Categories
Writing Process

I Can’t Believe I Wrote That!

If we are being completely honest, as students, we tend to write papers for classes with no intention of ever opening the document after we hit the “Submit Assignment” button. We set it aside in our pile of completed tasks and just move on to the next one. For me, there’s the added difficulty that nearly every time I look back on my old writing, I can’t help but think to myself, “I can’t believe I wrote that!” 

Categories
Writing at Wheaton

Where Do I Publish My…?

From the school newspaper to club-run coffeehouses, Wheaton writers have options when it comes to sharing our work. But sometimes those options can be overwhelming, and we’re at a loss for where to submit. This post will explain the differences between the various campus publications, what kind of work they accept, and how to get published in them.

Categories
Professional Development

“Desperate for Writers”: Why Writing Matters for Your Career

Sarah Laribee, Career Coach and Student Staff Manager at Wheaton College’s Center for Vocation and Career (CVC), offers insight into how writing can open up post-grad opportunities. Having studied English in college and used writing in various jobs, she shares some of her writing journey in hopes of encouraging others in theirs. 

Categories
Writing Center

I Worked Three Years in the Writing Center, and Here’s What I Learned

Before my first Writing Center consultation ever, I was quaking in my boots. After spending a week going over the best practices and principles for consultations, I felt as ready as I could theoretically. However, as soon as I received the inaugural email–an automated copy of my first client’s appointment confirmation–I promptly did what any healthy, self-regulating individual would do: I called my older sister to fix my problems. Thankfully, Lindsay was a fellow Writing Center Consultant and knew what to do to assuage my fears. Two years older than me, she was the Writing Center Manager that year and the holder of all wisdom in my eyes. I frantically picked up the phone, waiting for her wisdom to flow over me, for all my fears to be alleviated. 

Three years later, it is my senior year, and I would like to pass on what I learned much as she did. My roommate and fellow senior Writing Center Consultant, Meghan Kwong, has helped me accrue a list of insights for newer consultants. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it to be followed in every case. Every client is unique, which is part of the beauty of working at the Writing Center–each session will bring someone and something different!

So, what are some things I’ve learned in my time at the Writing Center and how has that shaped the way I hold appointments?

Categories
Book Reviews

Loving Our Culture through Writing

At the Writing Center, we see writing as a way of cultivating charity toward others, a written reflection of the love of Christ. Through the written word, we are able to extend Christ’s loving embrace to others–both the audience we address and the people we engage with through our citations. Makoto Fujimura, an internationally-renowned painter and essayist, describes this kind of writing as “culture care.”

Fujimura introduces the concept of Culture Care in his 2017 book by that name. In the book, the author calls artists–particularly those operating within a Christian worldview–to become stewards of culture through their creative work. So how might we apply the ideas of Culture Care to our writing? Let’s explore it together.

Categories
Book Reviews

The Value of Fiction

The value placed on fiction, and in particular fantasy, can vary in different circles within society: oftentimes Christians–particularly in an academic setting–can see fiction as inconsequential and even, at its worst, escapist. There is sometimes a desire to place fiction and fantasy in a category of frivolousness when it is not being read for class, only to be indulged in when one has the time and needs a break from the heavier, more “important” reading. As college students, we can become so besieged by the constant challenge to perform well, to write the phenomenal paper, to craft the perfect argument, that we forget that we can in fact read and write for our own enjoyment. As I have read through Alan Jacob’s book Reading for Pleasure in an Age of Distraction, I have come to believe that we can read and write for the enjoyment of it, especially when it comes to fiction, and it is intrinsically good for us to do so.   

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Writing Center

What Student Teaching Taught Me About Writing Consultations

Student teaching taught me to view the Writing Center as a place to interact with human beings, and not just fix papers. 

Student teaching is, as they say, a once in a lifetime experience. A single semester of trying to teach a class that’s not your own—designing and teaching lessons for someone else’s students, grading homework and projects for someone else’s class, writing tests for students you will soon leave. It is the limbo between being a student and being a teacher: a time to make mistakes, a place to be corrected. 

For me, student teaching was a lot of making mistakes and a lot of being corrected. 

Categories
Writing Process

Expressive Writing as Self-Care

Do you want to grow in self-awareness? Do you want help breaking self-destructive thought patterns? Do you want help facing overwhelming emotions? If you answered “yes” to any of these, expressive writing is a simple yet powerful way for you to move in that direction. As a college student, you may be fully aware of how writing is a way of thinking and reasoning. However, writing can be more than a way of thinking about academics: it can be a way of thinking about life. This article will give you some tips on how to use writing as a tool for self-care.

Categories
Writing at Wheaton Writing Center

The Writing Center Is for Science Majors, Too!

Writing? In the sciences? Strange, I know. Even at a liberal arts college like Wheaton, we often think of science and writing as belonging on opposite sides of the academic spectrum, as if there is a great distance between STEM and the humanities. However, as an English major and former Pre-Med student, I have seen firsthand that they are not quite that distinct. Writing isn’t just for the aspiring novelist or literary critic; it is a skill that can serve you in nearly every facet of your life. 

Categories
Writing Center

Inside Two Writing Centers: An Interview with DePaul University Tutors

This interview was recorded via Zoom on Monday, February 14th, between DePaul University’s writing tutor Ishika B. and Wheaton College’s Writing Consultant Eunice R. DePaul’s Writing Center Blog Editor, Miriam C., prepared and asked the bold questions. Wheaton’s Online Operations Coordinator, Maggie R., supervised the process. We hope you enjoy this conversation between peer writing tutors!