University of Life Writing Center

The University of Life Writing Center is based on the innovative writing text The Art & Craft of Writing: a step-by-step guide to effective writing by Shaun Roundy, MA.

You will find entertaining explanations of critical writing concepts and skills coupled with examples and exercises.

You will also appreciate the steps given which, if followed, practically guarantee that your writing will emerge powerful, engaging and effective.

Begin by clicking one of the categories to the left, then picking topics and lessons within those categories.

This page has the following sub pages.

• The Writing Process
  • Prewriting
    • Brainstorm
    • Cluster
    • Research
    • Purpose or Thesis Statement
    • Outline
    • Freewrite
    • Incubation
  • Drafting
  • Revision
    • Revision Option 1: Develop
    • Revision Option 2: Revise
    • Revision Option 3: Rewrite
    • Revision Option 4: Resize
    • Revision Option 5: Reduce
    • Revision Option 6: Remove
    • Peer Review
  • Editing
    • Be Verbs
    • Spelling
    • Diction
    • Grammar
    • Punctuation
• Global Concepts
  • Purpose
  • Audience
    • Cooperative Readers
  • The Writing Spectrum
  • Presentation
  • Clarity
    • What Undermines Clarity?
    • Strategies for Clear Expression
  • Content
    • Introductions
    • Body
      • Bombproof
        • Logos
          • Assertions
          • To Think or Not to Think
          • Evidence
          • Warrant
          • Logical Fallacies
        • Pathos
          • Humor
        • Ethos
      • Development
    • Conclusions
• Description
  • Show not Tell
  • Abstractions
  • Concrete Details
    • Focus
    • The 5 Senses
    • Organization
    • Adjectives, Action Verbs & Adverbs
    • Clichés, Accidental Exaggeration & the Weakness of Strong Telling
  • Sensory Details
  • Dialogue
• Contrast
  • Rhythm
    • Sounds
    • Word Sounds
      • Alliteration
      • Repetition
    • Sentence Variety
      • Parallel Constructs
    • Paragraph Length
    • Pace
  • Comparisons
    • The Comparison Continuum
    • Similar Items
    • Dissimilar Items
    • Highly Dissimilar
    • “Just Right”
    • Contrast
    • Extended Comparisons
    • The Comparison Process
    • Worst Comparisons Contest
  • Break the Rules
• Critical Thinking
  • Thinking and Writing
  • Critical Thinking Definitions
  • Why Think Critically?
  • What about feelings?
  • How do you know?
  • How to develop critical thinking skills
  • The Creative Process
• Sample Papers
  • What Your Recruiter Didn’t Tell You: Things You Ought to Know Before Going to Basic Military Training
  • Heights and Me
• Final Exam
  • Science from Kids