Chapter 7: Helping 5 Different Kinds of Writers

Anne W., on working with neurodivergent or overstimulated clients

“When I think of important skills for consultants, the word “flexibility” comes to mind. When working with any student, flexibility is important—sitting in the loud, bright library basement for an hour-long meeting can tax anyone’s mental load. If you notice a student struggling during the session, the best thing you can do is talk about it. Get to know the client as a person and understand what is going on for them. Once you know their experience, it is time to get creative. The writing center is designed to help students with all different needs. The basket of fidget toys can be a great resource for restless students. Consider the flexible seating options in the center – stools, chairs, or booths allow for various options. Additionally, Classroom 121 can be an escape from the basement’s overstimulating environment. While unorthodox, if the consultation allows it, consider taking a walk with the client; bringing the session outside or even walking around the floors of the library can be a great way to help accommodate restless students. Ultimately, remember that every student has different needs. Take the time to get to know the student throughout your session, and don’t hesitate to think outside the box to create an engaging session.”

Gregory B., on working with ‘combative’ clients

“As consultants, we try our best to always provide help and have successful appointments. Sometimes, our clients do not want our help on certain matters. Once I was working with a client and she was using quotation marks around single words in order not to plagiarize in APA. I told her that this is unconventional and that an adequate paraphrase and following intext citation would suffice. However, she was worried about being written up for academic dishonesty and refused to remove the quotation marks around these single words. Here I had to make a choice between fighting to get these quotation marks removed or moving on and letting the error exist. I believe that we as tutors are there to inform our clients of potential errors in their writing, but we are not there to fix those errors. I informed this client that her use of quotation marks was unorthodox, and she elected to keep them. It is easy to become discouraged if you feel your client is not listening to your feedback. If you are struggling with this it is always good to pay attention to your delivery of critiques, but it is equally important to understand that your client may not take your advice, no matter how well presented and correct it may be. This is simply part of working at the writing center. Do not beat yourself up over it; remember that this is their writing, and they have the agency to do with it what they will. It is often best to simply move on and be open and prepared to address other issues as they arise later in the consultation.”

Sadie R., on working with the ‘I don’t know’ client

Anne W. on working with a ‘burnt-out’ client (and helping consultants manage their own burnout!)

Ashley Burchett on strategies for helping a writer who has accidentally plagiarized

“Bringing up plagiarism in an appointment can often feel quite adversarial. Knowing strategies on how to help students integrate their sources ethically can help strengthen your relationship with your client. These foundational strategies are paraphrasing, summarizing, and directly quoting from a source. Paraphrasing is far more difficult than many instructors believe: “putting something in your own words” requires significant contextual knowledge and control of language. Moreover, aspects such as expectations around the acceptability of direct quotation versus paraphrase, what counts as an “original” contribution that can’t be extracted from the author’s original language, and how closely a writer’s own paraphrase may hew to the author’s language vary significantly from discipline to discipline. The University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center offers a useful webpage on paraphrasing, summarizing, and directly quoting, which consultants can easily access and use as a teaching tool during a consultation.”