Week 3

            I had the opportunity to observe three consultations this week. I sat in on two of Shaun’s appointments and one of Heath’s. I’ve been thinking a lot about the practical, consultation-to-consultation issues that I’m sure come up in the writing center all the time. What do consultants actually do when a writer needs help with something they are not knowledgeable about? What do consultants do when the writer isn’t prepared for the appointment? How do you negotiate what to talk about when there are a lot of things that need to be discussed? What about when you don’t have that many concerns? This week I got to see all of these issues come up in the writing center and it was really helpful to see how veteran consultants handle these kinds of situations.

            I picked up on the importance of finding a way to help every writer, no matter what point they are at or how prepared they are. Shaun had a student come in and ask for help on MLA poetry citations. Unfortunately, the writer didn’t have his paper with him and had no way of getting it. Shaun couldn’t help the writer with specific examples or show him how correct citations would look in his actual paper, so he had to be flexible and improvise. Shaun found a way to help the writer understand citations so he could later apply that understanding when he did have his paper in hand.

            Shaun’s consultation also reminded me of North’s famous line, “our goal is to produce better writers, not better writing.” Shaun couldn’t help the writer directly with his paper, but he did give him the knowledge he needed to do MLA poetry citations in the future. I realized how important it is to give writers not only the information they are asking for, but also the tools they will need to handle similar situations when they come up again. It is important that the writing center helps writers become more independent so they aren’t coming in with the same questions all the time, but eventually moving on to higher-order concerns.

            Finally, I recognized how important it is to admit when you’re not sure about something a writer is asking about. Most importantly, you have to find a way to get them the information and help they need. In one of the appointments that I observed, Shaun didn’t know how to do something that the writer was asking very specific questions about. He grabbed a reference book and even asked me to chime in on the subject. Together, we were able to get the writer the information he needed. No consultant can know everything that people will have questions about, so thankfully there is plenty of support and resources in the center.

            One thing that I really appreciated about Heath’s style was how welcoming and friendly he is with his writers. He took time to offer them refreshments and ask how they were doing. This seemed to relax the writer significantly and set the casual tone for the entire consultation. This is something I would like to adopt. If a writer is relaxed and comfortable, the session is more open and productive. It seems well worth the minute and a half it takes to greet them and show some personal interest.