Writers Resources

The Guardian - Style Guide The Guardian - Style Guide- Guide to word usage, grammar and punctuation for The Guardian and Observer. UK. The Economist Style Guide The Economist Style Guide- Guide based on the style book given to all journalists at The Economist. Pataphysics, Pataphors and Pataphorology Pataphysics, Pataphors and Pataphorology- An extended metaphor that creates its own context. A science invented by P.A. Lopez and derived from the science of 'pataphysics as descr… The Archive of Endangered, Special, or Fun Words The Archive of Endangered, Special, or Fun Words- Writing about and classifying words and language. The Visual Thesaurus The Visual Thesaurus- An exploration of sense relationships within the English language. By clicking on words, you follow a thread of meaning, creating a spatial map of linguistic… Pseudo Dictionary Pseudo Dictionary- The dictionary for words that wouldn't make it into dictionaries. Bartleby.com: The Columbia Guide to Standard American English Bartleby.com: The Columbia Guide to Standard American English- Kenneth G. Wilson's handbook includes descriptive and prescriptive examples with hyperlinked cross-references. Linguistic Phenomena/Devices Linguistic Phenomena/Devices- A list of lesser-known features in English writing. Hendiadys, holonyms, and hypernyms. The Well Bred Sentence The Well Bred Sentence- Online book offering an intensive course in sentence construction and punctuation. Word News Word News- Efforts have been made to provide some of the best thoughts, ancient and modern, that are particularly appealing for our time and to promote a greater appreciation for … Word Spy Word Spy- The word lover's web site by Paul McFedries. WritingDEN WritingDEN- Interactive site created to help students improve English reading, writing and listening skills. Urban Dictionary Urban Dictionary- A veritable cornucopia of streetwise lingo, posted and defined by its readers. Web Typography Web Typography- The elements of typographic style applied to the web. The Word Detective The Word Detective- The online version of the newspaper column answering readers' questions about words and language. An extensive column and word archive. Written by Evan Morris. Lousy Writer Lousy Writer- A free online resource to improve your writing skills. Learn how to write, how to use words, how to write sentences, and how to communicate effectively. Slang City Slang City- Writing about American slang. Verbivore Verbivore- Richard Lederer's page, with contact information and a handful of his language-loving articles. The Word Nerds The Word Nerds- A weekly podcast about words, language, and why we say the things we do. Lingo Factory Lingo Factory- A cooperative effort to coin useable terms and then trick people into using them regularly as though they are real words. Writer's Dreamtools Writer's Dreamtools- A series of useful tools to enhance writers' and students' creativity, spark ideas and fight writer's block. Wordelizer Wordelizer- Delve deeply into a word or subject. Quick search of several word and language related sites. World Wide Words World Wide Words- Explores the history, evolution byways, quirks, and curiosities of the English language. New and recent words and phrases are often featured, as are books on asp… G. Kim Blank's Wordiness, Wordiness, Wordiness List G. Kim Blank's Wordiness, Wordiness, Wordiness List- A list of words and phrases to purge from your writing. Word Quests Word Quests- Word lists that provide thematic units of English words derived from Latin and Greek sources. The Philosophy of Punctuation The Philosophy of Punctuation- Paul Robinson's classic essay on periods, commas, semicolons, dashes. Plain Language Action Network Plain Language Action Network- Promoting clearer communication between the public and government. This site has resources for writers to attain that goal. A.Word.A Day A.Word.A Day- The website for the mailing list A.Word.A.Day (AWAD), which sends a vocabulary word and its definition to the subscribers every day. Exploring English Exploring English- An online tutorial for the parts of speech with style notes for the English Language. The Sports Cliche List The Sports Cliche List- A large, searchable collection of sports cliches, lingo, and jargon. Guides for Better Science Writing Guides for Better Science Writing- Bibliography of style manuals for scientific research, writing, and presentation. Guides for biology, medicine, chemistry, engineering, geology,… Plain English Campaign Plain English Campaign- An independent group fighting for plain English in public communication. We oppose gobbledygook, jargon and legalese. The Word Centre The Word Centre- Consulting firm dedicated to training businesses to use plain English. Free newsletter and professional editing services. The Book of Cliches The Book of Cliches- A compilation of common phrases, euphemisms, and rationales for times of trouble. Organized by occasion. Modern Language Association Modern Language Association- The MLA is the official guide to non-fiction writing. Includes a guide to MLA style. Word Lab Word Lab- A message board where you can request and brainstorm words, names, titles, coinages, puns, phrases, slogans and slang. Word Fugitives Word Fugitives- An interactive column by The Atlantic's Barbara Wallraff. Discovers needs in our language and recommends new words to fill them. Online Classes in Rhetoric, University of Minnesota Online Classes in Rhetoric, University of Minnesota- The University of Minnesota offers a number of Internet correspondence courses in rhetoric. Sign up here. Cliche and Word Journey Cliche and Word Journey- List of 2000 English cliches with some statistical and literary notes on their use. By Dan Scorpio. Cliche Finder Cliche Finder- Special tool word-searches 3,300 cliches. WordWizard WordWizard- Portal for word lovers. Learn about word meanings, slang, quotations, insults, and famous authors. Wordwizard offers a round trip across the English language. Word Focus Word Focus- Words, literature and a word of the day. Speaking Writing Speaking Writing- Articles on speaking and writing, spelling quiz questions, grammar questions and writing and speaking rules. APA Style APA Style- American Psychological Association rules for formatting papers, in-text citations, and end references. Examples based on the sixth edition of the Publication Manual fro… APA Reference Style APA Reference Style- Detailed assistance on APA formatting including many examples and exercises. By David S. Baker and Lynn Henrichsen. Dr. Abel Scribe PhD - Research Style Guides Dr. Abel Scribe PhD - Research Style Guides- Free guides to APA, ASA, CBE, Chicago-Turabian, and MLA show how to document and format college research papers. Web Style Guide Web Style Guide- A manual covering graphic and information design, page layout, graphics, site navigation, and multimedia content. By Patrick J. Lynch and Sarah Horton. Purdue OWL Purdue OWL- The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University houses writing resources and instructional material, and they provide these as a free service of the Writing Lab at P… Quetext Quetext- Free plagiarism detection software that uses machine learning algorithms. CheckPlagiarism.net CheckPlagiarism.net- Free online plagiarism checker to cross-reference your text with documents from across the web.