About Writing Conferences

 

What Kind of Tasks Can I Bring In?

You can consult us about any writing task related to your academic program. Most students come to us with papers for courses, from Exploration and Discovery to senior projects and theses. Writing Center consultants understand that expectations about papers can vary from one department to the next.  Usually these differences are based in the academic discipline that is being taught. We can help you understand the nature of these expectations. We can also help with essays for scholarships, applications for professional and graduate school, and those for overseas programs.

When Should I Come In?

We encourage you to visit the Center at any point when you feel you would benefit from discussing a writing task with another person. Perhaps you are having trouble with a specific assignment, or maybe you are feeling discouraged about your skills as a writer.

You do NOT  need a draft to consult with a Writing Center consultant!

We are prepared to work with you at any stage of the writing process, enabling you :

 Our job is to enable you to appreciate what makes prose effective—and to show you how you can become a more effective writer. Obviously, the better able you are to express what you know, the more successful you will be in all your courses. But consider this, too: good communication skills are a major asset in all walks of life, and Lewis & Clark offers you an excellent opportunity to develop yours! Make the most of this opportunity.

What Should I Expect of Writing Center Conferences?

When you come in for your appointment or use our drop-in hours, you should be prepared to be an ACTIVE PARTICIPANT in the conversation, ready to explain to the writing consultant the specific questions, concerns, and confusions that prompted you to visit us. We are prepared to help you solve the problems that bring you to us, but we will assume that YOU take ownership of the text you are working on—that you recognize that your paper or essay records YOUR point of view on a subject, and that you take responsibility for what you say and how you say it.

You should NOT expect a consultant to “correct” your paper so that you can be assured that it is free of all error. Neither should you expect your consultant to evaluate your paper.

You should NOT expect a consultant to “give” you THE answer to all of your questions. You CAN expect us to give you information that will enable you to make the sorts of decisions you as a writer must make. You CAN expect a consultant to work with you as you consider possible solutions.

You CAN expect us to answer questions you have about punctuation or grammatical or stylistic matters.  Just put them on your list of things you want to discuss with us.

You CAN expect us, if it is relevant, to help you assess your current writing processes, and, if you like, give you suggestions for more productive strategies.

Above all, you CAN expect us to listen—and to be understanding of and responsive to the confusions and frustrations you may be experiencing.

About Drafts of Papers…

You do NOT  need a draft of a paper to consult with a Writing Center consultant!

However, if you want to work with a draft you’ve composed, you may

 We can download copies from your e-mail or your WebDisk on our computers, and, if you like, make print copies of such drafts.

 But note:  If you want us to download your draft on one of our computers, it must be a Word document, or a document saved in RTF.  Our computers cannot read documents saved, for example, in Apple’s Pages.