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Arts Extension 265

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Planning and Writing Resources

The first thing to understand about writing is that it is a process with a series of steps, not a one-shot deal where the writer sits down and cranks out a final product in one sitting. The following sites provide excellent overviews of the writing process. Try the slideshows first for easy-to-digest introductions.

• Let Virgil be your guide . . .
  

• Slideshow about the Writing Situation *

• Slideshow about Finding Your Focus *

• Basic Essay Guide

• The Writing Assistant

• Writing Process Guide

• Essay Writing Tutorials

• Bedford/St. Martin's Re: Writer

If you already have a sense of the process, an assignment, and some ideas to test out, try the following site for guided support:Interactive Stages of Writing

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Beginning a writing assignment can be very intimidating, whether you have been given a topic or have to find one on your own. At some point, though, you simply have to start. The following sites may help you unpack your essay ideas and give you a stronger sense of what to expect as you move through the writing process.

• Overcoming Writer’s Block

• Brainstorming Ideas

• Developing Ideas

• Writing a Summary

• Reading to Write

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One of the fundamental laws of academic essay writing, besides--"show, don't tell"--is that you must have a thesis. Since a thesis is your main claim, the claim in charge of all other claims being made in not only your essay but your outline, it plays a major role in the purpose and shape of your work. The following sites may help you to assert and phrase your thesis and then design an effective layout for your thesis-support paragraphs.

• Creating a Thesis

• Where's Your Thesis?

• Thesis vs. Purpose Statement

• The Thesis Builder and Online Outliner
• Literary Analysis Thesis

• Sentence Sense's Techniques for Writing (from topic sentences to conclusions...)

• Essay Writing Workshop

• Essay Writing Tutorials

• Importance of Outlining

• Outlining Example

• Unifying Paragraphs

• NEW--Messer's Paragraph Re-arranging Exercise

• Supporting Your Claims

• Principles of Organization

• The Outline Outliner

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Editing the Details, Revising the Whole

After writing a partial or complete draft of your essay, you will need to step away from what you've produced and then return to it with a critical eye, for now is when the "real" writing shall begin. Remember, in order to be even more critical of your own work, you should discuss your draft with tutors, teachers, and classmates. The following resources may help you to improve your work when discussing it with others and to make important distinctions between editing and revising when working independently.

• Proofreading

• Improving Content and Development

• Thinking about Audience

• Check your work

• Responding to a Draft

• Breaking Down Revision

• Cultivating a Critical Eye

• Revision and Tone

• Reflection

Additional Sites

The following Web resources should reinforce the skills and strategies explored above.

• Hacker's Writing Exercises (enter by logging in or press cancel)
• Graphic Organizers for Shaping Your Essay
• Bedford’s Model Documents
• UC Analytical Writing Placement Exams
  Thomson Learning's Student Paper and Writing Concept Libraries (jump to the “Student Paper” and “Writing Concept” links)
• Still can’t think of a topic?
  

* To view the slideshow files linked on this page, you'll need PowerPoint or the free PowerPoint Viewer:

For the PC
For the Mac

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Last updated: September 18, 2007
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