Writing
Tutoring
The English tutors are here to help you develop your writing skills for success in VCC courses and in your life. Tutors at all Learning Centre locations work one-on-one with students in face-to-face communication and via instant messenger to help you:
- understand your teacher's marking
- find the best way to express an idea
- focus on a way to improve your next assignment
- clarify your ideas
- understand your writing problems and how you can improve
- find a useful writing book in our collection.
We support self-directed learning. To help you develop your editing skills, we do not proofread for you but we help you learn how to do it yourself. We can also help you learn how to evaluate your own work.
How The Learning Centre Tutors Help with Writing
Tutors can help you with your VCC course work by:
- reviewing marked assignments so you can revise and improve your writing
- reviewing parts of your writing by answering specific questions
- listening to and discussing your ideas
- helping you make a writing plan
- directing you to useful resources to improve editing and writing skills
- providing feedback on your resume and cover letter
You can help yourself by:
- asking instructors to explain assignments and course expectations
- doing original work without copying others' (plagiarism)
- developing your own ideas
- learning to find grammar mistakes and editing your writing
NOTE: Tutors do not provide ideas, find grammar mistakes, edit or evaluate writing.
Study Resources
To help you with your writing, we have a number of textbooks and worksheets available at each Learning Centre. As well, the Library's subject guides in Literature & Humanities have many resources that you may find useful.
Worksheets
The following worksheets are available online. They represent only a small sampling of what we have. The full complement of worksheets is available at the Learning Centre.
Links
| Purdue Online Writing Lab | Worksheets to help improve your writing skills, including many aimed at ESL learners |
| The UVic Writer's Guide | Easily-understood information on all aspects of advanced and university-level writing. |
| Writing About Literature | Very complete guide to writing about literature, by the Norton Introduction to Literature people. In-depth discussions about documentation; critical approaches; writing about the genres; and the stages of writing. |
| Bellevue Community College Writing Lab | Writing lab guides to writing and grammar. |