Writing Center

Writing is a process.
Invention/pre-writing > Planning > Drafting > Revising > Editing > Proofreading

Don’t try to work through all of these stages in one sitting; start early and visit the stages at different times.

These stages are fluid and often overlap; you won’t go through them in the same order for every paper you write. This is particularly true for research papers; you may find as you are drafting or revising that you need to go back to do some more research and planning.

The Writing Center is a great place to talk over your ideas at any stage of the process—especially if you are having trouble getting started.

This handout provides some simple steps to get started!

Creating mind maps is a method of brainstorming to help develop and/or organize ideas. It can be used as a step before creating an outline. This handout shows how some people create a mind map.

This handout shows both the Subject-by-Subject and Point-by-Point methods for organizing your Comparison/Contrast essay. Outline examples for both are also included.

This handout includes three ways you can organize an argument essay.

Not sure what an "appositive" is? Are you confused when your instructor says you have a lot of run ons or fragments? What's an "idiom?"

This handout includes the common terms and their definitions that are used in English grammar and writing.

-Why cite sources?
-How do I know which style to use?
-How do APA and MLA differ in paper formatting?

This handout explains the differences between these two styles.

Writing a paper usually involves reading, interrogating, ruminating, analyzing, and explicating, among other things. Academic assignments often ask you to synthesize ideas from texts and class discussions. The first step to writing a successful paper is understanding what each part of the assignment is asking you to do. This handout provides explanations and descriptions of the most commonly used parts of writing assignments, as well as suggestions for how to approach each part.

Every discipline has its own conventions, but there are some rules that apply to any college writing situation. The following tips are some of the most important things to remember when approaching any college-level writing project.