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]!
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.
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
Phone Number
Email Address
Location
Jane Bancroft Cook Library, room 132.
Connect
Writing Resources
Know Before You Go
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!
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.
Any SWA appointment time can be held either in-person in the WRC or virtually. Simply select “Meet Online” when filling out the appointment form on our schedule or email us to request we set up an appointment for you
They Don’t Need to be from your AOC:
Currently, we have 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!