Face-to-Face Appointments

Face-to-Face Appointments Image

You can meet with your consultant in person in the Lab for Writing and Communication on Mason's Fairfax campus in Johnson Center 227E. In the session, the consultant will ask you about your goals, provide feedback, share tips and strategies, and help you make a plan for further developing or revising your project. Sessions begin on the half hour (e.g. 10:30, 11:30, etc.) and last up to 45 minutes.

In a typical face-to-face session you will

Review the assignment

The consultant will ask you about the purpose of the piece of writing you have brought in. If you are working on an assignment for a course, please remember to bring the assignment prompt.

Read through the piece of writing

We'll ask you to read your draft aloud; this is a classic editing technique that can help you and your consultant identify areas in the draft to work on. If you prefer not to read aloud, just tell your consultant.

Set your goals for the session

You and your consultant will set the agenda for the session together. It is helpful if you arrive with an idea of what you would like to work on—the paper's organization, your thesis and supporting evidence, or sentence-level concerns. Once you’ve reviewed the assignment and read through the piece of writing, the consultant may suggest working on an additional issue or two.

Have a conversation about your work

The consultant will pose questions and give you feedback, focusing on the issues you've decided to work on in the session. From this conversation you and the consultant will determine a plan for revising and moving forward with this assignment.

Work on strategies for effective writing

Your consultant might recommend strategies or provide resources for you to take with you to help you both with the assignment at hand and with future writing projects. 

Leave with a plan for moving forward

You and your consultant will spend the last few minutes of the session summarizing what you've discussed and sketching a plan for moving forward, whether that be conducting more research, developing your ideas, or revising your draft.