About us: Writer's Web is a free, public-access handbook designed & maintained by University of Richmond students & faculty. Copyright: Please consult policies at outside sites linked from this page. For all materials housed on our server, non-commercial users may incorporate any pages needed into their classes, institutional resources, or publications provided that they either reproduce pages in their entirety or make a full citation if only a portion of a page is used. Please contact contact Writing Center Director Joe Essid, jessid@richmond.edu , with corrections, questions, or suggestions. Explore topics by stages of the writing process Or try our topic index & search engine. Getting Started-- Where to Start a Paper Writing for Professors: Get in the Driver's Seat by David Roberts Confronting Writing Anxiety by Lauren Cone Core-Course Expectations Freewriting: A Way Around Writer's Block Brainstorming for Ideas Effective Reading Strategies by Amy Addison Keeping a Pre-writing Journal by Amy Addison Clustering Ideas by Melanie Dawson & Joe Essid Exploring Ideas Through "Cubing" by Melanie Dawson Planning to Write Introductions Building Writing Confidence by G.M. Smith Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Writing in the Disciplines-- Writing in Biology by Molly Cage and Jon Wakefield Writing in Dance Writing in French by Alicia Surdyk Writing in History by Glen Henkle Writing in Political Science by David Roberts & Political Science faculty Scientific Writing: Qs about a Journal Article by Dr. John Bishop Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Writing First Drafts-- Writing a Book Review by U Houston Victoria's Academic Center Writing Summaries from the UVic Writer's Guide Thesis Statements: General Advice Thesis Statements: Where to End, not Begin Multiple-Subject Papers Analytic Research Papers Literary Terms: A list from the English 299 syllabus Writing Effective Conclusions Writing Effective Paragraphs Writing Exam Essays from UVic Writer's Guide Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Focusing & Connecting Ideas-- Adding Action & Clarity to Writing Concise Writing: Using Lanham's Paramedic Method Glossing: A way to check the focus of paragraphs Transitional Phrases by Joanna Taraba Using Transitions Focusing Sentences Through Parallelism Focusing Sentences Through Subordination Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Analysis, Argument-- What is Analysis? Reasoning & Its Errors by David Roberts Good Reasoning: Arguing Cogently General Inferential Errors Errors in Causation Errors in Generalization Other Reasoning Fallacies Supporting Arguments & Avoiding Fallacies Writing Critically: A Guide to Tasks & Questions Using Details to Support a Claim The Three Appeals: 3000 Years of Success! Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Editing a Draft-- Editing Checklist Reading Aloud: Catching Fossils and Flubs Warning Signs of a Rushed Paper Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Peer Editing Strategies-- Do's and Don'ts of Written Commentary by Adria Bader Peer Editing Guide Avoiding Faculty "Pet Peeves" by Joe Essid Writing Critically: A Guide to Tasks & Questions Tips for English-as-a-second-language (ESL) conferences Addressing Grammar Problems in Conferences What to Expect from a Writing Center Conference by Ryan Jackson Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Punctuation-- Commas Semicolons by Liz Atkins Quotation Marks Apostrophes, Possessives, and Contractions Other Punctuation--Colons, Parentheses, Ellipses, etc. Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Sentence Structure & Mechanics-- Misplaced Modifiers: The funniest errors in the world Agreement: Nouns & Pronouns Agreement: Subject & Verb Writing About Events in Books: Past Tense? Present? Complete Sentences vs. Fragments Run-on Sentences Abbreviations Capitalization Titles: Underline or Quotations? Using Numbers & Numerals by Amy Addison Using Articles: A, An, The Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Editing for Clarity & Style-- Guidelines for Nonsexist Usage Commonly Confused Words Avoiding Cliches and Tired Phrases Confusing Pronouns Putting Voice into Writing by Krysti Sibley Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Documentation-- APA, Turabian, MLA: print & electronic sources (UR Libraries) APA Documentation: Print Sources--our page MLA Documentation: in-text citations--our page Guide to Turabian's Manual for Writers: our page Examples of Chicago/Turabian: from the Chicago Manual of Style's site Examples of each model of documentation Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Using Sources Effectively-- Introduction to Using Source Materials Creative Use of Sources by Heather Logan Effective Direct Quotations Incorporating Quotations Using Paraphrases Sources: Past Tense? Present? by Melanie Dawson & Joe Essid Titles: Underline or Quotations? Quotation Marks Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Writing On-Line Basics of Electronic Writing Evaluating Multimedia Projects: The Basics Table of Contents | A-Z Topic List Many other topics are available through the University of Victoria's Writer's Guide; thanks to Arnie Keller for granting permission to place UVic links here. Thanks to The McKenzie Group and Allfreelance.com for listing us.