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Writing Help: Overview

Writing Center Services

Whether you are working on presenting your ideas in an academic voice or learning the finer points of APA style, the Walden Writing Center is here to help you achieve your writing goals. We offer:

We also offer a number of other services, and you can find out more about them by using the links in the left column menu. The services in the Writing Center are available to all Walden University students at no additional cost. Our instructional web pages are also available for anyone to use online. You can also find introductions to the Writing Center and starting pages in our Getting Started section.

If you have any questions,  Ask OASIS

If you have writing or APA questions about the proposal or doctoral capstone study, contact [email protected].

Additional Writing Help at the Academic Skills Center

In addition to the services the Writing Center provides at this website, you can also find more help for your writing at the Office of Academic Support and the Academic Skills Center.

Writing Courses and Workshops

The Office of Academic Support provides writing courses and workshops on a variety of topics. Some examples of available writing classes are:

  • Skills for Academic Integrity
  • Basic APA Style: Citations and References
  • Graduate Writing I: Basic Composition Skills
  • Graduate Writing II: Intermediate Composition Skills
  • Writing a Literature Review
  • Preproposal Writing Workshop
  • Doctoral Writing Workshop: Revising and Editing the Proposal

Microsoft Word

The Academic Skills Center hosts some basic video tutorials and help pages on using Microsoft Word, including information on track changes, style tags and automated table of contents, and formatting tools. Microsoft Word tutoring is available as well.

Suggestions for Further Reading

In addition to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and the Walden Writing Center website, we recommend these texts, organized below according to theme. Find them at your public library, a local bookstore, or an online retailer.

 

Grammar and Word Usage

Bryson, B. (2004). Bryson’s dictionary of troublesome words. Broadway Books.

Gordon, K. E. (1993). The deluxe transitive vampire: The ultimate handbook of grammar for the innocent, the eager and the doomed. Pantheon Books.

O’Conner, P. T. (2003). Woe is I: The grammarphobe’s guide to better English in plain English. Riverhead Books. 

 

Punctuation

Gordon, K. E. (2003). The new well-tempered sentence: A punctuation handbook for the innocent, the eager, and the doomed. Mariner Books.

Lederer, R., & Shore, J. (2005). Comma sense: A fun-damental guide to punctuation. St. Martin’s.

Truss, L. (2006). Eats, shoots and leaves: The zero tolerance approach to punctuation. Gotham Books.

 

Style

Strunk, W. Jr., & White, E. B. (1999). The elements of style (3rd ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

Williams, J. M., & Colomb, G. G. (2010). Style: The basics of clarity and grace (4th ed.). Longman.

Zinsser, W. (2006). On writing well (7th ed.). HarperCollins.

 

The Writing Life

Goldberg, N. (2005). Writing down the bones: Freeing the writer within. Shambhala. 

King, S. (2000). On writing: A memoir of the craft. Scribner.

Lamott, A. (1995). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. Anchor Books.

Ueland, B. (2007). If you want to write: A book about art, independence, and spirit. Graywolf.

 

Writing and Thinking

Turner, M. (1998). The literary mind: The origins of thought and language. Oxford University Press.

 

Social Change Writing

Dunlap, L. (2007). Undoing the silence: Six tools for social change writing. New Village Press.

The Freedom Writers. (1999). The Freedom Writers diary. Broadway Books.

Pipher, M. (2007). Writing to change the world. Riverhead.

 

Thesis, Dissertation, and Doctoral Study Writing

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (2008) The craft of research (3rd ed.). University of Chicago Press.

Clark, I. L. (2006). Writing the successful thesis and dissertation: Entering the conversation. Prentice Hall.

Krathwohl, D. R., & Smith, N. L. (2005). How to prepare a dissertation proposal: Suggestions for students in education and the social and behavioral sciences. Syracuse University Press.

Thomas, G. (2013). How to do your research project: A guide for students in education and applied social sciences (2nd ed.). SAGE.

Recommended APA Style Reference List Entry for This Page

Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.) Writing help. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/services