Writing Resources

Need some help with your assignment, resume, or personal statement? You don't have to go at it alone. Here's a list of resources you can use during any part of the writing process.

On-Campus Writing Centers

• The Odegaard Writing and Research Center (OWRC) offers 45 minute appointments on any writing assignment ranging from an academic essay to personal statements.You can also schedule an appointment with a research librarian here!
• The Center for Learning and Undergraduate Enrichment's Writing Center has writing tutors available from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. on school nights! They can help with every stage of the writing process to brainstorming to polishing the final draft!
• The Anthropology Writing Center is open to students of all levels who would like to work on their current writing skills and become more comfortable with the writing process. 
• The History Writing Center is open to History majors, to students writing papers for History courses, and to Evening Degree students.
• The Sociology Writing Center offers one-on-one "tutoring" services, primarily through scheduled appointments (45 minutes in length).  These appointments are open to all undergraduate students taking sociology courses, are assignment-focused, and are intended to help students with all stages of the writing process.
• The Political Science/Jackson School of International Studies/Law, Societies, and Justice Writing Center assists students with their writing assignments at any point during the writing process, from brainstorming to the final draft. They also help people in these three departments with major, graduate, or law school applications; cover letters; internship applications; etc. 
• Philosophy Writing Center: Many students do not realize that the requirements for a philosophy paper can be very different from the requirements for papers in other departments. Work with the undergraduate tutors at the Philosophy Writing Center and develop your ability to critically evaluate arguments in your readings, carefully formulate and argue for your own philosophical views, and defend your views against relevant objections.
• The Interdisciplinary Writing Studio (located in Smith Hall 113B) offers tutoring sessions for students working on projects in AES, AIS, CHID  GEOG, and GWSS. The tutors have experience writing and tutoring in these departments and can work with you on all aspects of writing and research from brainstorming and planning, through writing and revising.  All kinds of projects are welcome: reading responses; reflections; creative pieces; research papers, literature reviews; position statements; and fellowship, job, or graduate school applications!

Other Writing Programs

• Writing Courses & Writing Programs: The UW English program offers courses in everything from multimodal composition and creative writing to technical writing!
• International and English Language Programs: These UW instruction programs including three- and ten-week intensive sessions, oral fluency and college preparation programs, TOEFL, IELTS, TOEIC, GRE & GMAT Verbal Preparation courses, and online courses in academic, business, and technical English.

Research 

• UW Library System: The UW Library system has a variety of online article and research databases as well as citation tools, e-journals, and ways to connect with research librarians.
• Research Databases: These databases have full text scholarly articles from the sciences, social sciences, and arts & humanities.
• Electronic Journals
• Resources by Subject: This is a list of recommended resources and research tips that can be filtered by subject or by collection.
• Citation Guide: This has the style guides for MLA and APA as well as other tools for storing and organizing your sources.
• Q&A Live—Talk to a Librarian: Can't find what you're looking for? Talk to a librarian in a live chat, via email, or in-person. You can meet subject librarians or use the list of librarians by language.
• Seattle Public Library System: This is an excellent resource for a wide variety of books and multimedia resources
• Google Scholar: From here, you can search across many disciplines and sources, and then locate the complete document through the UW library system or on the web.

For ELL Students

• Purdue University's Online Writing Lab (OWL): This site has an extensive set of hand-outs and exercises on basic issues that frequently plague writers whose native language is not English.
• Online English Grammar: This site offers a complete grammar handbook that you can use as a reference.
• Study Guides and Strategies: A good reference

On Your Own: Writing Resources

• Tips for Writing Analytical Papers
• Information on Academic Honesty/Plagiarism
• How to organize and structure an academic paper and revising your first draft (Dartmouth Writing Center)
• Revising the Draft (Harvard)
• Strategies for Essay Writing: These concise explanations provide advice on some fundamental elements of academic writing (Harvard)