Tag: Writing Process
MLA Formatting in Word and Google Docs
A simple handout that provides step-by-step details on how to add first line and hanging indents as well as inserting page numbers in the...
Concision for Creative Writers
If you're looking for a way to encourage your creative writing students to be more concise, try this simple concision handout.
Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash
Avoiding ‘Thing’ Words
I'll admit right off the bat that my major pet peeve is 'thing' words. Something. Nothing. Anything. Everything. And just plain old thing. In...
Exploring the Output of Writers
A great piece of advice for any writer is to read as much as possible. If one wants to write novels, reading great novels...
Peer Review Forms
These handouts were developed to help students provide productive and specific feedback during peer review. They support students in giving constructive criticism based on specific generic expectations, such as the strength of thesis statements, organization, and use of sources.
Creating Usable Syllabi
We're all familiar with the frustrations that come from students not reading the syllabus. But I've come to realize the problem isn't one of whether or not the syllabus is read, but one of if and how it's used.
Outlining Argumentative Essays
A useful handout that explains how to outline an essay. It draws on similar examples from my handout on Common Thesis Complaints.
Feature image by Andrew...
Student Centered Office Hours
Those of us who teach Creative Writing usually have the luxury that our students actively choose to be in the class. When they come...
Raising the Stakes: Group Projects as Competitive Contests
Group projects regularly cause trepidation but structuring them as competitive contests leads students away from generic and predictable outcomes.
The Perks of the Quote Integration
The ability to properly quote integrate shows readers that you fully understand the quote and you want them to understand and appreciate it as well.
Ransom Notes
If you're looking for a different type of in-class activity to get students thinking about word choice, you'll find it with this fun but challenging task.
Activity: Refurbishing
I recently read a quotation by Janet Finch, who reminds writers, “You’re a writer and you have to invent it from scratch, all by...
Five Revision Activities
Five revision activities you can use either inside or outside the classroom to show the importance and effects of revision.
The World as Seen, Heard, Experienced, Written
An assignment sequence where students explore the world of the arts, beginning with photography and increasing in writing involvement and critical scrutiny through the worlds of music and film before finally concluding in a work of literature. Through these various lenses, students examine both the status of these arts, what goes into evaluating them, and their relation to their campus, its history, and the world at large.
Creative Writing Feedback: On Finding Praise
There’s a lot of talk in teaching circles about feedback—how to give an appropriate amount that doesn’t overwhelm the student (or the teacher’s workload) and balances praise and constructive criticism. Finding praise is, of course, characterized by its very verb as the part where you have to strain yourself, what you include to soften the blow your critique.
Lego: The Building Blocks of Writing
One of my favorite in-class activities is simple, easy to set up, and, most importantly, it involves Lego. I often use this in composition...