Writing centers are becoming a mainstay on more and more college campuses. As a result, they are becoming a resource that gets used by more and more college students. Even so, it’s not like students who use these writing centers on a regular basis are here every day—no one has that many papers to write!
With this being the state of events, even the most frequent writing center visitors may not know everything there is to know about the place they go for feedback on their paper, or the friendly faces offering that feedback. Here are some of the top tidbits culled from Writing Center tutors at DePaul University’s Center for Writing-based Learning.
1. We probably haven’t read the book or seen the movie your report is about
It’s a known fact that writing tutors love to seek out new books away from the office. However, there are just so many good books and movies out there and the Venn-diagram intersection of “worth reading/watching in your spare time” and “acceptable to write about in a college course” is so tiny that the stars would have to align for us to come pre-loaded with knowledge about your specific topic.
Unless your paper is about something as ubiquitous as Toy Story, or as high-school mandatory as Catcher in the Rye or To Kill a Mockingbird, it’s probably worth coming in prepared to give us your two-minute summary.
2. Proofreading is not our primary service
While we do all have the skills to help you understand the difference between there, they’re, and their, that’s something you could probably fix on your own with a little help from Grammarly. Our sweet spot comes in looking over papers for the big picture concerns, like ideas, arguments, and content. We’ll certainly point out that you used principal instead of principle if you want us to, but don’t think that’s all we can do.
3. You don’t need a full draft to come in for an appointment
Not all the way there yet? Not a problem! If you’ve got a partial draft, just your introduction, or even just some vague ideas you want to assemble into an outline, we’ll be here to help you get to the next step. These first steps are often where the most collaboration happens, because nothing is yet set in any way, so ideas can truly bounce back and forth.
4. Don’t book yourself an hour-long appointment if you just have one quick question
Writing center schedules fill up pretty fast, especially as the school lurches closer to finals week. Finding an appointment on the schedule in these times can be tough, and we want to help as many people as we can. Be realistic about how long your concerns are going to take to address, so as not to be selfish with the schedule. Looking over your half-dozen APA citations is not going to take an hour, so be kind to your fellow students and don’t book yourself an appointment of that length if you don’t need it. Somebody else could put the balance of that time slot to great use.
5. Not sure if we work with the writing medium that’s giving you fits? We’ll at least try
Want to nail that resume or cover letter? Don’t know if your lab report is up to par? Curious about if your case study fits the right format? Your local writing center would love to help! Even if it’s a format that doesn’t get pulled out as often as the persuasive essay, we’d be happy to help you figure it out.
Some of the most truly collaborative, and therefore exciting, appointments are the ones where the tutor has to learn something new while teaching it to the writer. There’s always a certain think-on-your-feet thrill for the tutor when they have to simultaneously learn about, interpret, and apply their fresh knowledge of the new medium.
6. Writing Center tutors are not encyclopedic sources of all information in existence. We don’t know everything.
We like to think we’re smarter than the average bear, but there’s just so much information out there that even a supercomputer could not hold everything. A writing center tutor, who also has their own classes and lives to keep track of, will not likely know everything there is to know about the role of Pelagianism and Gnosticism in Catholic Church history, if that’s what your paper is about. We will be patient with you, so please be patient with us.