Contents

Planning /Starting to Write

Effective Writing

Revising/Editing /Proofreading

Types /Genres of Writing

General Writing Concerns (Planning/Writing/Revising/Genres)

Brought to you by the Purdue University Online Writing Lab.

In this section of our site, we offer you handouts and exercises on starting to write, effective writing, revising, editing, and proofreading, and types and genres of writing. If you are interested in a more extensive tutorial on research papers, check out our research paper workshop. We also have a research report workshop on writing scientific and technical reports. Finally, there are also some PowerPoint presentations related to general writing concerns.

We now have printer friendly versions and Adobe PDF versions of all of these handouts available. Visit our printer-friendly general writing concerns index to download and print any of these handouts. You can also get a printer friendly web page or PDF version of each handout by clicking the links on each page.

Planning/Starting to Write

• Planning (Invention)
• Planning (Invention): When you start to write
• Planning (Invention): Thought Starters (Asking the Right Question)

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Effective Writing

• Adding Emphasis
  
• Argument/Persuasion: Logic in Argumentative Writing
  
• Coherence
  
• Conciseness: Methods of Eliminating Wordiness
  
• Coping with Writing Anxiety
• Developing an Outline
• Sample Outline
• Non-Sexist Language
• Overcoming Writer’s Block
• Paragraph
• Paragraph (length consistency)
• Sentence Variety
• Strategies for Improving Sentence Clarity
• Transitional Devices (Connecting Words)
• Using Metaphors in Creative Writing
• Writing A Thesis Statement
• Writing with Computers

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Revising/Editing/Proofreading

• Editing and Proofreading Strategies for Revision
• Higher Order Concerns (HOCs) and Lower Order Concerns (LOCs)
• Proofreading for Commas
• Proofreading Strategies
• Proofreading Your Paper
• Steps in Editing Your Papers

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Types/Genres of Writing

• Annotated Bibliographies
• Argumentation/Persuasion: Logic in Argumentative Writing
• Literary Terms
• Image in Poetry
• Pattern and Variation in Poetry
• Sound and Meter in Poetry
  • Introduction
  • Meter
  • Sound
  • Works Cited
    
• Using Metaphors in Creative Writing
• Visual Rhetoric for Student Writers
• Writing A Thesis Statement
• Writing about Fiction
• Writing about Poetry
• Writing Definitions
• Writing Descriptions
• Writing Essay Exams
• Writing about Literature

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