Hot Topics in Writing: Rage Against the Writing Machine May 3, 2012

The Hot Topics in Writing team has found a way to talk about prewriting that won’t put you to sleep! In this episode, Matt and Mo explore the surprisingly simple side of prewriting. We discovered that preparing for a paper can be helpful and easy if approached as a simple tool and not as some obtuse writing  machine. We talk to Colin S., a Writing  Center Tutor and Fellow, about ways to make prewriting save you time. Then, Claire Rooney, one of our own Graduate Assistants, tells us about how preparing for a paper can reduce much of the anxiety associated with it. Finally, Matt and Mo debut their new segment called “Off-Topic!” In it, they wrestle with the idea of Grammar Nazism, and how important grammar actually is in our everyday lives. Also, SANDCASTLES! What do we mean? There’s only one way to find out…

Finals Inspiration from Jack Kerouac November 7, 2011

Beyond the typographical errors (or stylistic choices? Hey, he’s following his own tip number 13.) of Jack Kerouac’s “Belief and Technique for Modern Prose” lie gems of wisdom, and some of the same advice peer writing tutors often dispense. Here are a few to guide you as you work on your final papers:

#whyiwrite October 11, 2011

After receiving Monday’s email from the Outreach Team, I hope all UCWbLers are just as excited as we are for the upcoming third annual National Day on Writing (NDOW)! Not only will October 20 be an opportunity for us to share our love for writing with the DePaul University community, but it will also be an opportunity for us to collaborate with writers from coast to coast and learn why it is they do what they do.  

UCWbLers as Editors: A New Frontier in DePaul Faculty and Staff Writing Assistance October 10, 2011

As a tutor part-way into my third year at the UCWbL, I have given written feedback on many documents: about 45 of them, according to a quick search of the UCWbL archives. But none have been quite like the most recent in either size or style. As an employee of the UCWbL, a Writing Center tutor, I. . .edited.

The Deliciously Maddening Process of Writing June 22, 2011

Writing can be a maddening process, as many writers will attest to.  Finding the right word or the right sentence that captures perfectly the ideas in your head can be time consuming, frustrating, and seemingly hopeless, but that is precisely what makes it so deliciously rewarding when we know that we’ve chosen the right word or nailed the sentence we’ve been stressing over.