After students visit the Writing Center, their papers still have some problems. Why is that?
Our goal in the Writing Center isn’t to make perfect papers, but to work with writers to help improve their writing. This paper may still have errors, but the writer will be better prepared for future assignments. Our objective in each Writing Center session is to help writers feel ready and able to tackle the next step, or the next few steps, in writing or revising. That means we have to set priorities and make judgments. We may, for example, illustrate how to restructure a paper so that the parts of it fit together more coherently, or how to bolster the argument with more evidence, or how to use and identify sources properly, or how to correct some persistent errors in usage or punctuation. But we are often aware that even if writers use what they learn to improve their papers in some ways, there will still be other problems remaining. That’s why we always encourage writers to come back for additional sessions throughout the revision process. If you have concerns or questions about a
