Libraries: Tutoring: The Writing Process

Handouts, Websites, and Videos

Brainstorming and Outlining Part 1
Part 1 primarily discusses brainstorming. "Brainstorming" means planning your essay or project by writing your initial thoughts and organizing them in the best way for your assignment.
Brainstorming and Outlining Part 2
Part 2 primarily deals with organizing your thoughts into an outline for your essay.
College Writing
If you use informal, casual language with your professor, and eventually your boss, you could be perceived as uneducated or rude. Certain standards are expected in academic writing. However, do not be intimidated. Here is a breakdown of what is expected in formal academic writing
Fact versus Opinion
This handout is reprinted from https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/teaching/co300man/pop12d.cfm)
"When forming personal convictions, we often interpret factual evidence through the filter of our values, feelings, tastes, and past experiences. Hence, most statements we make in speaking and writing are assertions of fact, opinion, belief, or prejudice. The usefulness and acceptability of an assertion can be improved or diminished by the nature of the assertion, depending on which of the following categories it falls into."
High School versus College Assignments
This handout helps you understand the differences between the kinds of assignments you receive in high school versus college, your professors' expectations, and some advice on completing these assignments.
How to Write in Third Person
The third person includes character names and pronouns like "he" and "she." This tense is considered more academic and more formal than writing in the first or second person. It also seems less biased when arguments are presented. Follow these tips to write in the third person.
Objective versus Subjective
This handout is reprinted from http://www.differencebetween.net/language/difference-between-objective-and-subjective/ This explains and gives examples of objective and subjective writing.
Understanding a Topic
What you write about is your topic. Why you write about a topic is your purpose. Sometimes, the words topic and writing assignment mean the same thing. Whatever you write, the topic and purpose “drive” your composition.
Writer's Block
The term writer’s block refers to the overwhelming feeling a student gets when he or she cannot think of anything to write about. The mind goes blank. Sometimes the feeling of anxiety causes the person to sweat or feel shaky. Absolutely nothing comes to mind. Luckily writer’s block can be overcome! The tutors at Ask Online are available to help you get started.
Writing in Academic English
This handout explains and gives examples of informal language. In general, informal language is everyday, conversational standard language, the type of language used when speaking to or writing to intimates, peers, and friends — that is, people with whom you are familiar and comfortable. Informal language is inappropriate for academic papers (including most narrative essays), business correspondence (including job applications), official documents, and technical documents.

Annotated Bibliographies -- UNC Writing Center
"This handout [website] will explain why annotated bibliographies are useful for researchers, provide an explanation of what constitutes an annotation, describe various types of annotations and styles for writing them, and offer multiple examples of annotated bibliographies in the MLA, APA, and CBE/CSE styles of citation."
Brainstorming -- UNC Writing Center
"This handout [website] discusses techniques that will help you start writing a paper and continue writing through the challenges of the revising process. Brainstorming can help you choose a topic, develop an approach to a topic, or deepen your understanding of the topic’s potential."
Color Coding Demo [YouTube] -- UNC Writing Center
"What do you do when you've got a jumble of ideas and aren't sure how to turn them into a paper?...Try color coding. This technique can help you find patterns and sort and arrange your ideas.
http://writingcenter.unc.edu/
© 2010-2018 The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill"
Essay Exams -- UNC Writing Center
"At some time in your undergraduate career, you’re going to have to write an essay exam. This thought can inspire a fair amount of fear: we struggle enough with essays when they aren’t timed events based on unknown questions. The goal of this handout [website] is to give you some easy and effective strategies that will help you take control of the situation and do your best."
Evaluating Internet Sources - CSM Library (College of San Mateo Library)
A tutorial about how to evaluate sources.
Evidence -- UNC Writing Center
"This handout [website] will provide a broad overview of gathering and using evidence. It will help you decide what counts as evidence, put evidence to work in your writing, and determine whether you have enough evidence. It will also offer links to additional resources."
Group Writing -- UNC Writing Center
"Whether in the academic world or the business world, all of us are likely to participate in some form of group writing—an undergraduate group project for a class, a collaborative research paper or grant proposal, or a report produced by a business team. Writing in a group can have many benefits: multiple brains are better than one, both for generating ideas and for getting a job done. However, working in a group can sometimes be stressful because there are various opinions and writing styles to incorporate into one final product that pleases everyone. This handout [website] will offer an overview of the collaborative process, strategies for writing successfully together, and tips for avoiding common pitfalls. It will also include links to some other handouts that may be especially helpful as your group moves through the writing process.
Titles of Works -- Punctuation Guide
How do you format the titles of books versus articles? How do you format titles of artworks? You can find out this and much more in this website!

How to Write an Effective Paragraph
To be as effective as possible, a paragraph should contain each of the following: unity, coherence, a topic sentence, and adequate development. All of those traits overlap. Using and adapting them to your individual purposes will help you construct effective paragraphs.
Paragraph (by Kenneth Beare, 2017)
"In general, the purpose of a paragraph is to express one main point, idea or opinion. Of course, writers may provide multiple examples to support their point. However, any supporting details should support the main idea of a paragraph."
Paragraphs with Dialogue
Learning how to break your stories and essays into paragraphs is a confusing but important job. New paragraphs are important for the reader. They tell when you're switching time, place, topic or speaker, and they help break the page up so it is not just a solid block of writing.
Parallel Structure (also called Parallelism)
Defines parallel structure and gives examples. Use parallelism to create sentences that are balanced and clear.
Quick Reference APA, MLA, Turabian (Chicago)
This is a crib sheet of the most common citation issues and their examples for APA, MLA, and Turabian (Chicago). Refer to the detailed guides on the "Avoiding Plagiarism and How to Cite" tab in this LibGuide.
Thesis Statement
The thesis statement, which is usually found at the end of the first paragraph, tells the writer (and the reader) the main idea of the essay.
The Proper Format for Essays -- MLA Style
This document will help you format essays in MLA style, such as heading, font, and indentation. It does *not* include how to cite sources. Refer to the Avoiding Plagiarism or Style Guides and Templates tabs for how to cite within your essay and how to list your sources.
What Is a Paragraph? (OWL Purdue)
The basic rule of thumb with paragraphing is to keep one idea to one paragraph. If you begin to transition into a new idea, it belongs in a new paragraph.

5-Paragraph Essay with Examples (YouTube)
"1. Review of the 5-paragraph essay format with examples
2. Common issues with papers
3. Correct heading formatting"
Abstracts -- UNC Writing Center
"This handout [website] provides definitions and examples of the two main types of abstracts: descriptive and informative. It also provides guidelines for constructing an abstract and general tips for you to keep in mind when drafting. Finally, it includes a few examples of abstracts broken down into their component parts."
Conclusions -- UNC Writing Center
Remember to review your professor's instructions to determine what kind of conclusion you need for your assignment. "This handout [website] will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you evaluate conclusions you’ve drafted, and suggest approaches to avoid."
Introductions -- UNC Writing Center
"This handout [website] will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for creating effective introductions, and provide some examples of less effective introductions to avoid."
Paragraphs (The Writing Center at UNC Chapel Hill)
"This handout will help you understand how paragraphs are formed, how to develop stronger paragraphs, and how to completely and clearly express your ideas."
Paraphrasing & Plagiarism (Excelsior Online Writing Lab)
This provides a definition of paraphrasing and an example.
What is a Thesis? (Literary Terms)
"The thesis (pronounced thee-seez), also known as a thesis statement, is the sentence that introduces the main argument or point of view of a composition (formal essay, nonfiction piece, or narrative). It is the main claim that the author is making about that topic and serves to summarize and introduce that writing that will be discussed throughout the entire piece. For this reason, the thesis is typically found within the first introduction paragraph."
Writing Paraphrases (The Writing Center, UNC)
"Paraphrasing is clearly restating in your own words the ideas or thoughts of another person. A paraphrase differs from a summary, which tends to be much shorter and contains only the main ideas of a text." **There is a clear difference between paraphrasing and summarizing. Failure to correctly paraphrase could result in plagiarism.**

"Little Red Riding Hood" Revisited
The story of Little Red Riding Hood is written in three ways so you can see the differences between unacceptable and acceptable styles of writing for college.
Why and How We Do What We Do
Our goal is not to fix a problem or two, but to teach students how to find and fix their own errors, assess their own ideas, and evaluate their content and structure. That takes time.
Asynchronous (not real-time) STEM, content and writing tutors can check for plagiarism and consult resources to recommend other/better ones. Since many papers are looked at by multiple tutors (content and ENGL for two drafts) each tutor can look at what the others have said to reinforce recommendations.
Writing in Academic English
This handout explains and gives examples of informal language. In general, informal language is everyday, conversational standard language, the type of language used when speaking to or writing to intimates, peers, and friends — that is, people with whom you are familiar and comfortable. Informal language is inappropriate for academic papers (including most narrative essays), business correspondence (including job applications), official documents, and technical documents.

Editing and Proofreading --- UNC Writing Center
"This handout [website] provides some tips and strategies for revising your writing. To give you a chance to practice proofreading, we have left seven errors (three spelling errors, two punctuation errors, and two grammatical errors) in the text of this handout. See if you can spot them!"
Getting Feedback -- UNC Writing Center
"Sometimes you’d like feedback from someone else about your writing, but you may not be sure how to get it. This handout [website] describes when, where, how and from whom you might receive effective responses as you develop as a writer."
Proofreading Demo -- UNC Writing Center
"Everyone says you should proofread your papers before turning them in. But how? Try a few of these techniques."
Proofreading from Hard Copy
This site gives tips on proofreading a paper copy--not a copy on a computer screen--your writing, especially something more than a page long. When you focus on the paper and not the computer screen, you might be able to catch some errors that you would have normally overlooked on the computer.
Style -- UNC Writing Center
"Have you ever wondered what your instructors mean when they write “wordy” or “awk” in the margins of your paper? Do you sometimes sense that your sentences could be stronger, clearer, shorter, or more effective? Do you often feel that you know what you mean but do not know how to say it? If you sometimes get feedback from your instructors that you need to “tighten your prose” or “look at your word choice,” you may need to work on your writing style—the way you put together a sentence or group of sentences."

Miscellaneous Style Issues

"This" and "That"
The meaning of ‘this’ and ‘that’’ when they are not followed by a noun, is not clear because ‘this’ or ‘that’ can refer to an entire sentence, clause, or phrase rather than just a noun or noun phrase. To eliminate the ambiguity, you need to clearly indicate what you want ‘this’ or ‘that’ to refer to. The following example illustrates the kind of sentence that a tutor may mark as ambiguous or unclear and how to revise the sentence in a way that clarifies its meaning. Notice the difference in the impact of the first two sentences below and the following possible revisions, which substitute a specific phrase for this.
20 Strong Verbs
Avoid the use of the verb to be and to get when not needed. Instead, condense and strengthen your sentences by editing unnecessary words or phrases and using strong verbs.
Confusing, Unclear, and Difficult to Understand Sentences and Passages
"Powerful writing requires clearly stating what you wish to say. Lack of clarity can be due to the use of general, vague, and unnecessary words, and informal language, slang, or clichés. Inappropriate or weak word choices and grammatical errors also contribute to lack of clarity. Studying the following examples should help you recognize unclear writing and learn how to revise it. Italicized parts of an example indicate the part(s) of the sentence that are unclear and need to be changed. Sometimes, more than one clear revision is possible."
Ethos, Pathos, and Logos
Aristotle’s "ingredients for persuasion" – also known as "appeals" – are known by the names of ethos, pathos, and logos. They are each means of persuading others to take a particular point of view.
Making a Point Powerfully and Succinctly
"Impactful writing requires stating what you wish to say not only clearly but also accurately and concisely. Sentences marked “delete” or which have a note saying, for example, “Avoid using needless words” are ineffective due to wordiness. The point you want to make will have a direct and stronger impact if you eliminate unnecessary words."
Most Common Writing Blunders
Here is a quick references of some of the most common mistakes in word usage, bogus words, and sentence structure. Watch out for these errors in writing essays!
Run-on Sentences
Run-ons, comma splices, and fused sentences are all names given to compound sentences that are not punctuated correctly. The best way to avoid such errors is to punctuate compound sentences correctly by using one or the other of these rules.
Sentences Needing Simplification
"Trying to give too much information in one sentence can result in the sentence being difficult to understand, confusing and/or illogical. Weak or inappropriate word choices can also result in lack of clarity, especially when various grammatical errors are also present...The following examples of sentences needing simplification are used to indicate different ways to revise such sentences. Sometimes, however, a revision is difficult due to the complexity and lack of clarity of the sentence that had been marked 'confusing' or as not making sense."
There is / was, There are / were, It is / was Sentences
"One of the easiest but least effective ways to begin a sentence is with There is/are, There was/were, or It is/was. However, the point you want to make will have a stronger and direct impact if you begin the sentence by focusing on the subject."
Using Conjunctions to Make Your Writings Stronger
A table illustrating conjunctions and their connotations.
Verb Tense Consistency (OWL Purdue)
Explanations and examples of verb tenses and how to maintain consistency.

Clichés -- UNC Writing Lab
"This handout [website] discusses clichés and why you should generally avoid them in order to achieve specificity in both your academic writing and your application essays."
Quotations -- UNC Writing Center
"Used effectively, quotations can provide important pieces of evidence and lend fresh voices and perspectives to your narrative. Used ineffectively, however, quotations can clutter your text and interrupt the flow of your argument. This handout [website] will help you decide when and how to quote like a pro."

Tutoring: The Writing Process

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