University Writing

What to Expect When I Meet with My Writing Fellow

When and where will we meet?
Your Writing Fellow will set up a time and place for you to meet together after he or she has read your initial draft and given you feedback on it. Sometimes these meetings take place in the Writing Fellows corner of the "No Shh" Zone of the library, or in our tutoring center at 118 HGB. Your Writing Fellow may choose to meet in another location on campus that may be more convenient for you. The meeting will usually last about 30 minutes.

What should I bring?
Bring the revised draft you have prepared after reviewing the Writing Fellow's comments. Also bring the draft and letter with the Writing Fellow's feedback. Come prepared to talk about your revisions. Also bring your questions about writing, either about this paper or about writing in general. Have you always wondered just what a split infinitive is? This is your chance to find out. Do teachers always comment that you have good ideas but the structure is hard to follow? At this conference your Writing Fellow can help you learn some tricks to improve your structure and transitions. Do you just want to learn how to write a compelling conclusion? We can help.

What will happen at the conference?
Setting an agenda
At first the two of you will figure out just what you want to work on in the next 30 minutes. Tell your Writing Fellow the questions you have, and the Writing Fellow will probably have some suggestions too. Together you'll decide on three or four things to work on.

Reviewing your revised draft
For the next few minutes, tell your WF about the revisions you have made. If the paper isn't too long, you can read it all out loud, so the Writing Fellow can follow along and see how the revisions work. As you read, you will probably think of more questions for the Writing Fellow. Don't hesitate to bring these up.

Following the plan
Now you and the Writing Fellow will work through the agenda you planned, discussing concerns and working on revising the paper thoroughly. The Writing Fellow may teach you some skills or strategies that you can use not only to revise this paper, but in all your writing. You'll probably have a chance to actually start making some revisions to your paper, re-writing the thesis, inserting better transitions, or improving the clarity of sentences.

Finishing up
At the end of the conference, your Writing Fellow will review what you've discussed and ask you what you plan to do next. It's a good idea to take a minute to jot down your revision plans at this time, so you won't forget. You'll probably leave the conference with many good ideas for improving your paper.