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Creative Writing

The following resources have been compiled by the librarians with specific regard to the study of Creative Writing. For additional resources, please see our Professional Writing and Journalism research guides.


Reference Books

  • Allusions: Cultural, literary, biblical and historical: A Thematic dictionary. 1982. Reference 081 A44a
  • That or which, and why: A Usage guide for thoughtful writers and editors. 2007. Reference 428.2 J41t
  • Write right!: A Desktop digest of punctuation, grammar and style. 1995. Reference 428.2 V46w
  • Picturesque expressions: A Thematic dictionary. 1980. Reference 428.3 P58
  • Encyclopedia of rhetoric. 2001. Reference 808.003 E56e
  • Encyclopedia of Rhetoric and Composition: Communication from ancient times to the information age. 1996. Reference 808.003 En19E
  • Poet's market 2005. Reference 070.5 P75
  • 2010 Writer's market. 2009. Reference 070.5 W93
  • The International dictionary of little magazines and small presses. 2003. Reference 070.5 I61F
  • Christian writers market guide. 2010. Forthcoming


Finding Books

  • Online Catalog
    • Find books, as well as a variety of other materials in the TU Libraries.
    • Use the Advanced search option to specify material format, campus, language, and date range.
  • WorldCat
    • Find books, among other things, to request via Interlibrary Loan (ILL).


Finding Articles

  • MLA International Bibliography
    Indexes over 4,000 scholarly journals and series in the fields of literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. Includes citations, but no abstracts.

  • JSTOR
    Provides keyword searching for over 100 important scholarly journals in a variety of disciplines. Particularly strong in Arts & Humanities. Has access to back issues of the journals up through about 3 to 5 years ago.

  • Project MUSE
    This collection of 400 journals represent the publications of 100 not-for-profit organizations. Every article available in Project MUSE is in full-text, meaning you will immediately be able to view, print, or save the article for later use.


Finding Journals

  • List of Journals, Magazines and Newspapers
    Search by journal title keyword for online full-text journals, and to see what we have in print in the library.

  • Click here for a Language and Literature Subject Search in the List of Journals, etc., to find out what journals (and how many) we have available both in print and online. Click on the blue links to enter the actual list of titles. The numbers in parentheses beside the subject indicate how many journal titles are included in that subject area. It offers subdisciplines, so browse through to find more specific journals for your topic.


Web Resources

  • Online Resources for Writers from Amherst College
    As with many other colleges and universities, Amherst College is dedicated to helping their students become excellent writers. In order to accomplish this goal, they have created a fine set of online resources for use by their own students and members of the web-browsing public. This particular set includes a long list of resources created by staff members at Amherst and at other institutions. These resources are divided into thematic headings such as "Preparing to Write", "Thesis and Argument", "Clarity and Grace", and "Using Sources". On the left hand side of the page, users can view the same list and also learn more about the writing center at Amherst and their work. Overall, it's a fine set of resources, and one that college students in particular will find useful, especially as they approach a paper deadline.


Other Research Tools

  • Credo Reference
    A conglomeration of specialized dictionaries and encyclopedias that allows you to search for definitions and encyclopedia articles, as well as develop ideas for expanding or refining a research strategy.
  • Oxford Reference Premium Online  
    Oxford University Press produces a number of extremely useful reference materials, many of which they have made available here. You can search by keyword, but you can also choose particular subjects and from there, particular books within which to search. This willl provide you with all sorts of background and broad spectrum information on a particular topic.
  • Biography Resource Center  
    Find background information about people, authors, famous personalities, and others. Search by first or last name. 


Citation Help

One of the least favorite aspects of research papers are the citations, documenting the sources where you gleaned your information. To make that a little easier, the Library offers a few resources.

  • MLA handbook for writers of research papers. 2003. Ref 808.027 G35M
    The standard source for citation style in literature and writing, published by the Modern Language Association.
  • The Citation Style Guide is a place where you can find call numbers for print Style Manuals and Handbooks, as well as online help from several different universities around the States. Check it out and see if it helps!
  • RefWorks
    is a Citation Management program. Fully available online, and linked from the Library's home page, it allows you to keep it all ELECTRONIC. Download your citations from the various databases you're using into RefWorks. This program will create the Works Cited page for you with little effort. In a database, look for the option to EXPORT - that is where you'll find this gem of a program.
  • Automatically Generated Citations can be found in our Library Catalog (to the right of the item on the Results page), as well as in most EBSCO databases (like Academic Search Premier, PsycINFO, Communications and Mass Media Complete, etc.). Most databases either provide an instant citation in a couple of different styles, or they allow Exporting to RefWorks (see above). Ask a Librarian for more help in managing your citations and creating your bibliographies and works cited pages faster.
  • WorldCat.org
    "Cite this item" within individual item record lists the citation in APA, MLA, Chicago and more.
  • The Writing Center is also a solid resource. Available in the Library, this is run by the English department. If you'd like face-to-face help individually with citing or any aspect of writing and editing your paper, the Writing Center is the place to go. For more information, see their page on the Portal, or you can contact them at writingctr@taylor.edu.

 

Created by Lana Wilson, Reference Librarian

Last revised October 30, 2009 - 10:01 AM