Created by Writing Center consultants, our Quick Guides provide concise instruction on a variety of writing skills, tasks, and processes. Consultants often integrate these guides into consulting sessions, but you can use them independently to get a quick handle on the topic of your choice.
Print copies of the Quick Guides are available in our campus locations, but we invite you to download as many as you like.
Understanding Your Instructor's Prompt
Reverse Outlining| Video on Reverse Outlining
How to Edit Your Own Essay: Strategies for Multilingual Writers
Advice on Setting Up and Working with a Writing Group
Writer's Block | Video on Writer's Block
Revising for Concision: 10 tips
Abstracts for Conference Presentation Proposals
Emails to Faculty and Administrators
IMRaD Reports (Scientific Research Reports)
Abstracts in Scientific Research Papers (IMRaD)
Introduction Sections in Scientific Research Reports (IMRaD)
Method Sections in Scientific Research Reports (IMRaD)
Results and Discussion Sections in Scientific Research Reports (IMRaD)
Conclusion Sections in Scientific Research Reports (IMRaD)
Introductions and Conclusions for Humanities Papers
Organizing Literature Reviews: the Basics
Organizing Literature Reviews: Advanced
Personal Statements for Health Professions
Common Writing Terms and Concepts Defined
Signposting Language for Improving Cohesion
Online Resources for Improving Grammar and Word Choice in Writing
How to Write a Research Question
Searching for Sources on the Mason Library Databases
Quotation, Paraphrase, Summary, and Analysis
When to Summarize, Paraphrase, and Quote
A Guide to Annotated Bibliographies
Writing a Literature Review (See above for more lit review guides)
Hedges: Softening Claims in Academic Writing
Chicago Citation Style Quick-Guide
MLA Citation Style Quick-Guide
MLA 7 v. MLA 8: What’s different?
Strategies for Reading Academic Articles
Choosing Between Infinitive and Gerund: “To do” or “doing”?
Choosing the Correct Word Form
Combining Clauses to Avoid Comma Splices, Run-ons, and Fragments
Commas, Semicolons, and Colons
Converting Fragments to Full Sentences
Definite and Indefinite Articles
Improving Cohesion: The "Known/New Contract"
Reducing Informality in Academic Writing
Same Form, but Different Functions: Various Meanings of Verb+ing and Verb+ed
The Three Common Verb Tenses Used in Academic Writing
Using Reduced Relative Clauses to Write Concisely
Word Order in Statements with Embedded Questions
Algunos recursos en línea para la gramática y el vocabulario en español