This post was written by Taylor Travis, an undergraduate writing consultant.
As a second-year writing consultant at the Baylor University Writing Center, I have learned a lot about the function of tutoring. While many writers, or as we often refer to them, clients, have misconceptions about writing centers, I also had some misconceptions about writing centers and writing tutors that I learned aren’t true. I was first drawn to the writing center because my majors, English and Environmental Studies, require a lot of writing, and I wanted to help other people come to love writing as much as I do. Over time, I have grown to appreciate the complexities of balancing working ten hours a week as a consultant along with my class load. One of the biggest misunderstandings I have found writers have about consultants is that we are different from them. In fact, consultants are students! Because of this, my day involves not only mentally preparing to interact with a variety of students studying different subjects, but also preparing to go to class.
As a consultant, I may be interacting through Zoom, in person, or even in the comments of writers’ papers, which can involve different levels of energy. Every day is a little different for me, depending on what type of writing I look at. I may read a public health research study, I may read a literature analysis, I may read a personal statement, or I may even brainstorm a presentation for a business class. It can be daunting to read about topics outside of my wheelhouse, but I also find it exciting to learn more about other topics. Because my days can be so varied, it can be difficult to prepare for what exactly I will be doing in a given day, but there are some staples that I always do before, during, and after my sessions that I would like to share with you today.
Before a session begins, I usually look to see the type of appointments I have that day, the assignment or piece each client is coming in for, and what kinds of questions they want to address during the session. This helps me outline a general direction for the session before I begin working with the client and gives me an idea of what I may need to do before the session, such as send a Zoom link to a client. It also helps me to understand what kind of day I will be having; all in-person sessions can be quite different from all asynchronous written feedback sessions, and sessions going over MLA format in completed papers can be quite different from brainstorming sessions. Because I usually work a few hours in the mornings before going to class and a few hours in the afternoon after I get out of class, I find mapping out the day helps me cope with the stress that can come from being a working student. Knowing what kind of energy I will be spending helps me to not overexert myself at the beginning of the day, especially if I know that I will be working with writers at the end of the day as well. Granted, this could all change if there is a walk-in appointment or if someone cancels, so I don’t put too much weight into the pre-session preparation; the bulk of the work comes during the session itself!
To begin my in-person and Zoom sessions, I usually ask how the writer’s day, week, or weekend was to establish rapport between us and to get a sense of how they are feeling about whatever they have come in to work on. For instance, if a client tells me their week was just okay or hectic, that can be an indicator that they are stressed out about their paper. In the first few minutes of the session, I will ask the client what they have come in to work on, where they are in the process, and what concerns they have about what they have brought in. If it is an assignment for a class, we will also look at the prompt and discuss due dates for the assignment as well. These questions help me to finalize an agenda for the session and let the client know what they can expect during the session. Because many writers may have misconceptions about the UWC or questions about how sessions function, I typically provide them with an overview of what the session will look like, how we will address their concerns, and ask them for feedback on what they think will be most helpful to them. My goal during the session is to help the writer in a way that they find useful, so having their feedback at the beginning of the session is important for me to know what direction to go in.
Next, we will get into the main portion of the session, which usually involves reading any writing the writer has already written. While we work with clients at all stages in the writing process, the bulk of my appointments are with writers who have already written something for their assignment or project. We will read the draft aloud, addressing any of the writer’s questions or concerns as well as anything I notice as a reader. I tend to make my sessions writer and reader focused, meaning my goal is to help the writer consider their audience and their purpose by providing my perspective as a potential reader of their material. Additionally, I focus on helping the writer explore and develop their own ideas to help them reach a piece that they are proud of and feel confident in.
Written feedback sessions tend to look a little bit different because of the nature of those sessions. In a written feedback session, the first thing I do is read the intake form where the client can leave comments about the assignment and what they need help with. Then, I will read the prompt on my own to make sure I understand the assignment itself. Next, I read through the piece that is uploaded, leaving comments as I go through addressing any of their concerns as well as anything I noticed as a reader of their writing. After going through the entire draft, I will review my comments to look for patterns I have noticed or overarching comments that can apply throughout the draft. Taking these, I will write a session note that contextualizes the comments, and often unites my comments for the writer to have. This will be sent to the writer along with their draft, and then I never hear from them again. Okay, not always true, but sometimes it feels like that. When I say written feedback is a different beast, I mean it! It can be emotionally draining in a different way than in person or Zoom sessions can be because I do not have the ability to ask the writer questions, and I often do not know how the feedback I provide will be taken. Will it be helpful? Will they understand my comments? Will they actually implement any of them? There is little resolution to written feedback sessions.
After each session, I write my session note, which is generally a summary of what we talked about during the session. As I mentioned earlier, I also like to include resources that writers can use related to the topics we discussed, such as attaching handouts, linking online resources, and providing lists of questions to help generate thought for expansions on the current draft or outline. After the session note is done, I start all over again with the next session! While tutoring can be draining, it can also be extremely rewarding to see a writer gain confidence in themselves and their piece, or to see a writer learn a new skill that they will be able to use in the future. One of the reasons I love being a tutor is getting those moments where I see a writer over one session or over multiple sessions become surer of themselves and more aware of ways they can improve their writing on their own. To me, the writing center feels like a secret gem not many people know about, and I often find myself utilizing skills I have learned as a consultant and as a client at the writing center in my own assignments. For example, working as a tutor has helped me learn to take on the perspective of a reader when revising my own writing and gain some distance from the writing, which is something I had often struggled with before becoming a consultant. It has also helped me learn not to be afraid to use resources to help me write in unfamiliar genres or styles. Although most of my classmates don’t know that I work at the writing center, I have found that I can often help them with finding those resources that can help them during their writing process, even if they never come into the center.
While I’ve addressed the typical session, there are many other tasks we consultants do at the writing center. Some of these can include giving presentations to classes, writing handouts that can be used in consultations, going to events to talk about the writing center, or observing other consultant’s sessions to learn new techniques. We also enjoy having fun at the writing center! If I do not have another task to do, I will often have extremely random discussions with my co-workers— I’m talking everything from uncovering hidden family trees to bee attacks to books—or eat candy out of our candy bowl. I also use my free time to catch up on homework or studying that I have, because it can be hard to find time to do schoolwork during busy weeks. It is honestly never boring at the writing center, so even though there may be days where I am stressed out about school or personal matters, I know that the writing center is a place I can come to laugh and enjoy helping my fellow students reach their goals, academically and personally, through a unique partnership that I haven’t experienced anywhere else.
