Contribute

Teachers & Writers, Please Contribute!

Do you have resources that can help college students be more effective writers?  If you have expertise on a topic not presently covered or if you have important revisions to offer on an existing page, we invite you to submit your work/suggestions for publication.

We are especially eager to add new media and interactive elements.  Much of Writing Commons is written, particularly the Process and Research sections; however we're still building a majority of the Genres subcategories. One of our short-term goals is to continue updating the site with podcasts, videos, and new articles so that Writing Commons serves as a useful text for writing across the disciplines.  By working collaboratively, we are hopeful that we can develop a new kind of writing resource, a real-time writing space that is composed collaboratively by a crowd of people who share the motivation to create a new kind of writing resource, one that is more interactive, more Web 2.0ish--a space that can be easily edited to meet your needs, one that is readily available on your phone, PDA, or netbook.

Please note that all submissions to updating and expanding Process and Research and Genres sections will be peer-reviewed by our editorial staff or distinguished Editorial Board. Because we assume Writing Commons will be the assigned resource in many college-level classrooms that require writing, we take seriously the responsibility to ensure that submissions and edits are well conceived.

Topics being called for:

Writing Process

Play the Believing Game

• Map Your Assignment
• Outline the Assignment
• Focus
• Develop a Thesis
• Respond to the Prompt 
• Remediate (Text to Text, Text to Visual, Visual to Text)

Play the Doubting Game

• Interpret Instructor Feedback
• Approach Instructors for Further Suggestions
• Chart Progression of Points
• Revise
• Reorganize Paragraphs
• Reoragnize Material within Paragraphs 
• Avoid Jargon, Cliches, and Archaisms
• Battle Wordiness
• Pay Attention to Agreement (Subject-Vern Agreement, Subject-Pronoun Agreement, Parallelism, Tense Shifts)
• Incorporate Appropriate Pronouns
• Ensure Your Voice is Present
• Use Academic Language
• Battle Wordiness
• Pay Attention to Agreement (Subject-Verb Agreement, Subject-Pronoun Agreement, Parallelism, Tense Shifts)
• MLA
• APA
• Chicago

Research

Textual Research

• Find Credible & Relevant Sources 
• Search WorldCat and Library Databases 
• Intergrate Evidence
• Outside Sources (Use Appropriate Tye of Sourced Material, Introudce Sourced Material, Integate Sourced Material)
• Nontraditional Tpes of Evidence (Personal Anecdote, Hypthetical Example)

Genres

Creative Writing

• Journal Entries
• Biography
• Creative Nonfiction
• Poetry
• Short Stories
• Novels
• Plays
• Scripts

Academic Writing

• Exam Essays (In-Class Exams, Take-Home  Exams)
• Close Readings
• Historical Perspectives
• Toulmin Arguement

Professional Writing

• Technical Writing (Technical Descriptions, Instructions & Process Reports)
• Business Writing (Workplace Letters &Memos, Cover Letter and Resumes, Letters of Resignation)

Collaboration

• Group Work (Negotiating Differences)
• In-Class Peer Review
• Online Peer Review
• Peer Review Worksheets

New Media

• Blogs
• Vlogs
• Open Fiction
• Fan Fiction
• Wikis
• Discussion Board Forms