Not Broken, Just Multilingual: Balancing Grammar and Meaning with EAL Writers
As writing center tutors, perhaps one of the most frequent questions we are asked is “Should grammar or meaning come first?” For many of us, particularly when working with…
Writer’s Block during the Revision Process
It comes like lightning—first you can write, then you can’t. Whether you’re writing an academic paper or a passion project, it doesn’t discriminate. No stage of the writing process…
Writing as a Way of Being
Yoga (n.) – from Sanskrit yuj, meaning to yoke, join, or unite. Samatvam yoga ucyate. “Yoga is equanimity.” (Bhagavad Gita 2.48) When I say I’ve been practicing yoga, I mean I’ve been practicing seeing…
New Editor in Town
Hello, writers! My name is Lauren and I am a first-year graduate student in the Writing, Rhetoric, & Discourse program. I have been a part of the Writing Center at DePaul University as a…
First as Teacher, then as Tutor: On My Experience Teaching Writing at DePaul
One of the questions that has followed me throughout my time at the DePaul University Writing Center is the following: What is the difference between teaching and tutoring writing? My experience as a peer…
Introducing Ecofeminism as a Literary Lens for Writing Center Tutors
In the humanities, we often encourage students to view texts through a critical lens—Marxist, feminist, psychoanalytic, postcolonial. These frameworks help writers make meaning, trace patterns of power, and pose questions that go beyond plot…
Tackling Science in the Writing Center
Tackling Science in the Writing Center As tutors, it’s a common experience to feel an innate dread when an appointment notification pops up with a chem or bio report. But why? We have all…
Tips for Supporting Poets in the Writing Center
I’ve been calling myself a creative writer for as long as I can remember. Long before I knew what syntax meant or how to punctuate dialogue, I was scribbling poems in the margins of…
Writing the Script on Science Podcasts
It is well known that scientific writing is often written to be inaccessible to those outside of STEM disciplines. Back in August of 2023, Carolina Sotério and Sálete Unbares Queiroz wrote an article about…
Promoting Writing Self-Efficacy in the Age of AI
The Age of AI AI is nearly everywhere, including writing centers. In addition to my personal experiences, I’ve heard various anecdotes from other tutors about situations where they encounter writers’ overt and covert ways…
Embedded vs. Drop-in Tutors in Developmental Writing Contexts
Which is more effective: Drop-in or Writing Fellows tutoring? It’s a provocative question. And like most questions pitting one answer against another in a possible false dichotomy, the direct answer may not be as…
How to Write Your Next Letterboxd Review: Going Beyond One-Liners
If you’ve been on any internet spaces for film, you’ve probably heard the often derogatory term, “film bro,” thrown around. You know the type–overanalyzing every frame of Pulp Fiction and treating their opinions like…
Subtle Perceptions of Power in Tutoring
Who am I? Hi, my name is Kyle Choi and at the time of writing this blog post, I am a new tutor at DePaul University’s Writing Center. Working in this department has been…
Addressing Vulnerability in the Writing Center
When approaching any new environment, especially while seeking help, the concept of vulnerability is a powerful emotion. Though it’s easy to forget, there are certain power dynamics and imposed assumptions going into the Writing…