There are many physical and digital resources available to help you improve your writing. Included here is just a small sampling of helpful materials on a handful of topics. You are encouraged to contact your instructor, the Writer’s Workshop, or the Holy Cross Libraries with additional questions on these topics.
How to Read Assignments
- Guidance on how to make sure you understand a writing assignment
Getting Started on a Writing Assignment
The Holy Cross Center for Writing has compiled a list of tips for getting words on the page.
Working with Sources
- Holy Cross library guide on citations
- Quick Guide for the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) (often used in history and social sciences)
- Quick Guide for Council of Scientific Editors (CSE) style citations (often used in natural sciences)
- Quick Guide for Modern Language Association (MLA) style citations (often used in English and other humanities)
- Quick answers on APA from the American Psychological Association (often used in education, psychology, and business)
- Quick tips for ASA from the American Sociological Association (often used in sociology)
- Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)'s research guide, including guidance on APA, MLA, Chicago, and AMA styles
- The introduce-cite-explain (ICE) method for incorporating quotes into writing
Thesis Statements
- Guidance on creating a strong thesis
Grammar, Voice, and Style
- Grammar exercises: Purdue OWL explanations of a few key stylistic and grammatical issues, plus quizzes with answer keys.
- Grammar blogs: Grammarly and Oxford Dictionaries grammar blog.
- InQuizitive for Writers: An interactive online grammar platform. Students can register for a 21- day free trial.
- An article on the writer’s voice in nonfiction.
- Purdue OWL Style Guide Overview
- Purdue Owl’s Writing in Plain Style
- Lumen Learning’s comprehensive Style for Students: A Writing Guide
- American Scientist article on the Science of Scientific Writing
- Plain language checklist from the Plain Language Action and Information Network, especially helpful for policy writing
Paragraphing and Organization
- Several examples of how to paraphrase and summarize
- Guidance on organizing a research paper
Annotated Bibliographies
- The Holy Cross libraries offer instructions and samples for annotated bibliographies according to different style guides.
- Purdue OWL provides an overview and samples of annotated bibliographies.
- The UNC Writing Center provides guidelines for annotated bibliographies.
Collaborative Writing
- The UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center's guide to group writing
- "Technologies of Trust," Cummings et al.'s chapter of the open access textbook Writing Spaces, which discusses methods and tools students can use for collaborative writing projects
- "Team Communication," a video lecture by professional writing expert Joanna Wolfe
- Documents to structure your team's collaborative writing process
Presentations
- Holy Cross alum Cassie Smith's Her Campus blog post on presentations
- Phillips, "How to Avoid Death by PowerPoint"
Open Access Texts on Writing
- Colorado State University Press publishes open-access texts on writing and reading.
- WAC Clearinghouse publishes numerous books about teaching writing, some of which are open-access.
- Writing Commons offers advice on the process of writing. Its writing guides and links for writers can assist you with particular writing skills.
- Writing Spaces is an open source textbook with chapters on various topics that student writers frequently encounter.