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hand drawing an arrow on paper
Monday, May 14, 2018

Put it in reverse!

Sometimes you have to work backwards to move forward. If you ever find yourself stuck while writing (and unable to make it to the Writing and Communication Centre), creating a reverse outline may be your solution. This strategy entails looking at each of your paragraphs and summarizing the main idea you are trying to portray in 1-2 sentences. Even with an initial outline, your ideas change as you write, so this strategy allows you to take a step back and ensure that your writing flows like Niagara Falls.

Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh
Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Writing genre series: Formal visual art analysis

I’ve always had an interest in art, whether I am creating it or viewing someone else’s. Art galleries are my favourite place to explore visual art as I get to experience how another artist creates their work of art and how it relates to their own concept of art. Through high school and my undergraduate studies, Formal Visual Art Analysis has been an important part of my studies in Fine Arts. 

Laboratory equipment on a table
Monday, January 22, 2018

Writing genre series: Lab report writing

In our last blog post, we talked about different strategies for writing grad school applications. That was our first instalment of a new series on our blog where we will be exploring different writing genres throughout the term. Today’s topic is lab report writing!

Ancient inscription captioned "It doesn't mean a thing, but boy, will it drive them crazy a thousand years from now?"
Friday, November 25, 2016

Revisiting Google Ngram: What we can learn from Corpora

So I’ve been thinking about Google’s Ngram Viewer and how it applies as a teaching tool. Although it doesn’t directly translate, Ngram reminded me of a really handy tool that we use regularly at the Writing Centre. I’ve also realized that many people may not have encountered it before. So, I present to you: the Now Corpus.

Matrix meme captioned "What if I told you not all transition words don't mean the same thing"
Friday, November 18, 2016

Choosing Effective Transition Words: A DIY Guide

Seeing as I tend to write a lot of blogs focused on process/approaches to sustainable writing practices, it may be a good time to write something more applied (and plug some of the resources from the website). This post is inspired by a common experience throughout the semester; quite often, I find myself directing students to the Transition Phrase bank in our Resources section.

Dr. Strangelove meme captioned "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room"
Friday, November 4, 2016

An experiment with Google Ngram Viewer or: how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb

At the Writing Centre, we’re always looking out for new teaching strategies and tools. So when one of my colleagues mentioned Google Ngram Viewer (I was shamelessly trolling for blog posts ideas, to be honest), I was intrigued. What is it? What does it do? And more importantly, how does Google keep creating these things?

Thursday, September 1, 2016

An introduction to university writing

An introduction to university writing

You have graduated from high school and been accepted to The University of Waterloo. Congratulations! As you begin your university studies you will encounter many kinds of writing assignments. To help get you started, here’s a brief guide to expectations for university-level writing.

Writing at university follows specific conventions

Thursday, July 14, 2016

On Stephen King's "On Writing"

Stephen King’s On Writing is a great resource for anyone who wants to become a better writer. Although King’s memoir mainly targets fiction writers, I believe that many of his opinions on writing can be used by all writers. Whether you are writing a blog, co-op report, literature review, cover letter, etc., King’s tips about writing will be useful to you.

Here are four of King’s tips about writing that will help you and your writing process.