Category: Process

No Dissertation without Self-Care & Self-Advocacy

Brittany Kelley, Consultant

Last week, I worked as a consultant at the Dissertation Writing Retreat. We were all at different stages of dissertating: finalizing the prospectus; building the lit. review chapter and gathering data; and narrowing a mountainous amount of data into a book-length project. Yet, we were all facing similar challenges, similar internal questions:

How can/do I possibly make it through a project so big?!
How can I set good writing routines? What does that even mean?!
I’ve got all these things I love right in front of me, how do I choose which ones to write about?!
What about my committee?

We also all shared some similar challenges in our writing: writer’s block; organization issues; typos; identifying just the right amount of content. You know, all those things you can expect.

But, by and large, we all started to see that the biggest challenge we faced was to remember that we needed, first and foremost, to care for ourselves as we dissertated. That we needed to give ourselves moments of rest. We needed to acknowledge even small victories. We had to remember to ask for what we need.

In other words, we all realized that there could be no dissertation without self-care and self-advocacy.

It seems to me that this is true of all writing situations. Writing is a way we figure things out. It’s a way that we communicate our needs and ideas with others. And it can be exciting as much as terrifying. It can be emotionally draining (and, I find, it often is). The dissertation process can be even more so, because it seems like it’s a proving ground, rather than a starting point. So, it’s important to remember self-care actions, such as:

Set small goals (100 words per day), and then provide small rewards when you meet them (one episode of a favorite TV show; one hour to do absolutely nothing school-related, etc.).
Always schedule in time for real rest. Schedule at least one, free weekend day per week. Or one full week during the summer. Take time away from the project. Allow yourself to recharge and incubate ideas.
Take time to visit your notes, and “throw-away” pages. Show yourself how much work you really have done.

And, of course, advocate for yourself.

If you need some strict deadlines, then set those up with your committee chair.
Remember that your committee is there to guide you, but that the project is yours. In other words, work with your committee to help you meet your goals for your project.
Make frequent meetings with committee members. Sometimes talking it out first is what you really need.
Consider forming a writing group with peers. Low-stakes writing communities can really help you stay motivated and confident.

The dissertation can take a lot out of you. And, as my dissertating compatriots and I discovered last week, it’s important to take the time to recharge, to care for yourself, and to advocate for yourself as you research and write.

So, happy writing! And remember to take care.

Getting Started with Revising

Adam Robinson, Associate Director

With a week left to go in the semester, I imagine that many of you are finishing up final revisions. I have some advice about how you might start the revision process.

First, I recommend that you think about revising and editing as two different processes. Revising is connected to rethinking your argument, reorganizing parts of your paper, rewriting paragraphs, adding new sources, taking out paragraphs that don’t seem to fit in the paper. Editing focuses more on proofreading your grammar and punctuation errors, checking your citations, rephrasing sentences that may confuse readers. Revising and editing are equally important, but as you probably know through experience, revision takes a lot more time.

It’s useful to make this distinction between revising and editing for a few reasons, but one in particular comes to mind. If your professor asks you to revise, then you know based on the distinction you have made between revising and editing, that she or he wants you to make some significant changes to your paper—to restate your thesis—to rewrite a section of the paper—to add new sources that strengthen your argument. Your professor does want you to edit your work too—but editing doesn’t do the work of revision.

Okay…so you have in your mind the differences between the two. What next?

I’d reread your paper. Odds are you haven’t read your paper in a while, so it’s very likely you will have a new perspective when you do so. Hopefully, you’ll notice places where you can add more analysis or you’ll notice a paragraph doesn’t have as much substance or insight as some of the others in your paper. Hopefully, you’ll notice some parts of your paper you really like too. You may decide to focus your revision on what you feel you are doing well. That’s an important thing to note. Oftentimes, a writer will view the “good parts” of her or his paper as the parts that can be left alone when revising and editing. But sometimes the opposite should happen. Sometimes the best section of a paper needs to be more than a section of the paper—it needs to be the whole paper! The big point here is that a big part of revision has little to do with actual writing—thinking or rethinking is equally important.

After you’ve reread the paper and started to come up with things to work on, check again on what you were asked to do with the assignment. This starts with taking another look at the assignment sheet as it usually will have some clues about how you can approach your revision. Not only do assignment sheets have lists of requirements (this many sources, this many pages, etc.), but often they have insight into why your professor asked you to do the assignment to begin with. This seems obvious I know, but it’s easy to miss assignment details when you write your first draft. Writers are often just eager to get thoughts down on the page with early drafts, so details can get skimmed over.

Look at professor comments if you have them. Read those comments as soon as possible to be sure you understand what you’re professor has written—you may need clarification. And I recommend drawing a diagram—or some kind of chart—where you organize the comments your professor gave you. What comments ask you to revise? What comments ask you to edit? If you take anything away from reading this blog, it may be the following the point: Be sure to address those revision comments. It’s easy to fix commas and misspelled words (the editing stuff)—it’s harder, for example, to strengthen your paper by reworking your introduction so it frames your paper more effectively or by rewriting a paragraph so it connects better to your argument.

Finally, this comment relates to any paper that requires you to use sources or requires you to analyze a book, film, etc.—which is a lot of papers in college. Before you go and track down more sources, go back to the sources you already have. For example, you may be citing a scholarly source or analyzing a novel. Scholarly sources and novels can be pretty dense; you usually need to read them more than once to really get everything the writer is trying to say. So rereading all or part of that source again may allow you to draw on some more material. And also go back to your paper, to the places where you use sources. Are you getting everything you can out of the source? When you quote, do you take time to discuss the quote and really flesh out for the reader what you see when you read the quote? Basically, what I mean to get across here is that you may have all the material you need right in front of you. Or you may not! You may need to read some more. You may need to change the direction of your paper. But at least doing some of this preliminary work can help you figure out what you will need to do to successfully revise.

Before I end this blog, I have to credit Alex Clifton (a consultant in the University Writing Center) who created a wonderful handout about revision strategies. Check out Alex’s handout, along with all of our other newly revised handouts, all of which, are located on our new website.

Good luck revising!

Adam

5 Pieces of Writing Advice to Reconsider

Jacob Robbins, Consultant

Giving writing advice, by its very nature, is a difficult minefield to navigate. It is often handed down in what appear to be timeless platitudes, as if only recently and begrudgingly translated from the Latin. While they are situationally applicable, the following instances of (mis)guidance suffer from their often indiscriminate use:

“Show don’t tell”

In many cases, this is actually excellent advice. There is no easier way to guarantee that one’s personal statement is dull than by turning a riveting personal anecdote into a grocery list or instruction manual. Vivid details ensnare the reader, and can ensure persistent attention. However, continuing to do so with no reprieve is not only exhausting, but also tends to dilute the descriptions with increased use. Showing often draws its power from poignant use, so blanketly following this rule can actually have the opposite intended effect.

“Clichés are bad”

This one may be the hardest to put a half-hearted defense for. If you just use the same old, same old tired phrases, you’ll just end up beating a dead horse. Also, the individual meanings you intend to impart upon your utterances may be lost in the process. That being said, if you are attempting to win the The Bulwer-Lytton Writing Contest, clichés are right on the money.

“Edit as you go”

One should absoltutely edit as they go, because that indicates attention to the minutiae of the paper. However, it seems as if this statement excludes the possibility of (or diminishes the importance of) editing on a largger, more global level. In other words, this maxim only covers hald the equation. Editing is a constant process that requires attention to meticulous details as well as the big picture, rather than one to the exclusion of the other.

“Only use said”

There is no denying that “said” is the most direct way to indicate speaking attribution. However, the monotony of using it exclusively can quickly develop a white-washing effect similar to that which is created by the overapplication of the other “rules” found on this list. “People say things in a variety of ways that can be reflected in language; it would be a shame to unnecessarily limit our capacity to describe that variation,” mused Jacob.

“Write what you know”

This is by far the worst offender of the bunch. Depending on one’s perspective (or philosophical stance), the argument can easily be made that knowing itself is a tenuous and perhaps impossible goal. Conversely, writing what you know may be the only possible option. Read generously, this statement warns against fabrication. Hopefully this is not something we need remind ourselves constantly as we write.

At points, I was perhaps too critical or too ungenerous in assessing the value of these time-honored directives. However, I believe that negative experiences or habits connected to the constant overapplication of these phrases can be put in perspective when viewed through this critical lens. As in most (if not all) things, these expressions are best used in moderation, rather than generally.

The Last Stretch – Making it through Final Papers

Jamison Huebsch, Consultant

It can be stressful near the end of the semester. You have final papers due, perhaps in most of your classes, and you’re often not sure if they will be finished in time and to your professor’s standards. At least I’m often worried about that. Perhaps you haven’t even started your final papers yet. If so, don’t panic because it happens to the best organized of us, but try not to let nerves stop you for working on your paper. After all, the night before its due will come not matter what, and it’s best if you’re not trying to pull an all-nighter cranking something out. To help out I’m going to offer some tips on getting your final paper across the semester finish line, so that you can enjoy your break with everyone else:

Manage Your Stress! :Take note that I didn’t write “Don’t stress”. That is almost impossible, as people have been stressing out about finals since classes instituted them. Finals are a stressful time, so learn to manage it instead. Since you know you are going to be stressed (and maybe are already suffering from some), managing your stress so you can remain productive is very important. Some of the most helpful tips on dealing with finals stress can be found in an article by our own Carly Johnson here: (https://uoflwritingcenter.wordpress.com/2014/03/17/keep-calm-and-start-your-final-projects/).
Getting started:If you haven’t started on your final papers yet, it’s time to brainstorm. Your professors will give your guidelines for what will be acceptable paper topics, but it can be hard to pick what you should write about sometimes. Since almost every paper will be based on issues discussed in class, you might think about what have been the major themes in the class so far. Perhaps you had a favorite book or topic, and you can expand on that. Other times you wish something had been covered in class but it wasn’t, so you can explore it on your own. Regardless of what you pick, deciding as early as you can and getting to work on collecting your research and materials is crucial. Bounce ideas off friends who haven’t gotten sick of you talking about school. Making an appointment with the Writing Center can also be helpful, even if you’ve gotten started late, as we can help you at any step of the way from brainstorming all the way to revision.
Plan Your Work:Hopefully you already have an idea for your final paper. Review the guidelines your professors have given you for your final paper. You might work on an outline, or start your bibliography or reference list. Sometimes it can be helpful, if you have the time, to annotate your research sources as a form of pre-writing. I personally find it helpful to make a checklist of any major requirements the paper should have, in my own work this is often things like which sources I have to add to my literature review or which theories apply to the topic I’ve chosen. Your class may vary, but making up a list of important details to cover can help you to avoid missing anything important. It also gives a real sense of accomplishment as you tick off things from your list as you write them, and this can be very important on large projects when you might spend days writing. Completing small goals and recognizing it can help you stay motivated.
Revision:Once you’ve a draft done of your final paper, you’re nearing the finish line already. However revision and polishing are important steps before the final draft stage, and can often make a big impact on your final grade. The first thing would be to review any feedback you have gotten from the professor on past work. Usually you’ve turned in some sort of preliminary assignments, giving you a chance to see what the teacher thought you did well or what you still needed work on. When you revise take the time to do multiple passes, each one focusing on a specific goal like improving your transitions or checking if you used passive voice. Try reading your paper aloud, to yourself or a friend, so that you can hear how it sounds (and this is a good technique for catching errors). Double check your thesis, and make sure that it agrees with your paper all the way through to your conclusion. This is another good time to consider coming to the Writing Center if you can.
Relax!:To twist a meme: Summer is coming! Once you’re done with your paper, take some space from it. If it’s due tomorrow, then go celebrate being finished. If it’s not due for a while, then take a day (or two!) off before giving it one last once over for revision. It can be very helpful to get some distance from your own work when doing revision. Once that is done however, go turn it in! Summer awaits!Make sure you get plenty of rest, and enjoy what time off you have, if you are like me you will be back in class doing it all over again soon enough. As you near the end of your particular academic goal, You might even begin to miss the whole crazy cycle.

Making Your Writing Process Work for You

Layne Gordon, Consultant

In the Writing Center this semester, I have worked with several students who are either returning to formal writing after awhile, or are being asked to do formal writing for the first time. (By formal writing here, I’m referring to things like research papers or argumentative papers that typically require the use of outside sources.) Most of these students have expressed some form of anxiety over the writing process itself—the most common of these being an uncertainty over how to begin the paper.

It has long been established in the field of composition that the writing process is not as linear as past scholars used to believe. You know the old drill: brainstorm-draft-revise-edit-done, with some additional steps sometimes. Instead, it is more of a fluid process in which the various writing activities blend and can even occur simultaneously. For example, I often edit while I’m drafting rather than after. And I frequently make an outline of my paper after writing an early draft rather than before. Contemporary scholars have taken note of these phenomenon and now understand that writing is a highly recursive activity. However, despite this progressive theoretical understanding, many students still have a very real concern over constructing a paper in the “right” way. In the Writing Center this semester, I have found this to be especially true of more formal academic assignments.

So for those students feeling such anxieties at this point in the semester, I offer this advice:

Create a writing process all your own. If you are struggling to write an introduction, skip it for now and work on a body paragraph. If you aren’t quite sure yet what you want your overall point to be, try skipping to the conclusion of your paper and writing about what you want to have proven by the end. In other words, don’t be afraid to try new things in your writing process. To give a personal example, for years I was really against incorporating free-writing into my writing process. But this semester, I decided to try something new and start several papers by simply writing whatever came to mind on the topic. It turned out this was a great way for me keep writing without getting stuck and it let me see how my thoughts were working out on the page rather than trying to sort through everything in my mind.

My point here is twofold:

if you are struggling to write a paper because you are adhering to a process that somebody else told you was a good idea, then now might be a great time to try something new.
if you have been sticking to the same process for some time, then it might be worth switching it up to see if you could improve on your personal process. No one way of writing will work for everyone, and taking the time to explore what works for you can not only make writing your term papers easier, but also more enjoyable.

Of course, you can always visit the Writing Center to get more help at any stage of the writing process and to get ideas and strategies for writing.

Keep Calm and Start Your Final Projects

Carly Johnson, Consultant

I hope you all had a relaxing spring break, full of sunshine and unassigned leisure reading. As we begin this countdown to finals (and Derby) it is difficult to garner the motivation to begin your final projects. However, as someone who has spent many a tear-filled, coffee fueled night feverishly typing a final paper hours before it is due, I can tell you truthfully that it is better to start sooner rather than later. At this point you may be saying to yourself “yeah, but I work better under pressure” and I thought the same thing—until I embarked on what I call “Carly’s 5 fool-proof methods for staying focused and sane throughout finals week,” which I will share with you now:

Take it one step at a time, and reward yourself along the way.I like to set up a schedule for myself prior to finals week that allows me to get a little bit done each day. When I am on a roll achieving these tasks, I reward myself by watching Netflix for a couple of hours, or purchasing a fancy smoothie. This enables me to stay on schedule while still allowing myself to have a little taste of the relaxation that awaits me over the summer.
The solution to writer’s block is not avoidance.When I would get stuck on how to start a paper, I used to think that putting it away for awhile was the answer…and then “awhile” ended up lasting three weeks, and suddenly it was due. Don’t let yourself fall into this trap. If you’re stuck, ask for help, either from your instructor, your peers, or by making an appointment with the writing center. Address these small mental roadblocks before they become big issues.
There is such a thing as too much coffee.During my late night writing sessions, I always thought the more coffee I drank, the better my paper would become—but the fact is that too much coffee (or other caffeinated beverage) will make you jittery and will cause your thoughts to race, which will end up making you feel more stressed than when you started. By staying on task with the schedule mentioned in #1 above, you can avoid these all-nighters entirely.
Feeling stressed? Go on a run.Even if you are someone like myself who only tends to run if there is an emergency, I have found that physical exercise allows you to drain yourself of that excess negative energy, and clears your mind so you are prepared to tackle those final projects. If running isn’t your thing, check out some of the classes offered at the Student Rec Center (I highly recommend the Zumba classes held on Tuesday and Wednesday nights).
Reschedule social events for an after-finals celebration.If you struggle with turning down fun events with friend while you’re studying, plan an event for after finals week that you can look forward to. That way, when you pass on plans for the evening you can invite them to your post-finals party, enabling you to be social and productive simultaneously.

With these five methods, you can be sure to avoid the dark days of finals week, don your Derby hat and ease into your summer vacation knowing that you have overcome the pitfalls of procrastination. Good luck, stay focused, and remember that the writing center is always here to help!

Five Strategies to Keep Writing, Even When You Don’t Want To

Ashly Bender, Assistant Director

At the University of Louisville, Spring Break is next week and the Derby festivities are not far behind. The end always seems near in the Spring semester, but at Louisville perhaps it seems always within in reach. After all, university classes are all over by the first week of May to make room for the hats and horses!

For these reasons, and probably others, March is the final push before the end of the semester and final projects. To help you stay motivated, focused, and productive during these weeks, here are five strategies to keep yourself writing and working. Feel free to use them at other times of the year! 🙂

Write 100 words every day. The key to finishing any large writing project is to make a habit out of writing every day—or nearly every day. This habit makes it easier to write because your mind becomes accustomed to the practice and also because it keeps your project fresh in your mind. Some days, obviously, are harder than others, so my personal strategy is to make sure I wrote 100 words every day. This is a small amount that keeps me accountable, keeps my project fresh in my mind, and allows me to feel productive even on days when I’m feeling writers block. Also, often if you can eke out 100 words, more come flowing. But if they don’t, you’ve still met your goal for the day. For a quick reference, the sentences in this strategy make up 145 words, including this sentence.
Tally the number of hours you work, and reward yourself. A good friend of mine who just defended her dissertation uses a strategy of rewards to motivate herself. For every hour that she works, she earns one tally. In the evening or on the weekend, she can trade in tallies for hours of play or relaxation time. If you can hold yourself to it, this kind of reward system is great for making sure you stay on task when you’re supposed to be working. The strategy also helps you schedule time for working and time for relaxing so that you don’t have to feel like you’re working all the time.
Take a break. If you’re really feeling overwhelmed by your project, it may be time to take a break. When we’re struggling with a project, we can get caught up in thinking about the struggle or the impending deadline and lose our ability to actually do productive writing or work. That’s the point at which walking away, for a little while, can actually be helpful. “A little while” might be 15 minutes, an hour, or even a day. You don’t want to take too long of a break, or else going back to the project will seem daunting. Before you take your break, try writing down questions you’re having, what you need to write about next, or other goals you have for the project.
Write on a different “surface.” Dan McCormick wrote a couple weeks ago about how different tools or “surfaces” help us think about our projects differently and can lead to break-throughs. If you’re feeling worn out on a project, try writing about it on paper or in a different program. You might even try writing in a different location. The key here is to change things up a little to open the possibility for new thinking and new ideas.
Talk instead of write. Especially if you’re feeling stuck on a project, it might be a good idea to talk about it instead of writing about it. You could, of course, come in to the writing center. Even I have met with another consultant to just talk about what I wanted to write about—that way I could hear it out loud and another person could help me figure out if it made sense. The consultant wrote down things I was saying, what I seemed excited about, what was interesting to her. After the appointment, I had some notes to move forward with. Another option is to use voice recording software. Word has a talk-to-text function (though it needs a little training), Dragon is a great talk-to-text program, and then there’s always just basic sound recording software on your phone or computer.

So, even though the allure of warmer temperatures, Derby, and other summer events are just around the corner—don’t give up on your projects! Try any or of all these strategies to find out what will keep you writing and working. And, remember, the Writing Center is a great resource for all stages of the writing process.

The Benefits of Writing across Different Surfaces

Dan McCormick, Consultant

Some writing happens all at once and on only one “surface”—a text, a to-do list, an email, or a short-answer response on a biology test. You have an idea, you write, and then you’re done. But lots of writing happens on more than one surface. A reporter might take notes on a pad during an event, and then refer to those notes as she types her article at a computer that afternoon. A magazine writer might type notes as he researches, write an outline of ideas in a notebook, and refer to both as he writes his feature. A novelist might jot down ideas in a moleskin notebook (or on cocktail napkins), type out character sketches and plot summaries on the computer, and write notes to herself in the margins of printed drafts.

Writers sometimes think that a piece of writing is supposed be only one piece—one document, one computer file—but’s that’s not the case. There’s no rule that says writing has to happen in isolation from other writing. After all, most student writing is in direct response to a specific piece of writing: the assignment prompt. Why not take advantage of the same variety of surfaces that professional writers use?

For myself, I find it helpful to have different writing in different places, on different surfaces—all for one piece of writing. I typically write down ideas in a notebook, write little margin notes in books and articles as I research, type notes and outlines in a Notepad file, and (as I refer to all of these) type my “paper” in a Word file. What’s helpful about all this different writing is having different empty surfaces where I can focus on different aspects of my writing—the ideas, the organization, the research. I can then guide my attention while I write by putting different surfaces in front of me. As I write this post, I’m switching back and forth between a Word file, where I type the post itself, and a Notepad file, where I’ve typed out an outline of ideas and examples.

I’m fascinated by the way these different surfaces do different things for my writing. Paper gives me a certain feeling of freedom (the “empty page”) and of permanence. Digital media give me the ability to re-arrange my thoughts and, of course, to copy and paste from my typed notes. And scribbles in the margins of books and articles—marginalia—let me compose mini-thoughts as I read or review, putting ideas in my own words while giving me quick access to where in the text those ideas came from.

It’s natural to think of these other surfaces as “process” and the final document itself as “product”—but I don’t think that’s necessary. Certainly these different individual surfaces can build up into one—but I don’t think the process is totally separate from the product. Writing notes on a pad, or in the margins of a book, requires thought and volition, just as writing a “full piece” does. And ideas change between these different surfaces, not only because time passes but also because each surface supports a slightly different way of expressing those ideas. So the final document that is turned in for an assignment or for a scholarship application or for publication is, in a sense, one more iteration of ideas and language that has developed out of other ideas and language. You might say that process turns into product only when you decide it does.

Learning to Break Rules

Rick Wysocki, Consultant

Recently, I was working with a client in the Writing Center who asked:

“Why does this have so many rules? I wish I could just write the way I wanted to.”

The student was talking about a specific genre of professional writing that had strict guidelines regarding language use and formatting. He was frustrated—he thought the conventions were over the top, and he didn’t enjoy writing that way.

Since then, I’ve been thinking about the rhetorical choices we make in our academic and professional lives—about the “rules” that we technically have the choice to accept or deny but which have strong institutional pressure behind them. During my session with that student, I said something along the lines of, “Well, yes, there are a lot of rules, but your audience expects you to follow them.” I’d like to expand that response, and talk a bit about how we interact with these conventions masquerading as rules.

First, it’s true that some conventions do have an incredible amount of institutional backing. If you turn in a paper to your biology instructor containing so-called “colloquial” language referring to “little molecular dudes,” you might get points taken off your essay (I’m never letting that go Mrs. Hull). On the other hand, if you write a literacy narrative for your composition course completely avoiding first person, your teacher hopefully wouldn’t lower your grade, but might ask you to rewrite it in a more personal voice. Keep in mind that these conventions don’t always come from outside—I, for example, neurotically add a references page to every document I write that cites sources, regardless of whether it’s required or asked for.

That said, the guy in my head who still loves punk music, even though he’s now a fully functioning cog in the academic, cite-your-sources-or-else machine, is still annoyed by your rules, man. Both he, and the client mentioned above, are completely justified in feeling this way. We’re told constantly that writing is about expression, and with all these conventions writing can sometimes seem like somewhat of a bummer. I’d like to offer a little advice I find helpful in dealing with these situations.

Know the rules. Seriously, get to know what’s expected of you in the writing contexts you’re engaged in. If you’re in your biology class there’s no shame in asking the teacher about the genre of science writing, checking the library for sources on the topic, or coming into the Writing Center for help. Even though conventions can be frustrating, you still need to learn them—especially if you’re planning on breaking them. Which leads me to—
Don’t break conventions for no reason. If you’re annoyed about having to go to the trouble of doing APA format and, in response, just do the whole paper in MLA, that a) doesn’t make any sense and b) deprives you of learning a new skill.
If you want to break rules, know why. When you’re consciously going against the conventions (that you learned in step 1), of your writing context, imagine explaining to your instructor why you did so. Better yet, go talk to your instructor about the assignment. Making your case early on let’s you at least find out what the consequences might be of, say, writing in third person instead of first. Keep in mind that your instructor may disagree with you—in that case, you have to weigh whether or not third person is worth having to rewrite your paper or getting a reduced grade.

What I’m trying to stress is the importance of breaking rules consciously, and with the appropriate information about the rules themselves. Put simply, it’s only cool to break the rules if you know you’re doing it. So learn those generic conventions. If you need help, the Writing Center’s here for you.

From Talk to Text: Why Conferencing Helps Your Writing

Daniel Ernst, Consultant

If someone were to ask me what I do, I’m not really sure what I would say. I could provide nominal answers—I “help students with their writing,” or I “tutor”—but these fail to capture my full experience at the Writing Center. As I think back on all the conferences I’ve had with students, it’s hard to pin down with any precision one thing I can point to and say “that! That’s what I do.” And that’s just how writing is; it’s idiosyncratic, personal, complex, weird, and procedural, and our job as consultants is to meet with students at any stage of this weird process of any type of writing. So this imprecision is expected (and even welcomed).

But, there is at least one thing that happens at every conference: we talk. Now, let’s wax philosophical about this fact. It seems obvious and like sort of a letdown, right? “Of course you talk; it’s a conference.” However, I am increasingly convinced that this action of “talking about assignments” cannot be emphasized enough. And as I think back on my conferences, it becomes clear that meeting one-on-one with students to “talk” about assignments it not simply one of many components of consulting on writing; rather, the one-on-one talk is the realm in which all the other components of writing instruction take place. Conversation is the medium, the form, through which any kind of instruction or advice or conference works. So what? What does all this mean? To make it more concrete, here are three reasons why I think talking about your writing is hugely beneficial:

It will clean your intellectual house. Assignments are hard. Not only are they designed to prompt a synthesis of your knowledge on a subject, but also they sometimes contain confusing vocabulary. For instance, what does it mean to analyze, compare and contrast, or construct an argumentative, thesis-driven analysis? After all, these things don’t always mean the same thing to everyone. One of the best things to do when facing a complex writing prompt is to spitball, to just talk and think out loud, and it’s especially helpful when you do it with someone else. An audience, even one consisting of a single writing consultant, can provide valuable feedback or counter points to help hone your ideas. You can talk out those minor issues like “what does a reflective paper do?” and move onto seriously crafting your ideas.
You’ll use language in new ways. It’s easy to forget that writing is just one type of language use—we also talk and think using language. Each medium—speech, writing, and thought—uses language in special, conventionalized ways. But I would argue that, of the three, writing depends the most on the other two. Obviously, we must engage in critical and intense thought when writing, but we should also talk about these thoughts both before and during the writing process. Have you ever tried to explain something orally that you have written? Undoubtedly you changed the language in some way, and that’s because the two media operate differently within language. Encountering multiple language mechanisms is instructive; it will allow you to see your topic from new perspectives and challenge you to write more clearly and effectively.
Your ideas get a test run. I don’t know about you, but my ideas always sound a lot better in my head than when I voice them or write them down. Talking through your ideas with a consultant gives you the chance for a dry run with an audience. The sharing of ideas is my favorite part
of the job, but it also reflects important and foundational academic principles. Sharing, debating, and challenging ideas and knowledge is truly what education is about. Talking through your ideas with someone will automatically make you not only a stronger writer but also a stronger thinker.

So, for your next assignment, come to the Writing Center and let’s talk.