Researching the Evolutionary Tale of Writing Centers
For nearly 120 years, Writing Centers have been among the first establishments to respond to changing social attitudes in the world. Because of our unique, and oftentimes alternative approach…
The Outline: Friend to the Writer’s Toolkit
Outlining is an important skill to learn that can enhance a writer’s experience during their writing process. What is an Outline? An outline is a guide that helps to…
Tutoring Techniques: Creative Writing in the Writing Center
I wanted to know if there were any principles or theories about tutoring creative writing, as opposed to academic writing. There aren’t many pieces of scholarship on tutoring creative writing in writing centers specifically,…
Emotions in the Writing Center
Emotions are one of the foundational elements of writing. Despite this apparent distinction, emotions have often needed to be addressed further within the Writing Center environment. Whether it is the content of a writer’s…
Culturally Informed Writing as a Peer Tutor
Prioritizing what a writer says is far more important than how they actually say it. This is especially true when approaching culturally informed writing as a Writing Center Peer Tutor. As a Peer Tutor,…
Tutoring and Stage Directing
Preface I do not tend to direct particularly literary work. I think people often conflate Writing Center practices with editing plays. While I am a dramaturg and write dramaturgical analyses (and I love a…
Eco-Writing with Grace V.
Grace V. is a Writing, Rhetoric, and Discourse MA student at DePaul University. She is a passionate environmentalist and advocate for eco-friendly practices. I talked with her about eco-writing, why it’s so important, and…
Reflections on Writers Guild
Writers Guild is and has been an important part of the Writing Center for years and was one of the first places where I was exposed to a creative writing community outside of the…
Flash Fiction & Memoir with Nic J.
I talked with Writing Center tutor Nic J. about their favorite genre of writing: Flash Fiction and Flash Non-fiction! Nic is a graduate student in DePaul University’s Creative Writing and Publishing program. They have…
Research Writing with Nena T.
Nena T. is a writing tutor at DePaul University’s Writing Center. She is majoring in Health Sciences with a focus in Public Health. We talked about her favorite genre of papers to write and…
Accessibility Friendly Practices in the Writing Center
Writing Centers in general and our Writing Center at DePaul have rightly become more focused in recent years on making sure our spaces and methods for helping writers are accessible to, ideally, anyone who…
Tutoring, Mentoring, and Teaching. What’s the Difference?
I’ve been a Writing Center peer tutor since my sophomore year at DePaul, and I can easily say that working here has been one of the most impactful experiences I’ve had in college. Many…
Feedback Phobia
Navigating the Fear of Critique in Creative Writing: This quarter I gave myself a challenge: write and complete a short story. Growing up, I would always start many drafts of a story, only to…
“Writing the Real”: Creative Approaches to Creative Nonfiction
At one point or another, you will open WC Online and find that a writer wants your advice on making an essay more “personal.” Maybe a writer needs feedback on a memoir-in-progress just before…