You need help with grammar. Or coming up with a topic to write about. Or you you want to know where to look to publish your writing. Look no further, because here at the UCWbL we have gathered a list of useful resources for writers on these topics and more.
You most likely all know about the Purdue OWL. Or if you don’t, let me quickly tell you about it: The Purdue OWL is one of the most widely used resources on writing. They have information on topics ranging from styles for different writing genres, grammar materials, and resources specific to writing center tutors. It’s a great and useful site, but there are so many out there, so don’t limit yourself.
At Grammar Girl you can find simple answers to your burning grammar questions. As the author of the blog describes it, “Your friendly guide to the world of grammar, punctuation, usage, and fun developments in the English language.”
The Oatmeal is a comic website with some very useful and artfully drawn posts explaining some of the most frequently confused grammar topics, like when and how to use and apostrophe.
The Bedford Handbook by Diana Hacker is an amazing resource of writing, grammar, and research exercises, language debates, model papers, and citation format how-tos.
Live to Write – Write To Live is a blog written by a community of writers of the New Hampshire Writers’ Network. They cover a range of topics, all related to writing, and they often tell personal stories and anecdotes about their experiences with writing and publishing.
The Elements of Style is a wonderful book by Strunk and White that discusses, well, the stylistics of writing in an easy-to-understand, eloquent manner. You can read a PDF copy of the book here.
Here is one of the most popular guide’s to writing by Colin Nissan, published on McSweeney’s: The Ultimate Guide To Writing Better Than You Normally Do. It is both practical and hilarious.
In the mood to write, but can’t think of anything to write about? Look to this tumblr for inspiration from a whole range of creative writing prompts.
Matador Network is the place to go for travel writers. They are one of the biggest online travel writing publications, and they do accept unsolicited submissions. In addition, they have many great articles on writing in general, and they offer online travel writing and photography courses.
If writing is your thing, Writer’s Digest is a great tool for helping you to get published, knowing where to look, and everything else. They also offer workshops, conferences, and webinars for writers.
So you’ve finally finished that short story/poem/play. Great! Now what to you do with it? Don’t be intimidated by the sheer amount of publications out there. Check out these Top 50 Literary Magazines and familiarize yourself with the content of each magazine before deciding which would be the best fit for you to submit your work to.
In case our list wasn’t enough, here is a PDF from Writer’s Digest of the 101 Best Websites for Writers.