're brainstorming ideas, organizing your thoughts, or overcoming writer’s block, the resources below offer practical guidance to support you at every stage of the process.

• Strategies for Essay Writing (Harvard University): This resource includes guides to various aspects of writing academic essays. It is process-oriented, meaning that it leads student writers through the steps of reading the assignment prompt, generating ideas, outlining, and so on.

• Tips & Tools (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill): This website provides thorough handouts and videos about general writing concerns, citation style, sentence-level concerns, specific writing assignments and contexts, and writing for specific fields.

• Writer's Handbook (University of Wisconsin): This site hosts a broad range of guides to aspects of the writing process, argumentation, and genres.

• Writing Advice (University of Toronto at Scarborough): These guides offer advice on planning a paper, conducting research, using sources, and revising. You will also find information about writing for specific disciplines, such as history or science.

• Writing Center Resources (University of Texas at Austin): This resource offers a long list of online handouts to aid students during the writing process.