Taking on a creative work can be daunting. Whether you are gearing up for NaNoWriMo or looking for year-round support, these resources will help you work through the writing process for endeavors such as novels, novellas, and short stories. Specifically, these documents are useful for brainstorming, drafting, and organizing ideas for premise, plot, point of view, characters, worldbuilding, and dialogue. You will also learn scene blocking techniques and tips for finishing and revising your first draft.  

Materials designed by Autumn Frederick and Heesun Yoon 

This worksheet introduces you to premise, provides a breakdown of premise components, and helps you draft your own premise

• Find Your Premise Word Document 

• Find Your Premise PDF 

This worksheet reviews two types of story structure: the Three Act Structure and Freytag’s Pyramid. Space is provided to help you map your story out in both structures to decide which best fits your writing style

• Outline Your Plot Word Document

• Outline Your Plot PDF 

This worksheet discusses five points of view found in creative writing, notes tips for helping writers select a point of view, provides resources for writing and reading for diversity, lists questions to consider for character creation, and provides fillable character profiles

• POV & Character Creation Toolkit Word Document 

• POV & Character Creation Toolkit PDF 

This worksheet provides planning resources, an overview and list of decisions, and activity for delving into worldbuilding

• Worldbuilding Worksheet Word Document 

• Worldbuilding Worksheet PDF

This handout breaks down tips for improving your descriptive writing and provides examples and explanations for each suggestion

• Descriptive Writing Toolkit Word Document 

• Descriptive Writing Toolkit PDF 

This brief handout provides an explanation of what dialogue is and how it is formatted and provides space for practice

• Dialogue Practice Handout Word Document 

• Dialogue Practice Handout PDF 

This brief worksheet defines scene blocking and provides an activity for practice

• Scene Blocking Worksheet Word Document 

• Scene Blocking Worksheet PDF 

This brief handout lists good habits for finishing your project and outlines tips and resources to aid you in revising your first draft

• Finishing and Revising Your Draft Toolkit Word Document 

• Finishing and Revising Your Draft Toolkit PDF

Often, new professionals encounter unfamiliar or complicated communication situations. These resources will give you strategies for analyzing and responding to situations like creating professional plans and protocols, drafting an inquiry email, and polishing your professional writing. 

Materials designed by G. Travis Adams, Lucas de Almedia Adelino, Christopher Basgier, Jordan Beckum, Layli Miron, and James Truman

This handout will help you identify the rhetorical situation—or the purpose, role, audience, resources and constraints—of professional communication situations 

• Writing in Professional Contexts Overview Handout Word Document 

• Writing in Professional Contexts Overview Handout PDF 

This activity invites you to participate in a realistic workplace scenario involving written communication  

• Professional Communication Situations Activity Worksheet Word Document 

• Professional Communication Situations Activity Worksheet PDF 

This worksheet will help you apply the paramedic method of editing to improve sentence-level clarity 

• Revision for Concision Practice Worksheet Word Document 

• Revision for Concision Practice Worksheet PDF 

This handout offers strategies for working with writing at its proofing or near-final revision stage of development 

• Proofreading Your Own Writing Handout Word Document 

• Proofreading Your Own Writing Handout PDF