LibGuides: Valencia Writer: Writing Resources

Writing Resources

Writing Resources

“I admire anybody who has the guts to write anything at all.” - E.B. White

“Read a thousand books and your words will flow like a river.” - Virginia Woolf

“We write to discover what we think” - Joan Didion

Writing Resources

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott
College Writing (University of North Carolina) This handout will help you figure out what your college instructors expect when they give you a writing assignment. It will tell you how and why to move beyond the five-paragraph essays you learned to write in high school and start writing essays that are more analytical and more flexible.
The Daily Routines of Great Writers by Maria Popova In this entry, Maria Popova lists some interesting facts about the daily habits of some great writers.
E. B. White, The Art of the Essay (Paris Review) Explore E.B. White's insights on the art of the essay through his interview with George Plimpton and Frank H. Crowther.
English Sentence Analysis : An introductory course by Marjolijn H. Verspoor and Kim Sauter English Sentence Analysis: An introductory course is designed as a 10-week course for students of English Language and Literature, Linguistics, or other language related fields. In 10 weeks the student will be proficient in English analysis at sentence, clause and phrase level and have a solid understanding of the traditional terms and concepts of English syntax.
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This essay requires you to log into library databases to access it. If you are prompted for a Borrower ID and PIN, use your VID number as the Borrower ID (include the V and all the numbers after it with no spaces) and the last four numbers of your VID is the PIN.
Essay Writing – Purdue OWL This resource begins with a general description of essay writing and moves to a discussion of common essay genres students may encounter across the curriculum. The four genres of essays (description, narration, exposition, and argumentation) are common paper assignments you may encounter in your writing classes. Although these genres, also known as the modes of discourse, have been criticized by some composition scholars, the Purdue OWL recognizes the wide spread use of these genres and students’ need to understand and produce these types of essays.
Excelsior Online Writing Lab The Excelsior OWL is designed to provide support for writers as they begin the process of writing for college and as they transition to writing outside of their introductory writing classes or programs. The Excelsior OWL is unique in its multimedia support for writers. It offers a wide variety of interactive multimedia activities, quizzes, videos, interactive PDFs, and games – all designed to help writers understand important concepts about writing.
How to Write a Memoir - William Zinsser Zinsser was an extraordinary writer and teacher, whose popular blog on The American Scholar magazine, “Zinsser on Friday,” won a National Magazine Award in 2012. In this piece, White offers insights into what it takes to write a memoir.
Links for Writers (WAC Clearinghouse) These links point to web-based resources for writers on a wide range of topics.
Online Resources for Writers The Writing Center has developed printable (PDF) handouts on a variety of topics: Speak up: Preparing an Engaging Presentation, Revising an Academic Essay, and Reverse Outlining. This resource also lists web sites that present relevant advice, examples, and instruction on a broad range of writing topics, from process to genre to mechanical. Each would be a good starting place for searching for specific guides or topics.
Organizing Essays for Different Rhetorical Situations The following pages will provide you with several effective ways of organizing information in your essays. Oftentimes, when you know who your audience is and what your purpose is for writing (which is called your rhetorical situation), you can begin to consider the organization of what is going to be in your paper, how you will introduce your paper, and what to write for your conclusion. The following rhetorical patterns will help you answer these questions: Narration, Description, Definition/Analogy, Exemplification and Classification, Comparison and Contrast, Cause and Effect, and Persuasion.
Pre-Writing Worksheets (Valencia College) The Communications Center offers many excellent resources for improving your writing and research skills. Printed copies of all worksheets are available for free in the Communications Center.
Rhetorical Modes (LibreTexts) A comprehensive resource listing information and activities on diverse rhetorical modes.
Tips & Tools (University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill) A comprehensive resource focusing on all aspects of writing, including the writing process, citation styles, writing across the curriculum, etc.
University Writing Center (UCF) This web page lists comprehensive resources focusing on the following: Planning and Organizing, Academic Writing,MLA/APA/Chicago Style, Common Assignments Across the Disciplines, Grammar and Punctuation, Style, etc.
"Why I write" by George Orwell ‘Why I Write’ is an essay by George Orwell, published in 1946 after the publication of his novella Animal Farm and before he wrote his final novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four. The essay is an insightful piece of memoir about Orwell’s early years and how he developed as a writer, from harbouring ambitions to write self-consciously literary works to developing, in the 1930s, into the author of sharp political commentary in both fiction and non-fiction.
Writer's Handbook (University of Wisconsin-Madison) In this section, you will find many instructional materials we’ve developed for our Writing Center teaching. However, there are limitations to these materials. Assignments vary, and different instructors want different things from student writers. Therefore, the advice here may or may not apply to your writing situation.
Writers on Writing: E.B. White Meet essayist E.B. White—and consider the advice he has to offer on writing and the writing process. Andy, as he was known to friends and family, spent the last 50 years of his life in an old white farmhouse overlooking the sea in North Brooklin, Maine. That's where he wrote most of his best-known essays, three children's books, and a best-selling style guide.
Writing & Media Center Resources (Iowa State University) A rich resource focusing on the following areas: The Writing Process, Context, Organization, Common Grammar Errors, Resources for English Language Learners, and Citations.
Writing Resources (Handouts) This site offers a comprehensive list of writing resources that were written by Hamilton Faculty and Writing Center tutors.
Writing Resources (SUNY Empire State College) Writing Resources provides learners with a vast amount of self-paced learning material to help develop different areas of academic writing. Select from the list below to go to the writing resource most appropriate to your needs.
"Write Till You Drop" by Annie Dillard
Writing well in the 21st century : the five essentials by Linda Spencer This guide provides students, career-builders, and professional writers with the basic elements needed for writing in the 21st century. It fully explains, and links, the five essentials of good writing: punctuation, grammar, fact-checking, style, and voice.

Valencia Writer: Writing Resources

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Writing Resources

Writing Resources