If you prefer a consulting format with physical distancing, we invite you to take advantage of our Zoom or Written Feedback options! Meet with your consultant in person for Writing and Communication on campus. Your consultant will work with you on all phases of a writing project from brainstorming to revising. In the session, the consultant will ask you about your goals, provide feedback, share tips and strategies, and help you make a plan for further developing or revising your project. 

In a typical face-to-face session you will 

1. Conduct a needs assessment/Review the assignment 

The consultant will ask you about the purpose of the piece of writing you have brought in. If you are working on an assignment for a course, please remember to bring the assignment prompt. 

2. Set your goals for the session 

You and your consultant will set the agenda for the session together. It is helpful if you arrive with an idea of what you would like to work on—the paper’s organization, your thesis and supporting evidence, or sentence-level concerns. Once you’ve reviewed the assignment and read through the piece of writing, the consultant may suggest working on an additional issue or two. 

 3. Have a conversation about your work 

The consultant will pose questions and make observations about the issues you’ve decided to work on in the session. From this conversation you and the consultant will determine a plan for revising and moving forward with this assignment. 

4. Work on strategies for effective writing 

Your consultant might recommend strategies or provide resources for you to take with you to help you both with the assignment at hand and with future writing projects.  

5. Leave with a plan for moving forward 

You and your consultant will spend the last few minutes of the session summarizing what you’ve discussed and sketching a plan for moving forward, whether that be conducting more research, developing your ideas, or revising your draft. 

Please remember that the Writing Center is not an editing or proofreading service. We work with you to improve your own proofreading and editing skills, but we don’t simply point out problems or rewrite them for you. We want to help you learn to become your own best proofreader and editor.