Online Writing Tips and Help

 

Starting Out

While Writing

Revising

  • Read through the question and be sure you understand what you need to write about.
  • Be sure that you know the parameters of the paper:
    • Length
    • Requirements
    • Citation Format
  • Brainstorm ideas to answer the question
  • Outline the ideas

 

 

  • Give yourself breaks while you are writing.  Some should be short – just to stand up – and some can be longer – go out and see a friend and then come back to writing.  It gives you a chance to move around, and it might just give you a sense of accomplishment when you come back to the paper. 
  • Take the longer breaks once you are done with a particular section of the paper: you are rewarding yourself for a job well done.
  • When you are having trouble writing, you should talk to a friend or parent.  They can: cheer you up, cheer you on, get you to say out loud what you were trying to write.

    • Once you finish writing, set the paper aside for a bit. If you can afford a few hours or a day, you will come back refreshed when you start to edit.
    • Look through your paper at least two times:
      1. After looking back at the question, be sure that you have a clear thesis and that the remainder of your paper flows logically and supports your thesis.
      2. Look through one time for spelling, grammar and citation errors. This is a good time to double check you have no contractions, as well as 1st or 2nd person usages in your paper.
   

 

General Writing Help from Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL)

 

OWL's Grammar Help

Other Writing Help

 

 

 

 

Plagiarism

  • Plagiarism.org
    • This is the only place you need to look to get all of your plagiarism questions answered!