Student FAQ's

Concordia students come to the Writing Studio because they know it’s a good idea to talk about their writing and get some feedback. Writers bring in all kinds of writing assignments from courses across the curriculum—social science, business, education, communication, English, and many more. It’s a myth that writing centers are for bad writers; the Writing Studio is a place for all writers!

As soon as possible! Don’t come in the day before an assignment is due; give yourself plenty of time to think, write and revise.

You can drop by the Writing Studio without an appointment, however, we recommend you make one to ensure that a consultant is available to work with you.

The Writing Studio is located on the main floor of the Library. Sessions may be available for walk-ins, but please know that we are often booked so scheduling an appointment online is best. To make an appointment, follow the directions on our website under Make an Appointment.

Appointments are usually 30 to 45 minutes. Bring your questions and a draft if you have one. Your writing consultant will want to read the specific assignment so be sure to bring that with you as well. The consultant will then ask you what you’d like help with. After reading the paper together, the two of you will begin discussing it. The writing consultant will respond as a critical reader to what you’ve written, pointing out sections that work well and places with problems. You’ll learn strategies to improve those areas that need strengthening.

Writing consultants focus on the big concerns first. For example, they’ll check to make sure you’re following the assignment guidelines, that your thesis is clear and that your paper is developed logically. After that, they can help you with concerns about style, grammar, word choice, etc.

To prepare for a session, please bring in the assignment, a paper, or an idea for a paper, and allow ample time after your appointment to rethink and revise your work before it is due. Have clear directions from your professor on what kind of paper you are writing and what documentation style, if any, is required. If these instructions are unclear to you, ask your professor. At times, you may need help getting started. That's fine. Just remember to bring in your assignment sheet, extra paper for writing notes and ideas, and a clear sense of what you want to work on. It will be important for you to tell the consultant what you’d like to focus on during your session.

We don’t proofread a paper for you. That would help us become great editors, but it wouldn’t make you a better writer. We’ll work with you so that you will become a better proofreader of your own work.

The purpose of the Writing Studio is to help you become a stronger, more confident writer. Because writing improvement takes time, we can't promise that you will receive an "A" on your assignment, but we can promise that with practice you will become a better writer.

In addition to our friendly writing consultants, the Writing Studio has handouts and handbooks to cover all your writing needs.

The Writing Studio staff respects your confidentiality and will not discuss your writing outside of the Writing Studio. A report about your session will be sent to your instructor only at your request.

The short answer: yes.

The longer answer: It’s your responsibility to let the writing consultant know when and how you have used AI tools and to bring an assignment sheet or syllabus which clearly states the instructor’s policy. Writing consultants will always honor the professor’s assignment sheet and/or syllabus guidelines. In instances when AI tools have been used to create work for an assignment that does not allow the use of those tools, the writing consultant will remind you that AI generated work in this case may be a violation of the Honor Code and of the professor’s assignment guidelines.

When allowed, writing consultants may use AI tools during a session in these ways: 1) to gather specific information on a topic, 2) to brainstorm ideas for a topic, 3) to format citations, 4) to outline ideas, 5) to revise an outline, 6) to reword an idea, 7) to help with specific language issues.

The Writing Studio does not promote the use of AI tools to create whole works or full paragraphs of text.