Writing Support

Our Beliefs

Whether it’s an in-class writing workshop, a one-on-one consultation at the Writing Center, or a drop-in session at our satellite space in the Iwasaki Library, we aim to be a hub for writing at Emerson.

We believe:

• Audience is everything. Our team knows that writing comes in many forms for many audiences, but that communicating a message with a clear purpose and meaning is important in every field and profession. We work with writers to communicate messages in the genre and voice most appropriate for their audience, project, course, and situation.
• Writing is social. We believe that writing is a social act. We work with writers to navigate the process while developing clear markers for their personal success. We work alongside writers to set expectations, meet goals, and reflect on what they’ve accomplished in each meeting, and we hope they leave each session with a plan for future work.
• Writing is a process. We see writing as a process and a practice, and our mission is to develop confident and prepared writers, who visit us not only when they are struggling, but also when they are challenging themselves to enhance and develop their work.
• Writing starts with ideas. Writers are constantly negotiating language and code switching in various parts of our campus and urban community. The Writing Center values all writers and the many languages writers bring with them to consultations. We strive to empower all writers to communicate with an authentic sense of self.
• We write in a translingual community. Every consultation or workshop focuses on ideas, concepts, and conversation: the big picture. We take a writing studies approach and work from higher order concerns to lower order concerns, recognizing that writing is a recursive process from invention to revision. Proofreading is the final stage before sharing the work with an audience. We do not copyedit or “fix” writing, but we will work with writers on editing strategies and knowledge of standard English writing practices.

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Consultations

Consultations are collaborative conversations between the writer and consultant about the project. These conversations prioritize working through concepts, construction, and clarity at all levels of the writing process. Students, faculty, and staff may bring in writing from any class or professional endeavor they are currently tackling.

Writing Consultants are graduate students in the Writing, Literature and Publishing Department who have successfully completed WR 600 Teaching College Composition. Peer Writing Consultants are undergraduates who have taken a full-year of enhanced First-Year Writing Program coursework and have undergone a semester of training. Our consultants work with writers across disciplines and languages.

Your Writing Project

• Writers bring all genres of writing to their consultations. For example: essays, research projects, multimodal projects, websites, creative work, speeches, and proposals—to name a few.
• Consultants give your project their full attention. We ask that you limit your consultation to one project per visit.
• Writers can bring work from any stage in their writing process: brainstorming, drafting, revision or something in between.
• Writers should bring the assignment prompt, drafts, class notes, instructor or peer comments, and readings with them to the consultation.

The Writing Consultation

Here's what to expect when you visit:

• The consultation is a collaboration. Writers and consultants work together to set the agenda for the session.  
• Consultants serve as invested readers of the work, letting you know where we have questions, are confused, and where ideas could be developed. Let us be your audience.
• Consultants follow along and work with you—we might ask writers to read the work aloud.
• Consultants prioritize the purpose, audience, genre, and reason for writing; this means working through bigger concepts, construction, and clarity before we get to the sentence-level discussion.
• Consultants help writers make a plan for what you will do next in the project.

Referrals to Additional Resources

Consultants may refer writers to additional resources if their needs are different than our approach.

Students seeking…

• Consultations related to grades should visit instructors during office hours.
• English Language and in-depth grammar assistance should make an appointment with an ELL Consultant.
• Ongoing academic support should make an appointment with a professional staff member or an Academic Success Consultant.