Resources

Welcome to the Writing Center Resources Page. Here you will find regularly updated links related to the writing process.

Do you have a specific question about your paper? Check out our Common Writing Questions below. If you have a question that isn’t answered here, take a look at the reference materials from Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL)—it’s an excellent resource for student writers.

Writing Process Guides

Prewriting Techniques: Taking the First Steps—Walden University Writing Center.

This hour-long webinar is your prewriting one-stop shop. It shares strategies for each step of the prewriting process, including critical reading, taking notes, paper planning, generating ideas, and outlining. A transcript is available, in case you want to use it to target your video viewing

Research Paper Planner—Baylor University

This online calculator uses your start date and paper due date to create a basic schedule, with suggested deadlines for each step of the research and writing process.

Rocking a Paper with Scissors—UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center Blog

This 1-minute video demonstrates how you can start shaping your paper by printing out your notes, cutting them up into strips, and organizing them in different ways.

How To Write An Essay: Structure–Ariel Bissett

In this 6-minute video, Ariel Bissett gives a quick overview of how essay structure is commonly understood

Outlining—UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center

This 2-minute video covers how to get started on an outline and describes different outlining strategies

Printable Graphic Organizers and Outlines—Frederick Community College

This page hosts several worksheets you can use to visually organize your paper.

Thesis Statements—Walden University Writing Center

This resource offers thesis statement guidance in several forms, including a podcast, webinars, and even fill-in-the-blank “Thesis Mad Libs” that can help you get started

Writing as Decision-Making—UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center

This 2-minute video explains how thinking of writing as decision-making can help you effectively convey your ideas to your reader.

How to Get to the Point—Grammar Girl Podcast

How do you turn a list of information into a paper that makes a clear, meaningful argument? In this podcast, Mignon Fogarty (a.k.a. Grammar Girl) talks with author Joel Schwartzberg about strategies for getting to the point. Schwartzberg draws his examples from public speaking, but the strategies he describes in the first 15 minutes apply to writing as well.

Academic Writing Norms in the United States—Walden University Writing Center

This resource explains how academic writing norms vary depending on language and culture. It includes videos and blog posts on academic writing expectations in the United States. Multilingual students are the primary audience, but this resource could be helpful for any writer looking for guidance on scholarly voice and argument.

Using Citation Generators Responsibly—Purdue OWL

Some students like to use citation tracking software and/or citation generators—online tools that turn information into citations that a writer can use in a project. This article offers a simple guiding principle: Although citation generators can be helpful tools, they “cannot (and should not) do any of your thinking for you.” It suggests several best practices for using citation generators.

Common Writing Questions

Have a specific question about the writing process? We guarantee you are not the only one! These are some of the conversations that come up frequently in our Writing Center consultations.