What Happens in a Writing Conference?

In their training workshops Writing Center tutors learn the importance of the first five minutes of a conference. Their task is first to make the writer feel comfortable enough to share writing and concerns about writing and next to set the agenda for the conference. Trained to consider higher order concerns before lower or later order concerns, tutors also have to consider the main concern of the writer. Some writers say they want to work on grammar, while others want to know how to get started on an assignment. Some wonder if "the ideas make sense" or "if the paper flows."

After the tutor and writer discuss the assignment and the student's writing process thus far, the writer reads the draft aloud-- a good way to get the writer immediately involved in the conference. By hearing the whole paper (if it is short), both writer and tutor can assess the larger issues of thesis, organization, and development.

Tutors question and listen to help students revise for a sharper thesis, more coherent paragraphs, or more specific support. Tutor Elizabeth Michael uses colored pens to help a writer rearrange a paper with "good content but poor organization." Terri Helfrey helps students make charts or maps to keep brainstorming ideas "in a fashion that will be easily manipulated later," and Paige Ellisor also uses mapping and "the process of repeating the students' words back to them" to help them leave with a clear outline.

Following along as the writer reads, the tutor also notes patterns of error. "COMMAS, COMMAS, COMMAS!" was Emilia Autenzio's answer when asked what lower order concern she worked on most often. Tutors use our Punctuation Pattern Sheet to explain where commas go. Other tutors mentioned sentence structure and pronoun reference as frequent lower order concerns. Amy Kukla follows our usual method when she shows students "how to fix a problem area in one sentence and then see if they can spot the same error and correct it themselves the next time."

Jill Walker speaks for the rest of the tutors when she says: "I really enjoy watching people start to feel confident and pleased with their work as their papers begin to improve and take shape."