Writing Skills

Good writing skills are essential for effective communication. Learning to write well takes time and practice. Be sure to leave yourself enough time for all of these steps.

Essays

• Position Paper Topics You Can Argue About
• Five Basic Tips for Writing Your Essay (Basic)
• How to Write an Essay (Advanced)
  • Establish Your Topic
  • Organize Your Ideas
  • Write a First Draft
  • Revise the First Draft
  • Proofread the Final Draft
• How to Write a Five Paragraph Essay

Writing Different Types of Essays

• Narrative Essays
• Narrative Building Blocks
• Descriptive Essays
• Descriptive Writing
• Persuasive Essays
• More on Writing Persuasive Essays
• Cause and Effect Essays
• Comparison and Contrast Essays
• Definition Passage or Essay

How to Write a Biography »

• Writing a Biography
• Personal Narratives

How to Write a Book Report

• Upper Elementary School Level
• Middle and High School Level

How to Write a Research Paper

• Overview
• Establish Your Topic
• Look for Sources of Information
• Read Your Sources and Take Notes
• Organize Your Ideas
• Write a First Draft
• Use Footnotes or Endnotes
• Write a Bibliography
• Revise the First Draft
• Proofread the Final Draft

• How to Research
• What Is Plagiarism?

How to Write a Bibliography »

• Writing a Bibliography
• Citing Infoplease.com
• Giving Credit: Supporting your Thesis
• Documenting your Sources: MLA, Footnotes, and Endnotes
• More on MLA Documentation
• APA Documentation
• Documentation for Different Subject Areas

Sample Term Papers

• Sample Term Paper #1: Felix Mendelssohn
• Sample Term Paper #2: The Effects of Calorie Restriction on Aging
• Sample Term Paper #3: Irish Step Dancing and Appalachian Clogging: The Roots of American Dance

How to Write a Letter

• Writing Personal Letters
• Thank you notes and Social Notes
• How to Write a Complaint Letter
• Letters of Opinion

How to Write a Speech

• Writing Speeches
• Speeches That Inform
• Speeches That Persuade
• Speeches That Entertain
• How to Give an Oral Report

Spelling & Grammar

• Using Transition Words and Phrases
• Punctuation
• Capitalization
• Easily Confused Words
• Foreign Words
• Frequently Misspelled Words
• Ten Tips for Better Spelling
• Spelling Plural Nouns

Sentence Structure

• Sentence Agreement
  • Subjects and Verb Agreement
  • Collective Nouns
  • Indefinite Pronouns
  • Checking Subjects and Verb Agreement
  • Pronouns and Antecedents Agreement
• Sentences
  • Subject and Predicate
  • Types of Sentences
  • Sentence Errors: Fragments and Run-ons

• Sentence Usage Rules
  • Dangling Modifiers
  • Misplaced Modifiers
  • Mixed Metaphors
  • Split Infinitives