The Writing pages provide access to information about several writing techniques from the formal [essays] through creative writing to specialised forms such as newspapers and includes assistance with Spelling and Punctuation skills, both strongly linked to our ability to communicate through the written word. It also includes several accepted Citation methods for use of quotations within written works of all kinds.

This page looks at creative writing techniques, essay writing, other specialised writing tasks, general advice and resources to assist in developing these skills.

The Second Page looks at Spelling and Spelling rules, punctuation and the writing process and several citation methods.

Note that Poetry Writing is found on the Poetry page.

We continually add to the information available and are willing to consider suggested areas as time permits.

Writing

Creative Writing

• Blast Writing
  Materials, options from the BBC.
• Creative Writing 101
  ‘Introduction to Creative Writing is fun and informal, and specialises in practical advice. Matters covered in this course will include Genres, Getting Started, Plots and Themes, Planning Stories, Controlling Length, Characters and Style. There will also be a segment on using your own background’.
• Creative Writing Exercises and Advice
  ‘Creative writing exercises and advice for creative writers, covering all aspects of craft and technique. Creative writing exercises will help get you started writing and improve specific areas of fiction writing’.
• Creative Writing Prompts
  ‘Use these to create stories, poems and other creative pieces from your imagination. The writing prompts can even help you come up with creative content for blogs and blog stories’. 340+ prompts at time of inclusion. Interesting collection.
  Highly Recommended !
• The Writing Centre
  ‘Getting started to getting published, the Writing Centre is full of practical advice to help you refine your craft, quotations to inspire you, tips on how to make the best impression when you’re ready to show your work to publishers [unless you’re writing purely for your own pleasure, of course !]. You’ll also find author interviews, a Writing Library, a list of useful links, more’.
• Writers Room
  ‘Writing for different genres, formats, media can make very different demands on the writer, and on the way you conceive and tell your story. Read the tips to get a head start on the different types of story that we can help you with’. BBC.

Essay, Thesis, Dissertation Writing Resources

• Academic English Writing Guide
  ‘Dr. Michael Dickel’s guide to writing college level academic English essays : organisation, paragraphs, sentences, grammar help with useful links’.
• A Guide to Writing Research Papers

Analysing The Question/Topic

Essay writing is difficult enough to do well, but it is even worse if you are not actually responding to the question or topic which is the basis of the essay. These links will help you develop the skills required to do this.

• Analysing An Essay Question
  Australian National University.
• Analysing Essay Questions
  Queensland University of Technology.
• Analysing Questions
  University of South Australia. Other support also available from the menu.
• Analysing the Question
  Part of a 9 step sequence all of which can be accessed from this page. Central Queensland University.
• Analysing The Topic
  University of New England. Information, Fact Sheet [PDF], quiz and more. Access related information from the main menu.
• Interpreting The Assignment Question
  Massey University, New Zealand. Similar information from another country. Their other Assignment Planning information can be accessed from the main menu.

• Basic Guide to Essay Writing
• Basic Prose Style and Mechanics
• Easy Essay
  ‘A free, 5 minute, automated information organisation program. It is useful for students from Sp Ed [ADHD, dyslexia, TBI, mainstreaming] to college classes, homeschoolers, as well as parents, teachers, businesspeople [memos, reports, speeches, recommendations]; anyone who can use help in organising their thoughts. Users are prompted to enter information into a simple format and are automatically guided to stay with their main point. The Program is limited only by the capacity of the user’. Demos, sample, tutorial, more.
• EssayHelp
  Australian, Fee-based. Help covering several areas.
• Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
• Rensselaer Writing Centre
• The Elements of Style

Introduction to the Writing Process

• Prewriting Practices
  Part of The Writing Process, for secondary and higher. This section covers the Creative process prior to The Management process. Plain but lengthy presentation.
• The Process of Essay Writing
  ‘This introduces you to the process of essay writing - from analysing the question through to the final redrafting and editing’. James Cook University. Also try the Other Writing Skills Links found here.

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Other Advice

• 11 Rules of Writing
  ‘Concise guide to some of the most commonly violated rules of writing, grammar and punctuation. Intended for all writers as an aid in the learning and refining of writing skills’.
• Composition
  ‘Handouts are broken into two categories : Essay Writing and Research Paper Writing’. Each has handouts covering specific topics. Stone Writing Centre.
• Literacy Fundamentals
  Develop writing, reading skills.
• Literature
  ‘Writing about Literature ? Then the following handouts can help you’. Allegory to Tone & Style. Stone Writing Centre.
• Online Technical Writing Textbook
  General introduction. Information on all aspects, even examples and models to show how it’s done.
• The Able Writer, A Rhetoric and Handbook
  Advice on writing correctly. Chapters listed. Download each as a PDF file.
• Writers
  Writers help you develop the use of effective writing skills.
• Writers on Writing
  ABC [Australia] series. Worthwhile for what great writers said. Now only available for sale from the ABC.
• Writers Write
  Hints on how to get started writing the great Australian novel or something simpler.

Other Information

• Bullfighter - Fight the Bull
  ‘Works a lot like a spelling and grammar checker, but focuses on jargon and readability. ’ Free download.
  Excellent !
• One Word
  Take one word, generate a free flow of writing which can be edited later. You have 60 seconds and are urged not to be trite. Interesting.
• Sydney Writers’ Festival
  Information about everything involved.
• Worst Manual Contest Winners
  Manuals are for help, but these obviously are not. Hard to believe people produced them. EServer TC Library.

Resources

• Beginning Writers
  ‘We hope that as you read through the articles on this site and on the linked sites you’ll find the answers to all of those questions and the tools to help you reach your writing goal. Writing is fun, when you start with the right tools and information. This is was created with the idea of giving you those’.
• Better Writing
  From AskOxford. Four main sections covering Spelling & Grammar Tips, Letter Writing, Plain English and Email, SMS & Online Chat. Practical Writing looks at specific forms of writing such as CVs and letters, while Improve Your English ‘gives you lots of advice on good writing, helping you to avoid making some of the most common mistakes of usage’.
• BSU Writing Centre
  A range of resources from Boise State University and directed toward tertiary students.
• Freelance Writing Organisation
  ‘2 400+ Free writing resources in 40+ categories of writing. To assist you we have compiled a detailed list of writing categories, links and resources’.
• KidsWrite
  ‘Read stories, have fun with your own creative writing, submit your stories and illustrations, read jokes and do puzzles and fun pages’.
• PoeWar
  Writer’s Resource Center. Articles, archive, more. Articles on genres from technical to poetry.
• Poynter Online - Writing Tools
  Articles, blogs, Tip Sheets, more. Part of a much larger site.
• Purdue University Online Writing Lab [OWL]
  To assist people in Grades 7 and higher [including tertiary], this lab provides advice and support for different aspects of writing. Several main areas are linked below.

• Academic Writing
  ‘These OWL resources will help you with the types of writing you may encounter while in college. The OWL resources range from rhetorical approaches for writing, to document organisation, to sentence level work, such as clarity’.
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Creative Writing
  Multiple sections.
• Developing an Outline
  ‘Describes why outlines are useful, what types of outlines exist, suggestions for developing effective outlines, how outlines can be used as an invention strategy for writing’.
• Eliminating Words
  ‘This resource will help you write clearly by eliminating unnecessary words and rearranging your phrases’.
• Grades 7-12 Instructors and Students
  ‘This page provides resources for grades 7-12 instructors and students’.
• Grammar and Spelling
  ‘Handouts, exercises on grammar and spelling’.
• Resources for Instructors
  ‘Internet resources for English and writing teachers or teachers who work with English and writing in their courses’.
• The Writing Process
  ‘While the writing process may be different for each person and for each particular assignment, the resources contained in this section follow the general work flow of pre-writing, organising, and revising’.
• Writing Task Resource List
  ‘This resource will help you find OWL material for the many different kinds of writing tasks you may face in school and in the workplace’.

• Real Audience Project
  What one NSW school does in the field of writing. ‘It has been our ambition for a while now to print-publish student work to the world. We’re excited that we’re now ready with some story books lovingly crafted by some of our students’. As part of the process, they use the Lulu company, where ‘it’s Free to publish, and authors can create everything from hardcover books to eBooks, photo books to calendars. Authors keep all the rights to their works and retain 80 percent of the profit they set when their books sell. We operate a global print network and provide worldwide distribution’.
• Reading, Writing, Speaking
  Select the relevant directories from the list provided.
• Screenwriting Software
  Programs for the Mac system. A small number for PC. Others are listed below.

• Celtx
• ScriptBuddy
• ScriptSmart

• Skillswise - Writing
  From the BBC. Use sections covering paragraphs, planning your writing, My Story, proofreading, format & structure and Raw Words : Story Writing. Also has connections to other aspects of language.
• Storybook
  ‘Free, open source novel-writing tool for creative writers, novelists and authors which will help you to keep an overview of multiple plot-lines while writing books, novels or other written works’.
• The Writer Magazine
  The magazine, writing resources, more. Check Free resource groups listed on the home page. Some areas require you to be a subscriber to the print magazine.
• Tito’s Writing Resource
  A collection of links to information on everything from Active & Passive Voice to When and Where to Use Capitals. A mix of structure, grammar and more.
• Winning Writers
  ‘Websites for Poets and Writers. Winning Writers encourages you to visit the following sites, chosen for their quality, respect for talent, and usefulness. Includes places to share your work and get feedback’.
• Writeboard
  ‘Writeboards are shareable, web-based text documents that let you save every edit, roll back to any version and easily compare changes’. Free.
• WritersWeekly
  ‘The highest-circulation freelance writing ezine in the world’. Books & courses, articles, warnings, markets, forum, more.
• Writing.Com
  ‘The online community for writers and readers of all interests and skill levels. Whether you’re an enthusiastic, creative writer looking for the perfect place to store and display your writing online or a casual reader searching for a good story, Writing.Com is the website for you !’
• WritingFix
  ‘Teachers sharing their best ideas for writing. Quality writing lessons strategically designed to fix reluctant writers and hesitant teachers’.
• Writing Lesson Plans
  Links to various writing plans.
• Writing-Portal.com
  26 directories of links to information on topics ranging from Author pages to Young Writers and including some such as Fiction, Screenwriting, Poetry, Creative Writing, more.
• Writing Skills
  Help on writing essays at all levels. Basic information to assist you.

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Special Writing Tasks

• Alphabetical Autobiography
  Lesson plan from Educator’s Reference Desk.
• Australia Post Education
  Letter Writing. Select the level and then the topic on writing letters in each.
• Business Writing
  Handouts from the Stone Writing Centre. Job Search Letter Writing, Resume Writing.
• Fiction Writers
  Develop fiction writing skills.
• Write Your Novel Now
  Designed to help you write a novel. Sections cover different parts of the process.
• Writing for the Web
  A different format and skill to normal writing techniques. This article from the London School of Economics gives hints on how to get people to actually read online writing. This is archived but has a link to the replacement site. Another page, What Are the Best Practices for Web Writing ? from WiseGeek, confirms general comments.
• Writing Poetry : How to Write a Poem
  ‘There are several things that one must consider while wondering how to write poetry. Here is a list of things to think about that, hopefully, will make the process easier for you’. From Buzzle.

Newspapers

• Crayon
  Helps produce a class newspaper online.
• Create a Newspaper
  Lesson plan from Educator’s Reference Desk.
• Creating a Classroom Newspaper
  ‘Provides students with the opportunity to write authentic newspaper stories. Students will enjoy this creative, exciting, stimulating lesson in writing. As they are transformed into reporters and editors, they will become effective users of ICT to publish their own classroom newspaper’.
• Publishing a School Newspaper
  SOSE unit from Queensland Studies Authority.

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