Last night Gyra and I helped out a friend writing an short essay for an application. His first draft was an incredibly standard and cliche essay for an application. I found it very difficult to give him strong and constructive advise without telling him "This really is not very good. You should probably start over". I think I handled it well by telling him to make it more about himself and to provide specifics about how the program will help him specifically-- not everyone attending. This experience got me thinking. How do you handle a terrible paper as a Writing Consultant? When someone has a terrible idea or thesis how do you give him or her advice about developing a stronger thesis without overwhelming the student? After Gyra and I gave our friend advice he felt daunted by the fact that he "basically had to start over". I imagine that it's important to try to find some positive aspects about the paper to help the student feel pleased about something that they have done.
I really enjoyed the compost metaphor in class today. I think the metaphor works well for all writers. If any writer spends too much time writing without having other people look at it the writing will be get stale. Someone needs to look at your work in order to help stimulate new growth and new ideas.
I'm really looking forward to skyping with my sister to work on her first college paper. I'm bummed that I won't be meeting new people but I am looking forward to hearing about everyone's experience.
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