This article is more than 5 years old.

Guest post by Ryan Shirey, Interim Director of the Writing Center & Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of English, WFU

The Writing Center is a space for collaborative learning and conversation about the writing process. We have a group of friendly and knowledgeable peer tutors, WFU undergraduate and graduate students, who have been trained to help student writers at any stage in the writing process, from brainstorming to final revisions. The peer tutors serve as an active and invested audience for the writers with whom they work. When reading through and discussing student writing, tutors ask questions, provide encouragement and support, and help writers address their specific writing goals. We are very invested in the idea that it is important for writers to learn about themselves as writers. The tutors are not working with students as proofreaders or editors; they are not merely looking to correct errors or do the hard work of revision for students. Instead, tutors are interested in empowering student writers by helping them learn how to be confident critical readers of their own writing.

One of the most exciting things about the Writing Center’s move to our new space in ZSR Room 426 is the fact that we will be even more accessible to students throughout their writing processes. Wake Forest students are already spending time at the library studying, conducting research, drinking coffee, and, of course, writing. Our proximity to a student resource staple like the library’s research and information department means, for example, that students will have the benefit of coming to the library for assistance with writing topic generation, responsible research strategies, drafting and revision, and citation management. The move also underscores the point that we always want to make to students-the earlier in the writing process that you visit the Writing Center, the better. We want students to know that a finished essay is not the only kind of writing that you can bring to the Center, and we hope that being available to students in the very place where they are likely to be studying and finding sources will encourage them to visit us well in advance of the night before an essay is due.

The Writing Center will open for the semester on September 8. Hours are Monday – Friday, 9:00 a.m. through 3:00 p.m. and Sunday – Thursday, 7:00 p.m. through 9:00 p.m.