Writing Center Online Assistance

There are many stages in the writing process, and the online service can help at any point in the process. A paper does not necessarily have to be a finished document before consulting with a writing assistant.

SERVICES PROVIDED

Writing Center assistants provide guidance. They give feedback and ask questions, helping writers to find solutions and develop skills that lead to effective written communication.

This is not an editing or proofreading service. Rather, it is designed to help writers address content and structural concerns. At the same time, writers might learn about mechanical errors and how to fix them.

SUBMITTING A PAPER FOR REVIEW

Only papers in Word .doc format are accepted. Send an email to the Writing Center with the paper included as an attachment. In the subject line, write "Request for Online Writing Assistance."

In this initial email, include the following:

The name of the class for which the paper is being done.
The date the paper is due.
Areas of concern within the paper.

TIP: An online session will be most productive when the writer asks specific questions in the initial email. Including the instructor’s writing assignment is also helpful.

Submit Paper for Review to:
w r i t i n g (at) m a r y l h u r s t . e d u

NOTE: If you are having difficulty sending and/or receiving attachments from the Writing Center, please submit your attachments using a Web-based email provider, such as Hotmail or Yahoo.

TURN-AROUND TIME

Requests for assistance received online Monday through Thursday will receive a response within 24-48 hours.

Requests for writing assistance sent on a holiday or a weekend will not be picked up until the next business day. Responses will be sent within 24-48 hours from the pick-up date.

NOTE: Papers greater than 10 pages may take a little longer, so please have patience. Clearly communicating questions and needs when submitting the paper helps expedite the process.

EDITING THE DOCUMENT

When the document is returned, writers will find the writing assistant’s comments after the sentence or paragraph in question. These comments will be highlighted in a different color than the original text.

TIP: It is best to save the returned document with another name than the original. The tracking that is used by the writing assistants can be very pesky to remove or change, therefore it is important to rename the returned document. It can be helpful to print out the returned document and make changes to the original from that hard copy.