Writing Resources

Our Favorite Writing Resource

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has an impressive collection of writing guides. Below are a few of our favorites:

Paper Development
  • Brainstorming. This guide contains 13+ strategies for brainstorming.
  • Thesis Statements. What exactly is a thesis statement, and how can you make yours effective? Make sure you review the "How do I know if my thesis statement is strong?" section.
  • Audience. Your audience matters. This guide explains how to identify and write to a specific audience.
  • Paragraph Development. Strong paragraph development is key to building an effective paper. Check out this guide's 5-step process for developing a paragraph.
  • Evidence. Many genres require the use of evidence to back claims. This guide can help you learn how to identify, evaluate, and incorporate evidence. 
  • Flow. If you struggle with flow on a paper- or paragraph-level, this guide is for you. Take a look at the "Known-to-new sequencing" section.
  • Reverse Outlining. This strategy allows you to organize and evaluate your paper by main ideas. (See strategy #1.) They also have a great video on reverse outlining.
  • Conclusions. This guide breaks down strategies that make conclusions effective or ineffective.
Grammar/Punctuation
  • Commas. Learn all about commas with these seven rules!
  • Fragments and Run-ons. This guide breaks down what makes a complete sentence and how to avoid common problems with sentence fragments and run-ons.
  • Passive Voice. Passive voice has an important place in writing. Learn more about the myths and rules of passive voice in this guide.

MLA/APA Documentation

Below are links to the Purdue University Online Writing Lab, a website that includes information on writing in-text citations, creating a reference list, and using endnotes and footnotes for both MLA and APA citation styles. Our writing center tutors can also help with documentation during appointments.

Purdue University OWL page on MLA documentation
Purdue University OWL page on APA documentation
Plagiarism citing sources

Other Online Writing Resources

  • Grammar lessons and exercises from the Purdue University OWL. This particular link will take you to the grammar lessons and exercises of Purdue's Online Writing Lab. The tutorials contain simple explanations and examples concerning many grammar and punctuation topics.
  • Grammarly is a free resource that can help you detect and fix writing errors. We also recommend you look at the Grammarly Blog. It contains articles on hundreds of writing topics. (They're entertaining to read, too!)
  • Washington State University's plagiarism information site. Plagiarism is a serious issue that applies to any writer, especially when it comes to research papers. USU's own penalties for plagiarism are strict. Make sure to learn how to identify and avoid plagiarism in your own writing.

Writing and Grammar Guides

The Common Commas handout gives examples for and information about how to properly use commas.