The Writing Resource Center (WRC) serves the students, staff, and faculty of New College of Florida, offering direct support for any type of writing at any stage in the writing process.

It’s a place and an idea — it’s a meeting of writers and students and thinkers. It’s a room where you can walk in with questions and leave with a few answers, and maybe a few more questions. It’s the moment when you realize that writing doesn’t have to mean being locked away, alone, scribbling by dim candlelight. Writing can be, should be, social.

Come talk one-on-one with a Student Writing Assistant (SWA) about any type of writing at any stage in your writing process, from brainstorming to final touches. Walk-ins are welcome (although we don’t recommend coming in an hour before your paper is due!), but we encourage you to make an appointment with an SWA. The WRC hosts workshops, social events, thesis writing groups during ISP and Spring Semester, and is also available any time you just need a space to write in!

Make an Appointment

Student Writing Assistants are ready and willing to help you! Schedule an appointment here. If you would like to make a weekly repeating appointment, contact us at [email protected]! Make an Appointment

Student Writing Assistants

Because Student Writing Assistants are students like you, they are in a perfect position to offer advice on the unique writing of New College! The SWAs are both specialists and generalists. This means that although each SWA has their particular areas of expertise, each is also trained (and willing) to assist student writers like you with any type of writing at any point in your writing process. Get to know the SWAs

Interested in becoming a SWA? Reach out to Asst. Dir. of Writing Alexandra Maass ([email protected]) to learn more about the requirements for this rewarding (and paid!) on-campus job.

Contact Us

Writing Resource Center

Contact
Phone Number
Email Address
Location
Office
Jane Bancroft Cook Library, room 103.

Know Before You Go

We are highly committed to supporting our students, especially during this difficult time. We are following all mandates and guidelines of the school, which means we are requiring all visitors to wear masks at all times and social distance 6ft. We are also limiting the number of visitors in the space to 3, so unfortunately that means no hanging out in the WRC until it becomes safer to gather (we know, we’re bummed about it, too).

Students can still have one-on-one digital appointments or meet “mask-to-mask” in the WRC space by visiting our scheduling page  and creating a remote or in-person SWA appointment. Remote appointments are primarily conducted using Google Meet, but the SWA may adapt the appointment format to best work with the resources the student has available to them.

Students can also still attend Virtual Writing Groups! The days and times of these group meetings can also be accessed on our online scheduling page. Group meetings also take place via Hangout Meet, and students can choose if they want to join with audio and/or video. These groups are providing some structure and accountability, as well as solidarity, to students trying to stay on track with their coursework.

We are also updating our Facebook and Instagram pages more frequently with new resources, strategies, and fun topics. Please follow us (@NCFWRC) and join in!

A conference with a SWA is a conversation about your writing. That conversation can last up to 50 minutes, but doesn’t have to.

You’ll sit down with the SWA, tell them where you are in your writing process and what concerns you have, and they’ll offer guidance and resources to help you develop as a writer. You may be asked to read your work aloud or use a whiteboard or play with legos, but really the structure of the conversation is completely up to you!

If you’re only looking for a proofread, chances are the SWA will still invite you to have a conversation. They won’t take your paper read it and hand it back with editor’s marks. They’ll read through the paper with you, help you identify patterns of error, and make sure that everything else looks good, too!

What to bring with you:

For in-person appointments, we highly recommend that you bring your own laptop or tablet, if possible, so that you and the SWA can digitally look at the paper on different devices, since you won’t be able to sit right next to each other. You can also bring your assignment prompt, a paper draft, notes, the course textbook, or anything you need to complete your paper.

We also have highlighters, sticky-notes, markers, rulers, tape, staples and other supplies to help jump-start your creativity!

They Don’t Need to be from your AOC:

Currently, we have 15 well-trained SWAs. Because there are more than 15 AOCs, we unfortunately cannot have a SWA for each field. We try to have a few SWAs from each division, and everyone receives training in how to identify different writing styles, strategies for different writing in different areas, and knowing how to guide you through all the stages of writing any paper.

That being said, there are many benefits to working with a SWA who is outside of your discipline, and we have many student visitors, including thesisers, who specifically seek out SWAs who have no experience in their field. This way, the writer receives feedback that isn’t bogged down in personal opinion, and the SWA isn’t tempted to “teach” rather than “assist.”

In the end, it’s really better to work with a SWA with whom you feel comfortable and who has a SWAing style that meshes well with your own learning style. We recommend you make appointments with a few different SWAs until you find someone you love!

Appointments are highly recommended, but not required.

We currently highly recommend making an appointment before visiting to make sure there’s low risk of the space reaching capacity (stayin’ safe!). The online schedule lets you choose a day and time that work best for you. Feel free to look at the SWA bios if you want to learn a little bit more about who you can work with.

That being said, if you find yourself our way, feel free to pop in and see if there’s a SWA available; we take drop-ins, too.