Augsburg University Writing Lab
Open to all students, the Writing Lab is a place where you can get one-on-one direct feedback from a trained peer. Visit their Writing Lab Info Site to find their hours and to take advantage of the many writing-related handouts available on their page.
The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
If going to the Augsburg Writing Lab is not an option, the Purdue OWL is a great tool to use as you reach the final editing stages. It contains sections on the writing process, mechanics, grammar, and even graduate school applications specifically.
Books about Writing
The following books by notable writers have encouragement and tips on how to get started with a piece, how to find what you really want to say, and how to refine a piece you’ve already written into its best possible form.
- Bird By Bird, by Anne Lamott
- On Writing Well, by William Zinsser
- The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White
- The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard
Reading Well Increases Your Writing Skill
Annie Dillard says in her book The Writing Life;
“He is careful of what he reads, for that is what he will write. He is careful of what he learns, for that is what he will know.”
If you’re struggling to write well, the best thing you can do is to ingest as much well-written material as possible. If all you read in a day is Facebook posts and Buzzfeed listicles, your writing will suffer. Set a goal: whether its challenging yourself to read one article from a top-tier publication like the New Yorker or The Atlantic each day or beginning a challenging novel, the effort you spend reading will not be wasted. You will write what you read!