Resources for Writers and Writing Instructors

By Jack Lynch,
Rutgers University

• General Resources:
  • Alt.usage.english newsgroup
  • Keith Ivey's English Usage Page
  • Mark Israel's FAQ for alt.usage.english
  • World Wide Words (Michael Quinion) — An extensive site "devoted to the English language - its history, quirks, curiosities and evolution." Always interesting.
  • English Usage, Style, & Composition — A collection of reference works at Bartleby.com, including American Heritage, Strunk & White, Fowler's King's English, and other indispensable public-domain works. Worth a bookmark.
  • Grammar Resources on the Web — the University of Chicago Writing Program provides annotated links to useful Web sites on grammar and style. Eminently sensible.
  • EnglishForums.com -- Discussion groups on English grammar, usage, and style.
• Rhetoric:
  • The Rhetoric Server (Berkeley)
  • Chiasmus.com (Mardy Grothe) — A deliciously eccentric site on the joys of chiasmus.
  • Sylva Rhetoricae: The Forest of Rhetoric (Gideon Burton, Brigham Young) -- A superb guide to classical rhetoric, with definitions of many rhetorical terms.
• Style Guides (more or less comprehensive):
  • Strunk, The Elements of Style (1918 edition) (Bartleby)
  • H. W. Fowler, The King's English (Bartleby)
  • Guardian Style Guide -- A thorough guide to the house style of The Guardian. American users should note that it's a British publication; all users should note that it settles their own house style, and doesn't pretend to rule on the language as a whole.
  • MHRA's Home Page (Cambridge)
  • Writing Better: A Handbook for Amherst Students (Susan Snively, Amherst College) — A practical collection of writing advice, both specific and general. Plenty of examples. [Added 10 Sept. 1999]
  • Papers: Expectations, Guidelines, Advice, and Grading (Jeannine DeLombard and Dan White, Univ. of Toronto) — Eminently reasonable and extremely helpful advice for writers of college-level English papers.
  • Learn to Write (Brian Dana Akers) — Brief, opinionated reviews of some major guides to writing.
  • Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students (Michael Alley, Virginia Tech; Leslie Crowley, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Christene Moore, Univ. of Texas at Austin) — Useful and practical advice for writers in technical fields.
  • Jim's Word/Writer's Links — The Electric Eclectic — A huge collection of writing-related links, with brief annotations.
  • The Economist style guide — A useful guide, though American readers should note that they prescribe British standards.
• Grammars:
  • On-Line English Grammar (mostly for non-native speakers)
  • Schoolhouse Rock — Grammar Rock
  • HyperGrammar
  • Guide to Grammar and Writing (Capital Community Technical College) — A good collection of advice, including information on diagramming sentences, easily confused words, rules for spelling, punctuation, and so on.
  • Traditional Grammar: An Interactive Book (Donald E. Hardy) — A very basic but thorough grammar, with exercises.
• Pages on Specific Topics:
  • Gender-Neutral Pronoun Frequently Asked Questions (GNP FAQ)
  • E-Prime — A Layman's Personal Perspective
• Dictionaries and Lexicography:
  • Hypertext Webster Interface (CMU) — A common interface allows you to search several public-domain dictionaries on-line.
  • The Alternative Dictionaries — A collaborative international dictionary of slang and non-standard usage.
  • WordNet: A Lexical Database for English (Princeton) — "An on-line lexical reference system whose design is inspired by current psycholinguistic theories of human lexical memory. English nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are organized into synonym sets, each representing one underlying lexical concept. Different relations link the synonym sets."
  • LOGOS Dictionary
• Writing various genres:
  • Drama:
    • Essays on the Craft of Dramatic Writing (Bill Johnson) — A collection of short original pieces on writing, especially screenplays. Focuses on plot, characters, that sort of thing.
  • Poetry:
    • A Handbook of Terms for Discussing Poetry (Harry Rusche, Emory) — Defines just a handful of terms, but in some depth, with useful examples.
  • Children's Literature:
    • Children's Literature Web Guide
  • Technical Writing:
    • Resources for Teachers of English for Science and Technology
    • Technical Writing (Ronald B. Standler) — A well written collection of useful tips for technical writers. Bear in mind, though, that some guidelines apply only to technical writing.
• Literary Terms:
  • A Glossary of Rhetorical Figures (UKY) — A pair of glossaries, giving brief definitions of dozens of terms.
  • English Grammar -- Glossary of Terms (UsingEnglish.com) -- An extensive set of very brief definitions of terms from grammar and rhetoric.
• Writers' Groups:
  • Writing World #0151; A free, biweekly newsletter for writers, by the editor of the now defunct Inklings.
• General Essays on Style:
  • Anti-Pedantry Page — A polemical page demonstrating the use of the singular "their" in Jane Austen and elsewhere.
  • Orwell, Politics and the English Language
  • Garbl's Fat-Free-Writing Links (Gary B. Larson) — A wonderful set of links on ways to cut down on wordiness.
• Mechanics:
  • On Close Spacing between Words and Sentences (Mark Wainwright, Cambridge) — Informed commentary on spacing after punctuation. Note, though, it refers only to typeset material; Wainwright's advice doesn't necessarily apply to typescripts.
  • "It's" vs. "Its" (Gary Shapiro)
  • Word Processing Style Guide (Compuserve)
  • Bibliography and Citation:
    • Citing Electronic Materials with the New MLA Guidelines
    • Karla's Guide to Citation Style Guides
    • Citing Internet and Other Electronic Resources (Binghamton Univ.)
    • Citing Electronic Resources (Internet Public Library)
• Miscellaneous Observations:
  • The Word Detective (Evan Morris) — A "column answering readers' questions about words and language."
  • The Word Wizard
• Publication:
  • RhetNet: A Dialogic Publishing (Ad)venture (Missouri) — "RhetNet is a concerted effort to see what publishing on the net might be in its 'natural' form. Without leaving our print heritage behind entirely, we want to adapt to the net rather than only adapting net publishing to print-based convention."
• Copyright and Plagiary:
  • Copyright Clearance Center Online
  • The Copyright Website
  • U.S. Copyright Office Home Page
  • Copyright Law (Ronald B. Standler) — A helpful, informal overview of American copyright law.
  • Plagiarism in Colleges in USA (Ronald B. Standler) — A very useful essay on plagiarism, including the ethical and legal questions, with plenty of guidelines for students.
• Copyediting:
  • Copy Editing for Magazines
  • Copy Editor Home Page
  • Editors Ink — A guide to copyediting, valuable for both professional editors and novice writers.
  • Tools and Tips for Copy Editors
• Writing Programs and Centers:
  • Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) — One of the best on-line writing centers, with the most extensive links. Highly recommended.
  • Rensselaer Writing Center Handouts — A collection of handouts from the writing center, including Basic Prose Style (Craig Waddell), a useful collection of advice on mechanics and style for students.
  • U. Victoria English Dept.'s Writer's Guide — Includes advice on mechanics, logic, literary terms, documentation, and other writing topics.
  • CWRL (Computer Writing, Rhetoric, and Literature at Texas)
  • The Writer's Center
• Research:
  • Writing Up Research (Gerri Brightwell, Asian Institute of Technology)
• WriteBusiness.com — Mostly a commercial site, but includes a good collection of free resources, including tips on copyright, MS preparation, and the writing business.
• Inkspot: Resources for Writers
• American Society of Journalists and Authors
• Writers House
• Frequently Asked Questions about English, Series 1 (John Lawler, Michigan)
• The Reporters Network
• Writing Assessment Services
• Writer's Connection
• RhetNet: Net/Texts
• Writers Write: Internet Writing Journal
• Garbl's Writing Resources On Line — Extensive and annotated collection of links to writing resources on the Web.
• PEN Oakland Resource for Writers
• Common Errors in English (Paul Brians, Washington State Univ.)
• Paradigm Online Writing Assistant
• Robin's Nest Writer's Help
• Warnings and Cautions for Writers — A useful set of pointers for newcomers to the business of writing.
• SAJA Stylebook for Covering South Asia and the Southa Asian Diaspora — Style tips, especially for journalists, on South Asian matters.
• Garbl's Editorial Style Manual — A useful collection of tips on grammar, spelling, usage, and mechanics.
• The Vocabula Review — An electronic journal on usage. Tends to be conservative, but not mindlessly so; still, perhaps too splenetic for many. A regular feature, "Grumbling about Grammar," suggests the tone a little too well.
• SUNY Geneseo Online Writing Guide (Paul Schacht and Celia Easton) — A useful collection of advice.
• The Exploding Dictionary — Thoroughly hyperlinked dictionary, where every word of every definition is linked to another set of definitions.
• George Orwell, Politics and the English Language
• The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing (Michael Harvey) -- A helpful guide to writing papers, with advice on thesis construction, use of evidence, style, and mechanics.
• CompPile (Rich Haswell) -- "An ongoing inventory of publications in post-secondary composition, rhetoric, ESL, and technical writing." A large and impressive bibliography of sources.
• Everyone Who's Anyone in Trade Publishing -- A searchable guide to agents, editors, and publishers in the US, UK and Canada.
• Plagiarism (Sharon Stoerger) -- A huge collection of information on plagiarism, copyrights, intellectual freedom, term paper mills, and so on. Nearly comprehensive.