October 20th is National Writing Day, and there’s no better place to get started than the library. Whether you’re interested in getting a start writing your next research paper, composing your own short story, or reading the work of others, we have plenty of tools available to help.
Want to get started writing fiction? Try the MLA International Bibliography. Click on ‘MLA Directory of Periodicals’ at the top and search by title or keyword – it offers detailed information on over 7,000 journals, including editorial contact information, submission guidelines, as well as information on circulation, acceptance rate, and costs. Or take a look at ebooks in a databases like Ebrary, which includes titles like Creative Writer’s Survival Guide: Advice from an Unrepentant Novelist by John McNally, Writer’s Tool Kit by Carroll Short, or Find Your Story, Write Your Memoir by Lynn Miller. And databases for researching great literature include ProQuest Literature and Language and Contemporary Authors.
How about poetry? A database like Litfinder features the full text of over 150,000 poems, and includes supporting material like author biographies. Or you could dive into a criticism database like Literature Resource Center, which includes critical and interpretive material for works from more than 130,000 world authors past and present. Some of our ebooks dealing with writing poetry yourself include How to Write Poetry by Fred Sedgwick and Teaching Poetry Writing: A Five-Canon Approach by Tom Hunley. And all of our other many writing and literature-based databases can be found here.
Ebooks can also be used to write on other subjects, such as Writing Nonfiction: Turning Thoughts into Books by Dan Poynter or Scientific Writing: A Reader and Writer’s Guide by Jean-Luc Lebrun; or to read masterworks by such authors as William Shakespeare, Homer, Kate Chopin, Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Leo Tolstoy, and many more.
And if you need help with your writing style, grammar or citations, the IU East Writing Center is also available to help. Physically located in Whitewater Hall 206 and also available online 24/7, you can submit your paper at http://www.askonline.net/ – choose Indiana University East from the drop-down menu, then log in with your IU East username and passphrase. Choose “Writing Center” from “Subject Groups,” select your subject from “Subjects,” and click on “Ask.” The consultants may need between 24-48 hours to reply, and you can submit up to 10 pages per day for review. You can also contact them directly at (765) 973-8506 or at write@iue.edu.
Need more help? Send your questions to iueref@iue.edu. Write on!